St. Margaret's Episcopal Church and Cemetery, Gothic Revival church in Fleming Island, Florida.
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church is a wooden structure with white board siding, a steep gabled roof, and Gothic pointed arch windows that give it a distinctive silhouette. The property encompasses both the church building and an adjacent cemetery where visitors can walk among the grounds.
The church was built in 1878 on Hibernia Plantation and first opened its doors for a funeral service. A couple of years later, the building was moved to the location where it stands today.
The cemetery is also called Hibernia Cemetery, after the Latin name George Fleming gave his plantation in honour of Ireland. His grave, the oldest recorded there, lies a few feet from those of Lewis and Margaret Fleming, who are buried beside the chapel.
The property is accessible and allows visitors to explore both the church and cemetery at their own pace. It is helpful to allow enough time to view the interior of the church and walk through the cemetery grounds thoroughly.
Margaret Fleming taught scripture to her slaves and plantation workers in the sitting room of the Great House; as her congregation grew she began building the chapel in 1875. She died in 1878 before it was finished, and her funeral was the first service held in the unfinished church.
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