Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA Revolutionary War militia commander murdered by Tory raiders in 1781 — his grave in Old Welsh Neck Cemetery still draws reports of footsteps and apparitions.
Co Rd 167 (Old Welsh Neck Cemetery), Bennettsville, SC 29512
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free; open roadside cemetery access
Access
Limited Access
Rural cemetery with unpaved approach and uneven ground; wooded surroundings
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1781 · Revolutionary War — Southern Campaign · Pee Dee Regiment / Francis Marion command · Tory-Patriot violence in the South Carolina backcountry
Abel Kolb rose to prominence as a militia colonel in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, serving under General Francis Marion — the "Swamp Fox" — during the British occupation of the state. His regiment harassed Loyalist forces throughout the backcountry at a time when Tory reprisals against Patriot families were a persistent and brutal fact of life.
On the night of April 26–27, 1781, a Tory raiding party came to Kolb's farm in what is now Marlboro County. Accounts from the period describe Kolb attempting to surrender peaceably on his porch as the raiders set his house ablaze. He was shot and killed during the confrontation. The inscription on his tomb reads: "COL. KOLB WAS MURDERED BY TORIES NEAR HERE APRIL 26, 1781."
Kolb's grave lies in Old Welsh Neck Cemetery, roughly a mile north of Bennettsville on Co Rd 167. The original obelisk marking the burial was relocated to the Marlboro County Historical Museum in downtown Bennettsville after repeated vandalism. An interpretive marker still identifies the site. The killing of a surrendering officer became one of the documented atrocities used to sustain Patriot resistance in the final year of the Southern Campaign.
Sources
Reports of activity around Colonel Kolb's grave follow a consistent pattern: footsteps crunching through the leaves and underbrush of the surrounding woods, audible even when visitors can confirm no one else is present. Several accounts describe an apparition — a man in what witnesses describe as early American military attire — appearing close to the tomb before vanishing.
Paranormal investigators who have conducted EVP sessions and spirit-box sessions at the site have reported anomalous responses. The isolated, wooded setting at the edge of an old cemetery amplifies the effect; Co Rd 167 sees little traffic, and the cemetery grounds are unlit at night.
The Pee Dee Cooperative, which covers the broader region, has documented Kolb's site as one of the more consistently reported haunted locations in Marlboro County. Local oral tradition connects the restlessness to the manner of Kolb's death — murdered while in the act of surrender, on his own property.
Notable Entities
Walk to the grave of Colonel Abel Kolb in Old Welsh Neck Cemetery, approximately one mile north of Bennettsville. The original obelisk marking his burial has been moved to the Marlboro County Historical Museum in town due to vandalism; an interpretive marker remains at the site. Nighttime visitors have reported footsteps from the surrounding woods and apparitions in period clothing.
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