I received an email from Liz Collins Baker, great granddaughter of Charles J. and Emily Marie Passalaigue Bollin. She gave me permission to post her message on the website so here it is:
On my mother’s side, I have great great grandparents buried there. Charles Bollin and Emily Passalaigue Bollin. He worked with the SC Railroad. She was from Charleston where her family is buried at St Mary’s Church. Her portrait which was painted by Scarborough spent the night in the cemetery the night that Sherman burned Columbia. It had been entrusted with the nuns in the convent for protection from the soldiers but when the convent was burned the nuns took it with them where they had to spend the night in the cemetery until they were given another house to stay in by Sherman(the Hampton Preston Mansion). This portrait of my great great grandmother is now hanging in the South Caroliniana Library on the horseshoe at the University of SC.
I thought surely I would find a picture of that portrait at the library website, but only this interesting description is available online.
Also available at the South Caroliniana Library are Mrs. Bollin’s family Bible and a posthumous photograph. Among the descriptions of these items are information that her parents were French and that she and Mr. Bollin had five children.
Thank you, Liz Collins Baker, for the information.
A picure of portrait of Emily Passalaigue Bollin (and the story of how it was saved in the burning of Columbia) can be viewed at the Columbia Star site: https://www.thecolumbiastar.com/articles/eye-witness-recounts-burning-of-columbia/
Thank you so much for finding this article. I knew the story from hearing it but this gave me lots more information on my great great grandmother. I’m so happy to have this story. I’m going to try and see if I can get a copy of this from Columbia Star.