Mary Catherine Platt

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/78442802/mary-catherine-platt

From Find a Grave:

Mary (Page) Deer Platt was a daughter of Captain William Page and his wife, Mary (Smith) Page. Mary married (1) Joseph Deer, and (2) Rev. John Baxter Platt. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South for 53 years.

"Old Captain William Page had several daughters; one married Joseph Deer (the name now extinct in Marion County); Deer died, and the widow married Rev. John B. Platt." ("History of Marion County, South Carolina" by W. W. Sellers, page 165.)

Mary's father, Capt. William S. Page, was a son of Thomas Page who moved about 1800 from Bear Swamp near what would become the town of Lake View, to Buck Swamp near what would become the village of Floydale.

Mary's mother was a daughter of Revolutionary War veteran Samuel Smith, who is buried on his lands on the west side of Buck Swamp, between Floydale and Latta.

Samuel Smith's father was old John Smith, Sr. of Catfish Creek who died about 1802 leaving a number of children, named in his will. They were, in addition to Samuel, John Smith, Jr. who moved to the area below the town of Mullins; James Smith who resided in the Temperance Hill area; daughters Anne Smith who married Andrew Berry; Elizabeth Smith who married 1st John Deer and 2nd Barnabas Watson; Mary Smith who married Jacob Buckholts and left little further record; Sarah Smith who married Enos Tart (and was the mother of Sheriff Enos Tart and mother or grandmother of the wife of E. J. Moody for whom the mill was later named), and resided on her father's mill lands (now known as Moody's Mill on Highway 501 between Latta and Marion); Martha Smith who married Willis Finklea and seems to have resided in the area near the millpond; Mourning Smith who married Jesse Bryant and seems to have resided in the Temperance Hill area; and Celia Smith who married an unknown Harrelson (likely one of the Benjamins), was widowed by 1804, and whose residence is not known. (All Smith family information here is based on research done for and appearing in the article, "John Smith Family - Fables or Facts?" that appeared in the September-October 2011 issue of the "Pee Dee Queue", newsletter of the Pee Dee Chapter, SCGS.)

Many of John Smith's children inherited lands from their father in the area around Moody's Mill, stretching out northeastward toward Temperance Hill, and from there across to Highway 917 and Buck Swamp. Stackhouse Creek (previously called Moody's Creek and Smith's Mill Creek) rises in the northwest part of Ten Mile Bay near Temperance Hill, flows southwestward to Moody's Millpond, and on into Catfish Creek. It is quite possible that the Charlie Stackhouse lands on Stackhouse Creek where the Platt Deer Cemetery is located were part of those John Smith estate lands.

There is also a possibility the cemetery is located on lands that Rev. John Platt's father, Daniel Platt purchased in 1824 - 340 and 1/2 acres that lay somewhere between Buck Swamp and Catfish Creek that were sold to settle the estate of James Crawford. (Marion County Deed Book M page 103.) It would take a careful title search to determine the exact origins of this land.

Mary (Page) Deer Platt's first husband, Joseph Deer, was a son or grandson of that old John Deer and his wife Elizabeth Smith, mentioned above. Joseph and Mary were cousins and both were descendants of old John Smith. It is likely that Joseph Deer is also buried at this cemetery, but no proof has been found.

Mary and Joseph Deer had several children:

- John Deer about whom nothing further is known

- Eleanor Deer, who never wed and is buried near her mother

- Cherry Deer m. William Watson

- Elizabeth Deer m. John E. Elvington

- William Page Deer m. Julia Moody.

Julia (Moody) Deer was a daughter of Barfield Moody, son of old Charles Moody, the Revolutionary War veteran who is also buried here in the Platt-Deer Cemetery, some distance from his home near Little Pee Dee River and Buck Swamp. She is buried in the nearby Moody-Berry Cemetery on Temperance Hill Road.

"Julia, the fourth daughter (of Barfield Moody), married William P. Deer, just at the beginning of the war; he volunteered and went through the war; the fruits of the marriage were two daughters, Blanche and Lula. William P. Deer left or disappeared some fifteen or twenty years ago (1885 or 1880 approximately), and he has not been heard of since, as the writer has been informed lately by his sister, Mrs. William Watson." ("History of Marion County, South Carolina" by W. W. Sellers, page 339.)

Mary (Page) Deer Platt's second husband, Rev. John Baxter Platt, was a son of Daniel Platt and his wife, Martha Bass. Rev. John's brother, David Platt, was married to Mary (Page) Deer Platt's sister, Isabella Page. After Mary's death Rev. John remarried to Celestia Mimms and had several more children. He died and is buried in Sumter County, South Carolina. The children of Mary and Rev. John Platt were:

- Robert Baxter Platt m. 1/Ada Walker 2/Addie Harrelson

- Catherine Ellen Platt m. Benjamin Gause Smith

- Louisa M. Platt m. Cornelius T. Ford

This biography updated by Jo Church Dickerson, July 2015. Any mistakes and errors on this page are mine, please let me know about them.

Many thanks to Robin Moore and Helen B. Moody for their contributions and work on this cemetery.