Sara B. Smith

Sara Bennett Smith, 96, of Charleston, South Carolina and widow of Joseph Smith, passed away peacefully in her home on Friday, January 4, 2019.
The family will receive friends at 1853 Richmond Street, Charleston, SC 29407. Sara was born May 2, 1922, at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, South Carolina to the late Ezekiel and Lula Davis Bennett. She was the granddaughter of Adam and Hannah Bennett, who were slaves at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Adam Bennett was the slave superintendent at Magnolia Plantation and is recognized in various writings about Magnolia as having walked 200 miles to Flat Rock, North Carolina to the Drayton's summer home to inform him of happenings at the plantation during the Civil War. Sara talked about the stories she heard of her grandfather being strung up to a tree on the plantation and beaten by the Union soldiers during their infiltration of the plantation. Sara's loyalty to her family and friends are mirrored through Adam's loyalty to his slave master, Rev. John G. Drayton, the then owner of the plantation. Although Sara had no children of her own, she was a surrogate mother to each of her nieces and nephews and even her great-nieces, great-nephew and two of her great-great nephews. Sara was a loving, caring, loyal sister, aunt, cousin, and friend. She provided care for two sisters during their extended illnesses. "Aunt Sara", as she was so affectionately called by not only her family but extended family, friend, and acquaintances, had a heart of gold. She also had a great heart of compassion. If you were in pain, she expressed that pain through her facial expression. If you were in need of anything and she had it, it was yours. Sara accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of her life at a fairly early age. She had a passion for ushering and joined the Usher Ministry in her church. She loved dressing in her crisp, white Usher's uniform on Sundays and attending the Usher's Anniversary programs all over West Ashley and the barrier islands in Charleston County. Aunt Sara also loved to sing and had a beautiful voice. She could be heard singing from the back of the church where she held her Usher post, to the front of the church as she led her Usher's in a march around the church. Sara was preceded in death by four siblings, Mabel B. Payne, Viola B. Ladson, Susan B. Weston, and Adam S. Bennett; a niece, Carrie Bell Pringle; four nephews, Arthur Pringle, Jr., Bernard Edwards, Harold S. Weston and Kenneth Pringle; three brothers-in-law, Henry Payne, Sandy Ladson and Albert Weston; two nephews-in-law, Arthur Pringle, Sr. and Zackies Brown; a great-niece, Serena D. Ladson. She is survived by five nieces, Dorothy F. Brown, Deborah W. Grace, Frederica Ladson, and Sorona B. Jenkins and Patricia Talley (Raymond); four nephews, Albert "Al" J. Weston (Linda), Franklin "Moon" R. Weston (Lois) and Jerome Bennett (Ella), Ronald Edwards; twenty-two great-nieces and great-nephews; a host of great-great nieces and great-great nephews; Sister-in-law, Georgianna N. Bennett, 99; a host of cousins and friends. She was a surrogate Grandmother and Great-Grandmother to her great-niece, Dashana W. Doctor (Dwight) and their three boys, DeMario and Dominic Doctor and Quindarius Doctor-Smalls. "Aunt Sara" will be dearly missed by all, but we rest in the assurance that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
.