Category: Cemeteries

Cemeteries of historical significance or other significance

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Melton Statue

I have been through Pine Apple many times over my lifetime. I have heard numerous times that there was a statue there in the graveyard. I never gave it much thought. It was just one more rabbit trail that I had filed in the back of my mid that I needed to run but never got around to it.

I have so many of those rabbit trails that it would be impossible if I had three more life times left to run them all. I still like to run them though from time to time.

This week my wife and I were out checking out churches in Wilcox County that I had not gotten to for my upcoming book.

I started on a photo book of Wilcox County Churches back in October. I had a lot going on and to be able to work on that many churches requires a lot of travel. Instead of completing Wilcox County, I just settled in and went to work on Monroe County. I had numerous personal things going on, and there was no way I could leave home for two or three days at the time. I could however take numerous trips of a couple of hours at the time. I had to burn the midnight oil to get it done, but I was able to release my Monroe County Book the first week in January. 

Then my Jeep decided it was time to give me fits and I lost almost three weeks trying to get it fixed. I got it fixed and then we had weather issues. I don’t function well when the temperature is in the teens. 

Finally, it looked like it was going to break for a day or so. We left home on Monday morning and headed north. I had worked for hours upon hours scouring maps and other sources online hunting the churches in Wilcox County. 

We made it into Pine Apple and I was taking photos of the Friendship Baptist Church. I looked across the road and saw the large cemetery over there. I saw the marker on the fence identifying it as a Black Belt Heritage Area.

Beings that I am totally committed to the things of the Black Belt, and I thrive on learning history I immediately had to take a photograph of the placard with the phone number of the recording on it for a future reference and I had to see the statue listed on there. I walked across the cemetery to the statue and viewed it. Then I captured some photos of it and read the tombstones around it.

Since I had a lot of miles to run to get all of the church photos that I could for the day, I didn’t give the statue much thought for the rest of the day. 

The next day I started to ponder on that statue. Who was this man? Where did the statue come from? So many questions. So few answers.

At first, I sat down and googled “Statue at Pine Apple Alabama. Immediately there were a couple of things that came up. I stared to read about this statue.  I had seen the name on it was William Joseph Melton. He was born Sept. 29, 1846, and died in July 4,1900. That much I knew but what else was there to know?

It turned out that Mr. Melton was a very influential man in Wilcox County. He was also a very successful planter. All of the sources I saw said that when he died his daughter took a photo of him with her to Italy and commissioned an artist there to carve a statue of him out of marble. 

All of the sources said that the statue was transported by ship and then transported up the river to Claiborne where it was off loaded onto a wagon and hauled the rest of the way to Pine Apple.

Then when the statue was being erected in the cemetery is where things got complicated. Supposedly the members of the church had some issues with it being there because it violated the Ten Commandments because it was a “Graven Image”. Finally, a compromise appears to have been reached. The statue was allowed but it had to be laid down instead of standing up. Then at some later date permission was given for it to be erected. Now I don’t know if it was given or just somebody took it upon themselves to erect it. Regardless of that fact it stands 122 or so years later facing East and proudly overlooking the cemetery. 

The recording states that Mr. Melton was a Civil War Veteran that was captured as a prisoner of war. Supposedly he died suddenly in Montgomery. His body was transported back to Pine Apple where he was buried. 

So here we are all of these years later and I found it. Now that is one off of my bucket list.  I ran a long day looking for churches and found some. I can only imagine what interesting thing I will find the next time I go out. That was definitely an interesting find.

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New Liberty In The Red Hills

I say it every time I go on another adventure or write another blog, but I want to say it again. I love doing what I am doing. There is always another interesting time, place, person, or thing, right around the corner. More times than not they are hidden in plain sight as well.

For years I have seen pictures of the Pilgrim Rest Church in the Red Hills. As all of those that follow me know I was fortunate enough to finally run somebody down that knew something about that one. When I was getting information on it another old church came up. It also sits in the Red Hills of northern Monroe County. This one unlike the old Pilgrim Rest is not as well-known nor as often photographed. One reason is it is not on the main drag road. The other is that it is on private land with no trespassing signs out a distance away from it.

New Liberty in the Red Hills

I knew of its existence before talking to my friend about the Old Pilgrim Rest. However, I did not know anything about it. Because I was working on so many different things I kind of put it on a back burner in my mind so to speak. It was one of those places that I would think about from time to time but did not work on finding anything on.

I recently started working on a picture book of the churches of Monroe County. As I was working on that project, I realized I needed to share that one in the book. With that in mind I started searching. 

As I started asking questions to my sources that know the people in that area I hit on a name. Then I got a phone number for a guy. Because I had so much going on I held on to the number for a couple of weeks before I called. When I called, I got a guy named Ronnie Nettles. He was a nice guy that I immediately knew I needed to visit and get more info from.

We agreed on a time to meet up at the old church and so on a beautiful Sunday Afternoon, we left home heading that way. 

New Liberty A.M.E Church sits in the Red Hills on Olivia Road. Olivia Road is off John Shannon Road. It is a short distance south of where John Shannon Road and River Ridge Road cross each other. John Shannon Road runs from Old Scotland Road all the way to County Road 56 between Vredenburgh and Buena Vista. Olivia dead ends in private property at the old church.

My wife and I drove to the old church and parked. In just a short time a pickup rode up with two guys in it. They introduced themselves and we shook hands. One of them was Ronnie the guy I had been talking with on the phone. He sent the other one back down the road to where they had been sitting to get his older brother. He drove up shortly. His name was Clevester.

Broken cornerstone

We walked around the old church and talked. It was interesting to learn. First off, I learned that the building was the second building. The first building had been sitting on the south side of the present building. It was built in the mid to late 1800’s but neither Ronnie nor Clevester knew the years. 

Secondly, I learned that not only was the first building a church, but it had also been a school. It was amazing how many people used to be out in those hills where nobody is now. Now there is nothing out there but woods and miles of red dirt roads. This church was only a mile or so as the crow flies from the Old Pilgrim Rest Church. There was two if not more churches in that community. 

I learned that these guys’ great grandfather Jeremiah Fountain had been the founder of the church. 

As we continued to talk, we walked over to where the old cornerstone for the present building was. Unfortunately, it had been damaged in an accident. From it we were able to see that this building had been built in 1970. 

As we continued to talk, I learned that they closed the doors on this one and moved to Tunnel Springs and founded another church. That one also is named New Liberty. The one in Tunnel Springs was built in 1995 and the one in the Red Hills was closed at that time. The reason for closing this one and moving to Tunnel Springs was the fact that it was in such a remote location and that the roads were in such bad shape for people to try to travel. 

New Liberty A.M.E Church at Tunnel Springs

I had learned from the information I got on Pilgrim Rest Church that the two churches had often fellowshipped with one another until their closings. Pilgrim Rest had closed before New Liberty. These guys also told me that same thing. 

One other interesting thing I learned was that while in the present location that there was always a weeklong revival the third week in September. This weeklong revival normally drew significant crowds and was looked forward to all year long.

Clevester, who was older than Ronnie also had an interesting contribution. He talked about the old original building. He said that it had two front doors and two rows of pews. He also said that it was heated with a wood heater and that it used kerosene lamps for lighting.

We briefly walked out into the cemetery and they both pointed out graves of their grandparents and other relatives who had now passed on but were significant to this old church. There were several graves that had slabs but nothing on them signifying who was buried there. I understood that there were others that were unmarked.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

One interesting fact to me was that there was a grave, that the marker appeared to be that of a civil war soldier buried there. His name was Fletcher Fountain. That one I will have to try to research further.

Click to enlarge.

As we continued to talk, I learned that the New Liberty church in Tunnel Springs closed for the pandemic. During that time, it suffered some water damage. Now it is being worked on to re-open soon. 

As I we prepared to leave and said our farewells I was swept up in thoughts. We headed out across the Red Hills heading back across to Franklin. As we crossed the miles of rough red dirt roads my mind considered many things. I thought about how many people once lived in what is now nothing more than woods for miles in all directions. I thought about what it must have been like living out there back then. I would imagine that even then although it was a populated area, it would have still been sort of isolated. By that fact I bet that there was a strong sense of community. Then as always, I pictured in my mind travel across the rough hills and hollows. I wondered how many years it was before automobiles came into that part of the world. I could picture a way of life that in many ways was hard. I also pictured a way of life that was fulfilling in many ways. It was no wonder that these two guys I had the privilege to meet today were the great guys they appeared to be. I understood the pride they must have in the fact that their family carries a rich heritage in the Red Hills of Monroe County Alabama. It was definitely a pleasure to meet them, and I look forward to seeing them again one day soon.

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Pine Flat Methodist Church

We woke up this morning as normal. It was a cool early Fall Day with the wind blowing. After we had breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee my wife asked me if I had anything I wanted to do today?

Now if you follow me then you know that it does not take much to get me to head out rambling. We finished our coffee and got showers and packed some stuff for a picnic style lunch and got in the Jeep and headed out.

The quest today was for the very Southeast side of Wilcox County. I had determined that I need to try to make another trip into that area and try to find a few more possibilities for photos and stories. I am trying to do as exhaustive coverage as possible of the Black Belt Region and it requires at times numerous trips into an area.

We covered several things and wound up on Hwy 10 headed East towards Greenville. When we crossed the Butler County Line, I said I will turn around at the next good place I find to get out of the road.

As we rode along, we came to a cemetery on the left (north side of Hwy 10). I slowed and turned in. I decided to look at the headstones for a minute and possibly take a few shots of the cemetery. 

That is when I saw it. Sitting in the back, kind of in a corner was this beautiful old white church building. You guessed it. My phobia kicked in. The one that must take a photo of an old church. I just had to check that out.

I walked through the cemetery and captured a few shots of the various graves. One particularly interesting one was one I saw that was covered in seashells. I saw at least one that was above the ground. There were others with beautiful headstones.

I finally got to the back of the cemetery and maneuvered around and captured a few frames of that beautiful old church. 

I would be afraid to guess how many times I have traveled across AL 10 in my lifetime. It is not that often, but it has been a considerable number. I am sure I have seen it before but for some reason I did not remember paying any attention to this church.

I saw the sign outside that said the name was Pine Flat Methodist and it was established in 1858. 

I went on back to the Jeep and we went on our way. I pondered on this one for a while and then my mind went to other things and places as we headed on home.

When we finally got home, and I had opportunity I started to research Pine Flat Church. I found that it is indeed a Historical Black Belt Church.

The first source I found on it was the Greenville Advocate online newspaper (1). The article in the September 27, 2023, titled Pine Flat Church Celebrates 165 years jumped out at me. From that article I found that on October 1, 2023 Pine Flat held the yearly home coming event and this year was the 165thyear. This memorial event is held the first Sunday in October and has been since 1968.

The second source I found on this old church was from a site called (2) Wikimapia. It said, “In the spring of 1858, the present Pine Flat Methodist Church building was erected by the men of the community with the help of their slaves. Virgin pine trees were felled, and the timber sawed with a jigsaw at Bowen’s Mill. The boards were then hand planed.”

“The church lot was deeded by James and Martha Reynolds who lived near the site where the first house was built in Butler County; this home was erected by James K. Benson, government surveyor in 1815”. 

This article goes on to say,  “The church had a slave gallery extending across the front end. This gallery could be entered by stairs leading from the front porch. At morning services, the slaves sat in the gallery and in the afternoon special services were held for the slaves who sat downstairs while the white people attending sat in the gallery. When the church was repaired in 1870 the slave gallery was removed. The pews, communion rail, table, half octagon-shaped pulpit, and doors all are constructed of heart pine and are put together with square nails or wooden pegs. At first the center pews were divided with a solid partition to separate the men from the women. The one odd small bench, in the style of a colonial deacons’ bench, was one of three that were placed near the altar, and were used by those who came requesting the prayers of the congregation.”

This is truly in my opinion a historical Black Belt Church that appears to be in great condition and will hopefully be standing just as well kept for centuries to come. I salute those that are taking care of it and hope the generations that follow will do the same.

Sources:

(1) https://www.greenvilleadvocate.com/2023/09/27/pine-flat-church-celebrates-165-years/

(2) http://wikimapia.org/37239368/Pine-Flat-Methodist-Church

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Ramah Church (Lowndes County)

Recently on my social media page I was asking for input on locating interesting places. Many times, I have done this in the past and had success in finding interesting places and other times it has been a dead end. 

On this particular time, I got several things mentioned and I made notes to figure it all out for some times of rambling in the future.

 One particular comment with a link immediately caught my attention. It was a blog post Michaelclemmer.blogspot. It was titled Ramah-The Church that Hope Built. Here is a link to this site. https://michaelclemmer.blogspot.com/2014/05/ramah-church-that-hope-built.html?fbclid=IwAR3SiRr2H0CY9J8wTsRK5J1quN-eH35Q9fuEWNhfNumQ3k9RY7d8NKyKlHc

Now like most times I read this and was immediately enthused on this great old church. Beings I was focusing on the areas of Lowndes and Dallas Counties I knew I had to find it while I was in the area.

I won’t in this post try to retell this writer’s story, but it is a noteworthy read.

Note that this Old Church was built in 1868 and was not affiliated with any denomination and was remodeled in 1904. From my observation it appears to be pretty much the same since this renovation.

Sitting at the bottom of the hill looking up at this beautiful old church gives one a sense of awe. As I recounted the story told from the linked blog post I could only imagine what it was like back when it was first built.

Reading that it was built by former slaves who were very poor it made it even more significant. Just to look up the hill at it and focus on the prominence of it. The commanding position on the top of the hill gave it distinction. 

As I do on almost everyone, I see I stop and think. I try to picture as typical Sunday morning. As I was thinking about it I could picture probably numerous people dressed as best they had to dress. Men, women, boys, and girls. Probably in a community as described there would be no flashy carriages. Probably only mules and wagons and people walking to get there in time for service. I could still visualize gatherings outside with food and laughter. This was a place I felt of peace. It was a place to gather, grow, and be uplifted and strengthened by the community around you.

This is one more place that has stood over 150 years and is still well preserved. Hopefully it will stand that much longer still as a symbol of Hope on this High Hill.

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The Bear Man

Anybody that knows me knows I love history and interesting stories.

As always when I get the opportunity to get out and ramble I do so. Recently I went up to the New Hope Church at Natchez. 

New Hope Church

est. 1855

Now I have been to the New Hope Church many times. I have friends who have relatives buried there. It is an old historical church that I just love to visit and photograph. 

New Hope church

I have walked the cemetery many times and have recounted the stories of those that I knew that are now long gone.

Over on the far end kind of alone I saw a cross shaped marker standing alone. I immediately remembered what it was. It is the grave of The Bear Man.

Now understand something, at the writing of this I am 66 years old and I have heard the story of the Bear Man all of my life. I have heard it told different ways. Normally because it was told by different people just like I am sure that my version differs from others who tell it. 

As I was reflecting on what I remembered, and I discussed it with my uncle Rickey House in Beatrice who is a walking history book. I also looked in the Centennial Edition of the Monroe Journal. I found a brief encounter of the story in the 1969 edition.

I knew the name of the bear but not the other names mentioned in the Centennial. 

The names I will mention are from the Centennial. The rest of the story is pretty much as I remembered it from numerous others, I have heard tell it.

 It is a unique story that in all probability no other communities in the entire US could duplicate.

As I have said earlier, I have heard several different renditions of this story. After reading the account in the Centennial I was able to see where the different versions might have come from.

For some reason in some accounts Buena Vista always comes up. In fact I have run into people over the years that would try to figure out where at Buena Vista the grave was. On more than one occasion I have heard that he was buried at Buena Vista. 

Anyway here is what I was able to come up with on this story.

All accounts I have heard that identified the man in any way would say he was a Frenchman.  Apparently, this man came into Buena Vista leading his bear. The Teacher one Professor Claude Hardy paid him to have the bear perform for the school children at Buena Vista. He would take a little boy’s hat and put it on the bear’s head, and he would stand on his hind legs and walk around and dance. Then after that he would have him climb a tree.

Upon leaving Buena Vista he proceeded on to Natchez with the bear. 

Now from here once again variations come in. According to some sources he was performing for children there. From others no mention is made of performing there.

Regardless of that fact at Natchez the bear attacked the Frenchman. Some sources say that somebody was killing hogs and the smell of the blood upset the bear and he started towards the smell and when the Frenchman tried to restrain him, he attacked. Others I have heard say he was performing for children at the school at Natchez. I am not sure and probably nobody else is totally sure now.

The Centennial says that he threw him to the ground and was literally trying to eat him alive. That leads me to believe that something like the smell of fresh blood might have been involved.

Numerous different sources say that he was screaming the bears name calling him “Jimbo” and begging him to stop. More than one says that you could hear him screaming for a distance the words Jimbo, stop, please stop.

It is not clear exactly when but according to the Centennial after the bear killed the Frenchman, a local man named Jim Reeves killed the bear with his rifle. 

Again, I have heard discrepancies in the story on this part but some sources say that the locals buried the man and the bear in the cemetery. Other sources I have heard said just the man and did not mention the bear.

Since nobody knew the man’s name they just always called him The Bear Man.

Now I do not know with 100 percent certainty what nor who is buried in the cemetery where the cross marker is. I however do know that there is a marker in the cemetery with the name The Bear Man on it and all sources I know of today agree that this is where he is buried.

The article in the Centennial puts it as happening in 1891 or 92. I have always heard it said as some time before 1900 or in the 1890’s. 

As I said at the beginning this is a story that I remember hearing told from childhood. Some of the people I have heard tell it would have been born in the early 1900’s so the story was not that many decades old from when they heard it however, I am not sure if they heard if directly from somebody that was a witness.

One thing for sure it indeed had to have happened and that is a pretty close rendition of how it did happen.

Thanks for reading. Jackson

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Houses For The Dead

I am forever amazed at what can be found as one takes time to get out and ramble across this beautiful land in which we live. It seems that at every turn and down every dim road there is one more thing uncovered that was only known to exist by at the most a small handful of people. 

It seems that when we happen on some nugget of information or find one rare thing that it opens up a total world of information on that particular thing or even many more. For those of us who continually ramble, look, and investigate it becomes addicting. The urge sometimes gets almost over whelming to go look see find and investigate. 

Of course then there is the fact that once you find you must photograph it and then from time to time you must revisit that same thing again in the future. Possibly more than once we go back. Always wondering how has it fared this long. Possibly wondering how long it will be there before nature reclaims it totally.

Recently I found out about a place called Caledonia, Al. Now at this time I won’t go into any history on this place because I feel that there is too much to contain in this writing. However, I do want to share some insights to my visit there. Primarily I want to share about something that I had heard of but never witnessed in my life. In fact I it is something that to be honest I heard about a good while back but for some reason it was one of those things that I just filed in my memory but never took time to do anything with it.

What I am talking about I found in Bear Creek Cemetery. Bear Creek Cemetery is found down a narrow road in Southern Wilcox County. It is about halfway between Oak Hill and McWilliams just off the east side of Al Hwy. 21.

Although I had traveled that road hundreds of times in my life I had absolutely no clue that it existed. One of those things that you pass by so often but for whatever reason never take time to notice nor appreciate.

Because of the fact that I am very interested in history I am often invited to join social media groups that discuss things of historical significance. That is how I stumbled upon this gem. I was invited to join the social media group called Bear Creek Historical and Preservation Society. After seeing this group I found out about this old church and another one that is abandoned between this one and the state highway. Immediately upon the discovery of this one I knew I had to take a look see.

It was well on over in the day when we set out to visit this site. I had not been to this area rambling in quite some time and I did not have any pictures of it. With the directions I found on the group page I knew exactly where to look to find it. Of course, I had to visit some stuff before I got there but eventually we made it in to the church. 

Once we got to the church, I immediately took some photos of the church. Although I focus primarily on the old churches when I go to these places. I seldom ramble through the cemeteries themselves because of the fact that I am not as focused on the cemeteries as the churches and communities themselves.

Many times I walk to the fence of a cemetery and just take a few photos of the cemetery as a whole and leave. Today as I walked to the fence and started to look I saw it. Never before in real life did, I remember ever seeing one. There off to my right and down the fence was what first appeared to me to be a shed out in the cemetery. Now to be perfectly honest at first I thought it was a storage shed or something. It did not even register in my mind that it was actually a covering over graves.

It was at that moment it hit me. Wait a minute, I had heard of these before. I had seen pictures of some somewhere before actually but for whatever reason as I said above it was just info that I got but never focused on. Actually there was not just that one but there were two of the I the cemetery.

Now all of a sudden my attention was drawn to them. I had to get closer and get a photo of them and of course find out more.

Immediately I found out that they were called Grave Houses, or Grave Shelters. Quoting this shared by Martha Grimes Lampkin: In its Guide to Common Alabama Grave Markers, the Alabama Historical Commission defines a grave shelter as “a wood structure placed over an in-ground burial, usually with a gable roof and sides made of vertical pickets or boards. Some have boards with decorative jig work and a few are constructed with doors and windows to resemble houses. Grave shelters were common in some areas of the South and are generally associated with Native Americans and groups of Scotch-Irish ancestry.”

The purpose of these grave houses is not necessarily given as I guess they could serve numerous purposes. First of all in the 1800’s people were not buried in vaults. They were only buried either wrapped in some sort of fabric or just in their clothes, or in a wooden box that some friend, neighbor, or family member made for them. Therefore, quite possibly they served to protect the grave from the weather. Secondly, they served as a means to shade the grave in the hot summer days when family members or other visitors came to visit the graves. I am sure that there were probably other reasons for them as well.

Many of the ones in Alabama have fallen in from decay and nature has reclaimed them. There are estimated by some to be the oldest in Alabama still standing was estimated to be built in 1853. There are supposedly about 40 of them documented to be still standing in Alabama at this time. No one knows how many there have been built. 

I have been told that there is another one standing in the Hopewell Cemetery a few miles up the road from this one and I have been told of another one that I have not been able to confirm. 

This is just one more of the rare wonders of the past that is still standing out there in this great and beautiful Southland that we love to wander through. One only can imagine what else there is out there that is left to explore. The rare unknown that is right there under ones nose that many times we have passed right by without noticing or even knowing. I can only imagine what the next adventure holds and I can’t wait.

This is one thing that I never expected to find on this visit. I hope that there are others that see them and enjoy them just as we found them and were able to enjoy them for many years to come.

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Puryearville Cemetery/ Centenary Church

Traveling through our beautiful Southlands there are so many sights to behold and so many things to learn. At every crook in the road there is history. Sadly, so much of it is fading away. While traveling through the dirt roads of Eastern Monroe County one encounters a road called Puryearville Road. Following that road there is a cemetery.

Over the years I have traveled that road numerous times. As I and other friends who research and ask questions have stated many times, we pass these things but really do not know much about them.

Click picture to enlarge
Click picture to enlarge

On a recent trip through I started to ponder on this cemetery and the history of it.

Immediately I wanted to know more. So, I started to ask questions and seek out the rest of the story. That is where it got interesting.

Little did I know that this well kept beautiful cemetery way back on a red dirt road held a mystery that I wanted to learn. As with most things in history that we search out there is always more to the story.

Click picture to enlarge
Click picture to enlarge
Click picture to enlarge
Click pictures to enlarge

In my searches I found that there was once a Methodist Church over that way by that same name. Further research showed that it actually stood beside where the cemetery is. They had removed that church and relocated it to a spot in Conecuh County and given it a new name.

The old Puryearville Methodist Church had become the Centenary Church. As I read more and asked more I found some history on it. 

According to a document that is on the Facebook Group Burnt Corn Alabama: 

Lazenby’s History of Methodism in Alabama and West Florida that is sourced by :

Reverend F.S. Moseley- — Eutaw, Alabama

Mr. John Cunningham—Evergreen, Alabama

Mrs. Eugene Riley—Monroeville, Alabama

This is excerpts of the account given in that document:

PURYEARVILLE METHODIST CHURCH MONROE COUNTY

The Purvearville Methodist Church started as a Society near Burnt Corn in 1820.

Among its earliest members were Isaac Betts, George Watson, and a Mrs. Puryear.

Another member there from 1820 until 1834 was James King, North Carolinian, licensed to preach in 1806 and moved to Alabama in 1819. It was while he was a member of Puryearville that he was ordained an elder by Bishop George in Sardis (Bellville) Church in 1822. King died at Allenton, Alabama and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Wilcox County.

His wife is buried at Old Sardis.

 Thomas Clinton was the first pastor appointed to the Conecuh Circuit, and he probably served this Society. 

After some years this Society was moved to the community known as Puryearville and the church became known as the Puryearville Methodist Church.

Some sources say the first church was built in 1830. The property was deeded

to the trustees in 1843.. 

The deed to the Puryearville Church property is recorded in Monroe County Court House. This deed is dated March 25, 1843 and shows that Richard C. Puryear deeded 2 acres of land to Isaac Betts, George Watson, William Black, Joel B. Walden, and Thomas Pritchett

as trustees. R. H. Puryear and Richard R. Mosley witnessed the deed to which Hickman Fowler acted as Justice of Peace. James McCall was county clerk at the time. 

It has been said that the upstairs of this, church was reserved for the use of the Washington-Monroe Academy and was also used for Masonic Meetings. This old building also had a slave gallery.

A new building replaced this old one about 1880 or 1890. The compiler first saw this building in 1912 and it seemed to have been twenty or thirty years old at that time.

The second building did not have an upstairs but was a neat small church in a beautiful location surrounded by trees.

All the trees have been cut and the church services were discontinued between 1928-30. The building was moved between 1941-43 when Reverend Sam E Hudgens was pastor of the Burnt Corn Methodist Church. 

Click picture to enlarge

The old church was moved and rebuilt on property donated by Mr. Sam W. Salter.

It was renamed The Centenary Methodist Church and was located about six miles east of Burnt Corn near the community known as Breckenridge. 

Oddly enough the Centenary Methodist Church was located diagonally across the road from the home of my Great grandparents the Dewberry’s. Finding all of this information on this church brought more meaning to me on it because of the fact that I am sure that they attended it some if not regularly. Little did I know any of this till I started to research Puryearvile Methodist Church.

Finding out all of this rich history of this cemetery and then going once again to the Centenary Church that is still standing brought a fulfillment to me and I hope it does to many others. I for one had been past the Centenary Church many times in my life. I had no clue of the connection that it has with the Puryearville Cemetery nor the community around it. This is one more reason that those of us who dig daily to learn thrive because there are so many stories that will be forever lost if they are not shared in media for the generations to come.

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Old Scotland Presbyterian Church

The Old Scotland Presbyterian Church was built in 1837 according to the National Historic Registry.

The community of Old Scotland in Monroe County was settled by families from Georgia and the Carolinas among other areas, many of whose families were immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. Historians say that the Old Scotland community got its name because of the area’s close resemblance to the native country of those that settled there. 

The Old Scotland Presbyterian Church was originally made of logs. That structure was replaced in 1837 by the wooden frame building is now standing. 

As early as the 1920s, most of the residents had moved to Franklin, Monroeville, and other communities in the local area. Because of this fact the church to discontinued regular services. 

Now there is one service a year held there as a memorial service held. There is a Facebook page that can be checked for the dates. https://www.facebook.com/OldScotlandPresbyterianChurch

At the time of this writing the 200th anniversary service will be held April 23, 2023.

The church’s cemetery has graves of several Civil War soldiers. This church is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

The church is located approximately 2.25 miles from County Rd 42 (Ridge Road) not far from the community of Tunnel Springs Alabama. Coordinates 31.66772, -87.27354

The cemetery holds the graves of those with the last names of  Mcmillan, Davison, Dennis, Dunn, English, Falkenberry, Fountain, Jackson, McCorvey, Nettles, Rumbley, Simmons, Smith, Stevens, and Wiggins. 

Here is a YouTube drone video taken in 2016.

https://youtu.be/ZVNEBOSH1Rw
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Shiloh Church

Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church Frisco City Al

Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church has a rich history in Frisco City Spanning well over a century.

Miss Dot Sims

The Cemetery at Shiloh is listed on Find a grave at https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2249430/memorial-search?page=1#sr-24612718

Founded in 1884 by Rev. Burney Sawyer

Shiloh Primitive Baptist still stands today. Although there have been no regular services there since the 1980’s the rich tradition still lives on of years gone by in the hearts and minds of many who had loved ones of the past that were once part of that great Church.   Listen closely as Mrs sims tells the story.