Shelton Family Cemetery

Mar 11

Site Brief:

Founded: About 1850 (Possibly as early as 1830)

Location: Mt. Berry, GA

Additional name(s): Possum Trot Cemetery and Church

Affiliate group(s): N/A

History:

By 1874, during reconstruction, my formerly enslaved, matrilineal third great-grandparents, Hardy and Mary Shelton relocated to the Flatwoods District of Floyd County, Rome, Georgia, from nearby Coosa, also known as the North Carolina District (http://www.samhardin.family/coosa/index.html). Hardy was a farmer, and Mary was a homemaker and healer. On December 19, 1874, Hardy purchased 120 acres of land on lot 59, thereby establishing the Shelton Family Settlement (as referenced by current descendants). It was on this land that their family grew to 12 children (Laura, Lucy, Frances, Aaron Hardy, Mary, Henri, Rhoda, Lula, Joel Lee, William, Matilda, and Judy). Through hard work, courage, determination, and family and community loyalty, the Shelton’s descendants and their spouses purchased additional acreage, expanding their land ownership to nearly 700 acres. The families prospered despite a lack of formal and/or limited education. However, over time, numerous land transactions, and as the men died, much of the land was eventually sold or lost to alleged debt. By the mid-1920s, with few exceptions, much of the land was no longer possessed by Shelton family descendants. As a result, many descendants migrated to other parts of the country for work and to begin anew. Some descendants chose to remain in Rome and surrounding areas.

Today, only the Shelton Family Cemetery remains as evidence of our ancestor's habitation and hard work on the surrounding land. Deed research conducted by an architectural historian of deeds from 1858 and forward, indicate the 1.5 acres of land (Lots 49 and 60), upon which the Shelton Family cemetery and the Possum Trot Church lie, fail to support ownership by the Shelton family or their descendants. And from 1858, forward, the land was excepted from any sale or transfer. The 1858 deed was held by James M. Spullock, a lawyer, who likely inherited the land from his father. Ongoing research appears to point to the Spullock (Spurlock spelling variation) family as the likely enslavers of the Shelton family in Georgia. The deeds also show that the 1.5 acres were never purchased through legal sale by Berry College. Instead, the land was “appropriated” as indicated in the history of Possum Trot as posted on the college website, likely through pedes possession by Martha Berry, founder of Berry College. In other words, the land was subsumed by her because she owned vast amounts of the surrounding land. It is unlikely we will ever know the full truth surrounding the land transactions. The Shelton Family Cemetery holds 60+ graves, 12 of which have a marker identifying the family member at eternal rest, but most are marked with fieldstones or nothing at all (Ground Penetrating Radar revealed the approximate number of graves, with indications that there are likely more). Several yards from the Shelton Family Cemetery sits the historic Possum Trot Church, built around 1830 to 1850. Before 1900, the church was known as the Primitive Baptist Church and School, and possibly the Pleasant Hill Church and School. In 1900, the area became known as Possum Trot when Martha McChesney Berry, “appropriated” the alleged abandoned church for use as a Sunday School and School (until 1954) for the white mountain children.

Further, members of the Shelton Family Settlement married members of the Freemantown Settlement of formerly enslaved, located a few miles away. Freemantown also has a cemetery that is the last remaining vestige of its settlement. The land of these settlements has been owned by Berry College since the early to mid 1900’s, Berry College is a private institution and the largest land mass college in the world, holding 27,000 acres. Descendants of the Shelton and Freeman families have forged a relationship with Berry College. The Berry administration has formally acknowledged our ancestors and settlements by placing interpretive history markers at each cemetery, developing a library guide, and permitting the families to host reunions on the campus.

The cemeteries are open to the public daily, from 9 am to 5 pm. We believe that Hardy and Mary Shelton, Irvin and Lucy Spruce and many other family members are buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery in unmarked graves.