A Pelham Map from 1989

                          

We live in Pelham, so naturally I've done quite a few pieces over the years about the city and its history. Several have featured maps older than this one, which is similar to a 1985 Hoover map I wrote about in September 2024.  I have a third one of Shelby County, and I may post about it one day.

Pelham was incorporated on July 10, 1964, although the town dates back to 1820 when it was known as Shelbyville and the seat of Shelby County. That status only lasted until 1826, when Columbiana replaced it. The Shelbyville name remained until soon after the Civil War when a change honored Confederate cavalry officer Major John Pelham. For a bit more of history, see my post on Pelham in the 1880s. 

Thus this 1989 map commemorates the 25th anniversary of incorporation. We moved to town in 1985, and I've discussed some of these places in that linked post. Let's see how many of these businesses and  landmarks are still around or that I remember. 

The map features several government buildings that haven't changed, such as the post office, city hall [which has had extensive interior upgrades] and fire station #2. Highway US 31 had already been renamed Pelham Parkway. Other entities still operating include Oak Mountain State Park, Pelham Cemetery, the main City Park and Pelham High School. Businesses like Cracker Barrel, Southern Heritage, Alabama Power, Goodyear Tire Center and Blue Water Park haven't changed much either.

Some places have different uses today. The Bradford Center is now a part of Shelby County Schools, the Linda Nolen Learning Center. K-Mart became Old Time Pottery. Valley Elementary School, which both our kids attended, is now the Campus 124 retail and city park complex. First Baptist Church built a huge new facility, and Skate Time became the church's annex. The Food World Plaza is no more; it's now the Pelham Place Shopping Center. Mi Pueblo Supermarket replaced Food World, where our son worked during high school. China One, later Cafe, was an Asian restaurant we frequented in the early years of our days in Pelham. The business eventually closed and has been replaced by Wok On In. 

Some things on this map are simply gone. Fran's Restaurant, opened in 1962, closed in September 2013. The small retail strip where it and the Pelham Barbershop were located is now an empty lot. The Methodist Church, the first religious group in the city, occupied that corner from 1898 until October 2006, when it moved to Shelby County 11. The sanctuary, built in the 1940s was demolished; the new Family Life building remains. Demolition of Oak Mountain Amphitheater is expected later this year. 

Well, all things must change, more or less. Take a look at how empty Helena Road is up to the high school and think about all the businesses, etc. located there now.

The last two images are excerpts giving most of the locations in a hopefully more readable size. I've written a blog post about Pelham as we knew it in 1985. A good source for Pelham history is Pelham Memories: A Pictorial History by Bobby Joe and Diane Seales [2008]. 

Town Square Graphics, Inc, the Georgia company responsible for designing this map was formed in 1988 and dissolved in 2010. 

Moving Lydia's Remains

My great-great maternal grandfather Reverend James Wilson Shores [1828-1918] was born in Putnam County, Georgia, on October 6, 1828. He moved to what is now Elmore County in 1842 and joined the Methodist Church in May 1845. He was a minister for more than five decades, having been licensed to preach in 1850. He died on March 21, 1918, in his home at 24 North Hull Street in Montgomery. Funeral services were held in Dexter Avenue Church, and he is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery. 

The state archives has a manuscript of his, "Record of Work, 1851-1861" which can be viewed online or downloaded and includes this description:

"Reminiscences of James Wilson Shores, a circuit preacher for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Alabama and Mississippi.  Shores changed circuits every year or two, covering the following counties from 1851 to 1861: Autauga, Barbour, Clarke, Dallas, Fayette, Greene, Lowndes, Marengo, Marion, Perry, Russell, and Sumter Counties in Alabama; and Lowndes and Monroe Counties in Mississippi. When writing about preaching appointments, he lists the dates, locations, and sermon texts for each. In his year-end summaries, he records the number of sermons and classes presented, total distance traveled, number of persons converted and visited, amount of money collected, and topics of personal study. Of particular note in this manuscript are his notes from 1851 and 1853, which include lists of enslaved people preached to and lists of "promiscuous places preached at" (Shores uses "promiscuous" to mean "irregular"; that is, locations not on his regular circuit)."

His future wife Lydia Ann Edwards was born on January 25, 1833, in her father's home near Montgomery. They were married in Prattville on March 16, 1852 and had twelve children together. She died in Orville, age 47 on November 2, 1879. She was buried in Liberty Cemetery midway between Orville and the old state capitol Cahawba. Her tombstone notes she was "A True Wife, A Devoted Mother, A Consistent Christian". James Wilson Shores did not marry again, even though he outlived her by nearly 40 years.  

I am directly descended from Sterling Soule Shores, the sixth child of James and Lydia. He was born on November 22, 1861, in Suggsville in Clarke County. On November 3, 1887, he married Julia Peterson McMillan in Rehoboth in Wilcox County. One of their children was John Miller Shores, my maternal grandfather. John Miller was also a long-time Methodist minister, serving in north Alabama for more than 50 years. 

Lydia's gravesite eventually disappeared from family memory. After a search of many years, Frank Parquette, a great-grandson of James Wilson Shores, located the gravesite in Liberty Cemetery, on the property of Oxford Smith. Frank, his son and brother-in-law got permission to visit the cemetery in January 1995 and found it totally neglected and overgrown. Discussion among family members led to a decision to disinter the remains and move them to a Shores plot in Oak Hill Cemetery in Jasper. 

The actual exhumation took place on July 24, 1999. Among those in attendance were Frank Parquette, my dad Amos, brother Richard and his sons Ashley and Miller and yours truly. Cary Oakley, then director of the Office of Archaeological Research at Moundville and a friend of dad's, also participated and made sure state requirements for movement of a burial were fulfilled. Richard had once worked with Carey at OAR. As the attorney in the family, Richard contacted local officials about the disinterment.  

Liberty Cemetery is located near the junction where Dallas County Road 952 joins County Road 948. The place was indeed overgrown in many areas, including Lydia's grave. We spent much of that day there in the summer heat digging, sifting, and teasing what was left of Lydia's coffin and remains from the sandy soil. The effort and results can be seen below in the various photos. 

Also present that day was Sam Shelton of the Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home in Trussville and his wife. Mr. Shelton provided the hearse and new coffin and transported Lydia's remains to Jasper's Oak Hill Cemetery. She was reburied there the next day, a Sunday, next to her grandson John Miller Shores. Attending were  Amos J. Wright, Jr., Frank Parquette, Mr. and Mrs. Shelton and others. Dad offered a brief prayer at the ceremony. 

I am indebted to the late Virginia Nancarrow's 2003 book, Rev. James Wilson Shores: His Ancestors and Descendants, for some of the information in this post.  

Much of the cemetery looked like this area in the photo. Many prominent gravestones and fenced gravesites were caught in a veritable central Alabama jungle.

Brother Richard in his element. Clearly visible are the pieces of the coffin's glass viewing plate. 

The process of searching through the dirt was tedious, just like an archaeological dig.

Not much survived the acidic, sandy soil. Seen in this photo are pieces of the large viewing glass, metal handles, two six-inch pieces of leg bones & other bone fragments and a six-inch piece of Lydia's skull, seen in the upper right. The three small items above and the two below are the viewing plate thumbscrews that held the glass on the wooden coffin. 

Also found were wood fragments from the casket, bits of hair on the skull and glass pieces, some horseshoe nails, and a thin fragment of the metal coffin plate. That would have included an inscription and been attached below the glass.  

Lydia's Montgomery family had enough wealth to pay for a coffin featuring the glass plate and the iron handles. 

Lydia Shores was reinterred in Oak Hill Cemetery in Jasper in a section where many of my other Shores relatives are also buried. 

These two photographs can be found in Virginia Nancarrow's book, cited above.

Hopefully Lydia would have been pleased with the presence of her Shores descendants and the care taken with her remains.