The Alabama Boxer Who Fought Muhammad Ali

Well, Muhammad Ali was Cassius Clay at the time, but still...

One of the professional boxers native to Alabama was heavyweight Herb Siler. According to most sources, he was born on January 5, 1935 in Brundidge. His Social Security record gives the date as December 20, 1934. That record also lists his parents as Herbert Siler and Catheren McCray. I've so far been unable to find any further information in census or other records.

I've also found nothing on Siler's early life--how long he lived in Brundidge, how he got into boxing, etc. We next find him in Miami at his first fight against Harold Brown on April 25, 1960, at the Palace Arena. He won that bout on his way to a final record of 20 wins [9 by knockouts] and 12 losses [8 by knockouts]. His last fight on May 4, 1967, was a loss, as were the previous five fights. 

Clay was Siler's seventh fight overall and seventh and last bout in 1960.  Clay faced only one previous professional opponent, Tunney Hunsaker, on October 29 in Louisville, Kentucky. Thus Siler had more professional fights, but Clay had defeated all four of his opponents in the Rome Summer Olympics earlier that year. 

Siler and Clay fought on December 27 at the Auditorium in Miami Beach. Clay won in a technical knockout in the fourth round. Clay was just 20 days shy of his 19th birthday. All of Siler's earlier professional bouts took place in Miami or Miami Beach. That pattern would continue for most fights over the rest of his career. 

Another gap of information appears in Siler's life after his boxing career ended in 1967 until 1972. In that year he was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of a friend and served seven years in the Belle Glades Correctional Institute in Florida. At some point he apparently overcame an alcohol addiction and by the late 1980's ran a successful construction company. 

Siler died, again according to his Social Security record, on March 25, 2001. He is buried in Ft. Lauderdale. His grandson is NFL linebacker Brandon Siler.

In November 1966 Ali visited Alabama during the midst of a tour of southern colleges. You can see one of the photographs taken during that visit below.

Our family has some connections to Brundidge which I've written about here. 

Soure: BoxRec

Source: Find-A-Grave

Siler is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Central in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Source: Find-A-Grave

Muhammad Ali is seen here on November 24, 1966, at the Turkey Day Classic football game played in Montgomery between Alabama State and Tuskegee Institute. You can see many more photographs taken that day here.

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History

Alabama Photos of the Day: 1937 Brundidge Tornado

On April 8, 1937, a tornado cut a path through Pike County that included the town of

Brundidge. According to records of the U.S. National Weather Service, the tornado was

on the ground for eight miles. The Service records five tornadoes in the state that

year. This one caused the most fatalities, four, and 25 injuries.

My mother's grandparents Mollie and Joseph Flowers lived in Brundidge in 1937.

Joseph ran a general store on main street for many years. Mom remembers visiting

her grandparents when she was young, playing in "Papa's" store and taking a nap on

the bluejeans piled on a table. In July 2015 my brother Richard and I visited Brundidge,

their house, which still stands, and the location of the store, which housed the police

department at that time.

The photos that follow come from the digital collections of the state archives.

Residence of the Misses Bryant after the tornado

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

Path of the tornado in Brundidge

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

A severely damaged house in Brundidge

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

Dickerts Planing Mill after the tornado

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History 

A house moved by the tornado

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History 

A Visit to Brundidge, Alabama

This past July my brother Richard and I made one of our annual trips seeking Alabama and family history. This time we were in east central Alabama mainly around Brundidge and Camp Hill. We visited several other places I've already written about such as Smuteye, Union Springs and Aberfoil. I'll be doing future posts on Camp Hill and Tallassee. A decade or more ago mom and two of her sisters, Heth and Marjorie, made a similar trip to Brundidge and Camp Hill; some things have changed, others not so much.

Brundidge is a very nice little town in southeastern Pike County that bills itself as "Alabama's Own Antique City." The downtown area is filled with shops and galleries of all types; we enjoyed a respite from the late July heat in a pleasant coffee shop. Almost all the storefronts we saw were occupied by active businesses or other entities. The population in 2013 was estimated at just over 2000 people.  

My maternal grandmother Tempe Hilliard Flowers Shores was born in Brundidge and lived there until she left to attend Huntingdon College. Her parents Joseph and Mollie Flowers lived in Brundidge for many more years. After Tempe married future Methodist minister John Miller Shores, they and their children, including mom, often visited. My maternal great-grandfather ran a general store in town. 

Richard and I wanted to visit the house and store sites as well as the Brundidge City Cemetery where ancestors are buried. On the way out of town to seek another cemetery nearby, my brother and I passed the reason Brundidge seems to be doing so well: a massive Wal-Mart distribution center. 

Photos and more commentary are below. 

UPDATE 22 December 2021

 The Alabama Historical Commission recently designated historic districts in Brundidge, including the area where the Flowers' general store was located. See below for a more recent photo of the building today. 

The Brundidge City Cemetery is well kept these days and also was when mom and her sisters visited. 

Interestingly, there were two lines of Flowers living in Brundidge who were not related. Arthur Talmage Flowers was a member of the line we are not related to. The symbol above his name indicates he was a Mason. He married Vela, one of Tempe's younger sisters. Thus a Flowers married a Flowers. 

Here's the house where my grandmother Tempe Hilliard Flowers Shores was born and where mom and family visited many times.

Mom said she remembers playing around the big tree. The small house on the left is a more recent addition to the street.


The three photographs below from family collections show the house and barn in earlier decades.  

The barn no longer exists, but the house and its small addition to the left--done originally for a master bedroom with bath--look pretty much the same. My aunt Heth was born in the house. 

Tempe's parents, my great-grandparents Joseph and Mollie Flowers, are buried in the Brundidge City Cemetery. Their daughter Vela is buried close to them. 

The storefronts on this part of Brundidge's main street have remained much the same for many years. The far white building was my great-grandfather's general store. 

The general store is now the Brundidge Police Department headquarters. Richard and I went inside and explained our interest to the two young people working there on a Saturday morning. 

Here's a closer view of the storefront. Next door is a law office. Mom said when she and her sisters visited a liquor store occupied the site. She said her grandfather Joseph Flowers, a Methodist teetotaler, would have been horrified.

Mom remembers being taken to the store by "Papa" as a young girl, allowed to play there and take naps atop a stack of overalls. The pile was so high "Papa" had to put her up there and take her down. 

Photo below is a more recent one via Google Maps; the police station has moved and the space has become another general store of sorts. [22 December 2021 update]

The Masonic lodge is currently located on the main street. A.T. Flowers was probably a member of this lodge.

This Baptist church is located a few miles west of Brundidge near a place once known as Hilliards Crossroads. 

Many of our Flowers and Hilliard ancestors are buried in this cemetery behind the church.

This side of my family seems to have had several Masons; my grandfather John Miller Shores was also a member. Quay was our great-uncle, and Tempe Flowers Shores' younger brother.