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.