Posted by Douglas Washington on November 12, 19102 at 18:55:34:
In Reply to: Shirey Ancestors posted by Amanda Shirey Lawrence on June 29, 19100 at 20:12:50:
I did not find that name but following your request, I pasted a possible refference
Best Wishes:
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: I am researching my family tree. My GGF was James Clarence Shirey, and his son (my GF) Clarence Lee Shirey they are both buried in Covington County Alabama. I do not know anything much about my family. If anyone knows any info it would be greatly appreciated.
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Collections and Recollections of the Newman Shirey Family
By Laverne Keeler Kilgore - 1988
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(Click on a superscript to display notes.)
NOTE:This was written by Mrs. Kilgore in 1988, 6 years after "Those Traveling Shireys" listed above it on the menu. This information is likely more accurate since it follows several years of additional research by Mrs. Kilgore. -- Wayne Shirey
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Chapter 1
Newman & Susan Chapter 2
William Thomas Chapter 3
John Nicholas Chapter 4
Joseph Washington
Chapter 5
Mary Louie Chapter 6
Susan Elizabeth Chapter 7
Thomas Presley Chapter 8
William James
Chapter 9
Martha Jane Catherine Chapter 10
Newman Gales Chapter 11
Epps Lewis Chapter 12
Peter Early
Chapter 4 - Joseph Washington and Saphronia Adair Shirey
When Joseph Washington "Joe" Shirey was born in February 1854 2, he became the namesake of his great-uncles, Joseph Green Lewis and Joseph Duke 4. Joe was the third child and third son born to Newman and Susan Elvira (Lewis) Shirey. The exact place of his birth is unknown, but it was almost certainly in or near Butts County, Georgia 3. He had ten siblings:
William Thomas, b 6 Apr 1851, d 21 May 1851 3
John Nicholas, b 1852 GA, d 1938 GA 2
Mary Louie (or Lewis??), b 16 Nov 1856, d Jun 1875 3
Susan Elizabeth, b 1858 GA, d Sep 1942 AL 2
Thomas Presley, b 1859 GA, d 1947 TN 2
William James, b 17 Nov 1863 GA, d 30 Oct 1950 AL 2
Martha Jane Catherine, b 19 Feb 1865 GA, d 11 Oct 1952 2
Newman Gales, b 6 Aug 1867 GA, d 17 Feb 1942 AL 2
Epps Duke Lewis, b Feb 1871 GA, d 1951 AL 2
Peter Early the Eleventh, b 23 Aug 1875 GA, d 2 Jan 1947 AL 2
Miss Ella Adair became Joe’s bride on September 10, 1874 3 They were married in Henry County, Georgia, by I.G. Trumbill, minister of the 5. Joe and Ella had four (or five?) children while living in Georgia. In 1885, they moved by wagon train to Sand Mountain in Marshall County, Alabama, settling first at Alder Springs 1,3 near Albertville. Later they moved permanently to land near McVille2. This site on Sand Mountain was virgin land. It had to be cleared manually of trees, brush, and rocks before it could be tilled 2. Joe had to do most of this clearing alone as "hired help" was unavailable. He received some help from the three oldest children and his younger brothers when they were not busy with their own pursuits or helping their father2. Some of the acreage that was most heavily wooded was left uncut. Later this timber was harvested as a cash crop2.
Six more children blessed the home of Joe and Ella, but one son died an infant2. The other nine grew to adulthood and reared large families of their own. Only the eldest, Nancy Susan "Nannie", left the northeast Alabama area. She was married to Willis Harrison Grigsby Chambers, a school teacher and farmer, and moved to Brown County, Texas. There they reared nine children. The sons, Thomas Jefferson "Tom", Newman Evander "Van", William Benjamin "Ben", and Joseph Green, and the other daughters, Ella Jane "Jennie", Bessie Lilla, Minnie Aurora, and Lelia Eppsie, all married and remained in the general vicinity. All the sons and sons-in-law were farmers. Ben was also a minister. Tom and his wife, Lousinda Bishop, had eight children. Van married Lizzie Maroney; their children numbered eleven. Ben was married to Manola Ragsdale,and they had twelve children. Jennie and her husband, Joe McGriff, were parents of twelve children. Bessie’s husband was Wylie Fortson; this couple had ten children. Minnie became the wife of Amos Gann; they reared six children. Joe Green was married to Rosa Duckett. They had nine children. Lela, the youngest, married Leonard Brock. They had two children. In all Joe and Ella became the grandparents of seventy-eight grandchildren!! They liked nothing more than to gather these families together for food and fellowship2.
Joseph Washington Shirey died in 1922. He rests in the family plot in the Macedonia Cemetery2.
NOTE: Mrs. Kilgore's book, Collections and Recollections of the Newman Shirey Family, contains considerable additional material on Saphronia Ella Adair Shirey as well as many letters, cards, photos and pieces of memorabilia from the Joseph Washington family. Since Mrs. Kilgore is a direct descendant of Joseph and Saphronia Ella, her book goes into a level of detail on that family and its descendants that is beyond the scope of this website. The book can be purchased for $34 postpaid from:
Mrs. LaVerne Kilgore
6144 Whitman Avenue
Ft. Worth, Texas 76133
Click here for a table of descendants of Joseph Washington and Saphronia Ella (Adair) Shirey
Click here for a list of descendants of Joseph Washington and Saphronia Ella (Adair) Shirey
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Footnotes for Chapter 4 - Joseph Washington & Saphronia Shirey
Cameron, Joyce Faye Shirey, Route 62, Box 112, Guntersville, Al 35976
Family Records and Knowledge
Nicols, Opie Shirey, Geraldine, AL 35974, corresondence.
LEWIS/DUKE family records, shared by Omie Gann Davis, Route 2 Box 294, Albertville, AL 35950, August 1980
Marriage Records, McDonough, Henry County, Georgia.
Chapter 1
Newman & Susan Chapter 2
William Thomas Chapter 3
John Nicholas Chapter 4
Joseph Washington
Chapter 5
Mary Louie Chapter 6
Susan Elizabeth Chapter 7
Thomas Presley Chapter 8
William James
Chapter 9
Martha Jane Catherine Chapter 10
Newman Gales Chapter 11
Epps Lewis Chapter 12
Peter Early
Chapter 5 - Mary Louie Shirey
4 MARY LOUIE SHIREY, b 16 Nov 1856 GA, d June 1875 GA
Family Records of Opie Shirey Nichols
shared by Karl Marie Nichols Ables
Chapter 1
Newman & Susan Chapter 2
William Thomas Chapter 3
John Nicholas Chapter 4
Joseph Washington
Chapter 5
Mary Louie Chapter 6
Susan Elizabeth Chapter 7
Thomas Presley Chapter 8
William James
Chapter 9
Martha Jane Catherine Chapter 10
Newman Gales Chapter 11
Epps Lewis Chapter 12
Peter Early
Chapter 6 - Susan Elizabeth Shirey
Susan Elizabeth Shirey
Photo shared by Cleo Pell
The fifth child born to Newman and Susan E. (Lewis) Shirey was a pretty little girl who was christened Susan Elizabeth for her mother, Susan, and her aunt, Elizabeth Harris (Lewis) Shirey. Then she was nicknamed “Suid” by her older brothers. Suid was born March 31, 1868, in Georgia. As a young woman she was carefree, good—natured, prissy, and feisty. She 1oved going to church, to singings, to parties, but most of all to dances.
Suid was married on March 1, 1892, to a widower, William Wesley Floyd. Bill had at least five children and perhaps more by his first wife. These were still living at home. It was not too long before more children began to arrive: Edward Lewis, James Newman “Bud”, Joseph Wesley, Georgia, Ovella who died about age seven, and an infant that also died. This created a large family. Later, some grandchildren came to reside in household too. With this many children to rear, there was little time for very many activities outside the home.
Bill Floyd was the first rural mail carrier out of Albertville. He was also involved in agriculture. He was a mild-mannered man who bowed to Suid’s wishes. Suid became somewhat domineering and was accustomed to having her own way. She was not as tall as most other Shireys, and as she grew older she became overly plump.
Even with her many responsibilities she never lost love for fishing. Very little could keep her from pursuing this coveted activity. Suid enjoyed crocheting, knitting, and quilting. In later years she found pleasure in playing croquet and dominoes. 0n pleasant evenings she and Bill sat on the porch and did “fa sol la” singing in harmony. [ This type singing and piano playing--fa sol la--used only four notes: fa, sol, la, and mi. The music was printed in a special, large, oblong book: The Sacred Harp. The singers first sang the names of the notes through the whole song, then they sang the words to the various verses and the chorus3,4. This type music reading was used throughout the South in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. Many learned to play the piano this way, and some found it almost impossible to change to the conventional teaching4.. ]
Suid loved to brag about how much cotton she was still able to pick at age 65. In later years she picked cotton while sitting in a chair --just hitched it along down the row.
Susan Elizabeth died in September of 1942 in Alabama.
"Bud" Floyd and the 1908 Tornado"
"Bud" Floyd was born crippled or became lame at a very early age -- at any rate he had always walked with crutches. When a deadly cyclone swooped across northeast Alabama in 1908, Bud was probably not more than 8 years old. In the yard there was a tree with a rope swing. As the storm came roaring in, he wrapped the rope around his body and tied himself to the tree. The fury of the wind and rain destroyed his nearby home; it buffeted and battered the boy. Bud prayed in a loud voice and promised God if He would spare him, he would do whatever the Lord asked of him. Bud survived though badly injured and full of splinters and other foreign materials. After surgery -- perhaps more than one -- he improved. Later a large sliver of bone (or wood) worked out of his leg. When this happened, Bud could walk--without crutches!
Bud grew to be a healthy young man. God called him to be a minister. Remembering his promise, Bud answered that call. He became a Methodist preacher and a faithful servant of the Lord. He served congregations of this church in Alabama until his death in 1969.
Written by LaVerne Kilgore
as told by Bill Shirey
Jesse Corbin
Tommy C. Lee
Lois Shirey Hall
Karl Marie Nichols Ables
Doyle Shirey
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Click here for a list of descendants of Susan Elizabeth (Shirey) and William Wesley Floyd
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Footnotes for Chapter 6 - Susan Elizabeth Shirey
Faust, Elaine Floyd, Rt. 4, Box 150, Oneonta, AL 35121
Floyd, Capt. Joe H. Floyd, USN Ret., 711 Knotty Pine Rd., Charleston, SC 29412
Shirey, Hobson, 2209 Alabama Ave. NW, Ft. Payne, AL 35967
Shirey, Treasy, 617 Oak St., Columbia, MS 39429
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Chapter 1
Newman & Susan Chapter 2
William Thomas Chapter 3
John Nicholas Chapter 4
Joseph Washington
Chapter 5
Mary Louie Chapter 6
Susan Elizabeth Chapter 7
Thomas Presley Chapter 8
William James
Chapter 9
Martha Jane Catherine Chapter 10
Newman Gales Chapter 11
Epps Lewis Chapter 12
Peter Early
Chapter 7 - Thomas Presley Shirey
(Click to enlarge
with legend)
The exodus of the Newman Shirey family out of Georgia into Alabama in 1875 did not include the John Nicholas Shireys nor the Thomas Presley Shireys. John Nicholas never moved to Alabama, but Thomas Presley came with his family to the Mount Olive community on Sand Mountain in 1889. The cold march to Alabama was made with a two wagon train. The following is a story Tommy Lee remembers having heard of that trip, “The feet of the men who were walking along side of the wagons were freezing. The men stopped, broke the ice on a stream and washed their feet in the icy water. They then dried their feet and put on dry socks and their shoes. They resumed walking, and their feet got warm.”
At the time of this journey Tom’s family members were his wife, the former Beulah Burton Mann, daughter Lonie Hartwell, and son Walter. Other children born after their arrival were Lulen S. “Lula”, Laura Lee, Lela, Joe, Wallace “Pete”, Ernest, and twins who died very young. Tom settled his family on eighty acres of virgin timber land. This he cleared to establish a profitable farm.
Tom and Beulah’s daughter, Lula, married Earl Gray and moved to Flintville, Tennessee. In 1916 Tom went to Tennessee for a visit and became enamored with the country. He bought seventy-one acres of very fertile, flat, sandy loam; went home; sold his farm; and moved his family to Flintville in 1917. He promptly began to buy more acreage. His next purchase was 40 acres. In 1917 he bought an additional 106 acres. Of this, 45 acres were already cleared for farming, and the rest was forest. This forest he and his family cleared to cultivate. They cut down fine stands of oak, maple, and gum. The big trees were converted into lumber, cross ties, cord wood, and paper wood and sold. The rest were rolled into large piles and burned. At the time of this acquisition, Tom paid $1,800 for the 106 acres. Forty years ago 25.25 acres of it and a four room house brought $6,500. “That small tract now would be dirt cheap at $65,000,” observed Tommy Lee. Tom continued to acquire land of the same quality as his previous lands. Here they raised corn and cotton. Cotton would make a bale to the acre if fertilized and at least a half a bale if not.
Click image for full size with legend
“Tennessee Tom” as Tom became known after his move to Tennessee to distinguish him from his nephew, Thomas Jefferson Shirey, in Alabama, designated farms to the care of his Sons and sons-in-law and their families for share-cropping. If the renter furnished the mules, tools, and labor, he paid 1/3 of the corn and ¼ of the cotton as rent. When the renter supplied only tools and labor, he paid ½ of the crop as rent. “Some of these sons and sons-in-law were eager to buy their own farms, but Grandpa would not hear of it -- he knew he had a good system going. Over the years they could have purchased good, large farms for much less than they paid Grandpa for shares,” commented Tommy Lee. “If Grandpa had not been so close with the dollar and had been a little more speculative, he could have been a very wealthy man owning several thousand acres." Tommy added. As it was he had a very comfortable living if not riches.
One of Tom’s sons-in-law, Zack Lee, had another enterprise--selling pigs. Pigs were bought up from farmers all around the Flintville area, and taken back to Sand Mountain where they were re-sold for premium prices. The pigs were loaded on large wagons and pulled by mules to the Tennessee River where the ferry carried the wagons, mules, and pigs to Guntersville. The trip then was concluded by land to Albertville. Later Zack bought a Model T truck to use as pig transport.
Tom was ill a long time before he died, so several years prior to his death, he divided up the property between his children. He kept only a house and lot for the use of his wife and himself. Each child drew a number which was assigned to a parcel of land for his allotment. These farmsteads were then sold back and forth among the heirs until each was satisfied with his share.
Thomas Presley Shirey, the son of Newman and Susan Lewis Shirey, had been born south of Atlanta, Georgia, on April 8, 1859. His death came when he was 88 on October 6, 1947, at Flintville, Tennessee, where he is buried. His wife Beulah, after her death on November 9, 1953, was buried beside him.
from memories shared by Tommy C. Lee
Click here for a list of descendants of Thomas Presley and Beulah (Mann) Shirey
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Chapter 1
Newman & Susan Chapter 2
William Thomas Chapter 3
John Nicholas Chapter 4
Joseph Washington
Chapter 5
Mary Louie Chapter 6
Susan Elizabeth Chapter 7
Thomas Presley Chapter 8
William James
Chapter 9
Martha Jane Catherine Chapter 10
Newman Gales Chapter 11
Epps Lewis Chapter 12
Peter Early
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