Benjamin Franklin Clements, Junior

Benjamin Franklin Clements [my great grandfather] and his wife, Mary Ward, lived on a farm in Bibb County near the Tuscaloosa County line. Among their eight children were Benjamin, Junior and a younger brother James Rufus. These brothers married Shuttlesworth sisters, of Bibb County. Benjamin choosing Amanda and James pleased to get Permerlia. The land in this area was fairly level and had several springs and creeks, making it acceptable for row farming.

Young Benjamin did leather tanning to supplement his farm income. Also, from his youth he had been a very diligent student of the Bible and felt ‘called’ to be a minister. Chatting with individuals resulted in the informal organization of a group of persons who shared an interest in Christian living. He did not have a church building, although he did serve as a substitute for other ministers in the area on occasions. Ordinarily his ministry consisted of meetings with families or small groups in a home or in the shade of trees when the weather permitted.

The young preacher took seriously the teachings of Christ. When a member of his flock had need of hay, seed corn or help in repairing a roof, Benjamin gladly supplied the need. After a time his wife, feeling that the neighbors were taking advantage of his good nature, appealed to him to cease giving away items the family needed for itself. She begged him to remember that the Bible also taught that “Charity begins at home.”

As the family grew to nine children, the income from the farm and tanning operations became a critical issue, leading Amanda to discuss the matter with her sister Permelia and brother-in-law James Rufus Clements.

When the dispute reached the boiling point, Amanda and James Rufus appealed to the Probate Judge, resulting in an order to transport Benjamin to Tuscaloosa to be committed to Bryce’s Hospital for the Insane.

It was almost a century later that I became interested in family history and learned that my grandfather died in the insane asylum. I had heard the tale that anyone who traces their family history for more than a few generations would find a horse thief, a wife- beater or a crazy man. I had already learned that Benjamin’s father [also named Benjamin]. He had died in prison, but that was the result of his being injured and captured in the Civil war and dying in a Yankee prisoner-of-war camp in Ohio.

A visit to Bryce’s hospital brought the good news that a great grand daughter of Benjamin worked in the public relations office at Bryce’s. Cousin Shirley Sparks was very helpful in searching the records and furnishing me with photocopies of the papers in the file of Benjamin Franklin Clements, patient #4501 and # 5653. These two numbers reveal that Benjamin was a patient at two different times.

The hospital records show that Mr. Clements was 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed 134 pounds. His occupation is shown as farmer & preacher. He did not resist the execution of order of Probate Judge W. C. Christian which made him a patient in charge of James T. Searcy, superintendent of Bryce’s Hospital in Tuscaloosa, AL.

His file does not contain a report of an official diagnosis of Mr. Clements mental condition. However the file does contain the following data:

“Throughout his stay here he was more or less talkative, fussy, and cranky. We did not make an official diagnosis but, judging from what little information there is in the record about him we think the diagnosis was most likely dementia praecox, catatonia type.”

His file contains no record of visits or mail to Benjamin except for visits by his son, Jeremiah (who is also my father). [The visitation slips are undated], and a cousin, J. R. Thompson who visited him on July 25, 1906.

On January 23, 1907 Benjamin’s wife, Amanda Shuttlesworth Clements, wrote to Bryce’s:

“The report is out that my husband (B. F. Clements) is dead. Please inform me if the report is correct. She signed it (Mrs.) Amanda Clements, Data, Bibb County, Ala.”

The prompt reply stated:

“Dear Madam, I am sorry we were not able to communicate with you at the time of your husband’s death which occurred Jan. 7, 1907. The instruction in his Hospital record was to communicate with Mr. J. R. Clements, Phipps, Ala. We had written him previous to his death notifying him that your husband was in serious condition but did not receive any reply and as we could not wire him at the time of his death we wrote him full particulars notifying him of same but have never received any reply from any of our letters. They were not returned so we suppose he or some one else received them. He was neatly buried here in the Hospital cemetery and his grave is marked that it can be pointed out to you at any time you might wish. I am sorry that there was a mistake in the address of the Hospital record as to whom we should communicate with. If there is any other question that you desire to know in regard to your husband’s last hours, we will be only glad to answer same.

Sympathizing with you deeply in your distress and assuring you that your husband had every attention, we are,

Yours truly,
J. Searcy, M.D. Supt.”

Mrs. Sparks advised that the wooden marker has decayed and it is impossible to identify the spot where Mr. Clements is buried.


Jerry’s Comments:

Lessons to be learned from the experiences of Benjamin Franklin Clements depend on a variety of viewpoints:

It appears that Ben was a truly good man who dared do what he believed was right and Christlike, regardless of the consequences.

Wife, Amanda, was convinced that his first duty was to his family and that failure in that duty was sufficient cause to ‘put him away’.

The Probate Judge apparently agreed with Amanda and exercised the law loosely so as to send Benjamin to Bryce’s.

Benjamin was truly hurt by his loss of his family, his business and the fellowship of friends associated with his Church activities.

Everyone should strive to maintain the proper balance between the various attitudes and beliefs of their lives and relationships.

It appears that Benjamin did not have sufficient education in Christian principles and church management to cope with the family problems arising out of his devotion to his Christian beliefs. It would have helped to have had an understanding Bishop to consult with.

If the various parties were available, I doubt if any of them would feel happy about the outcome of the situation, except possibly the Superintendent of Bryce’s.

Finally, descendents of Benjamin, while regretting his problems and death, may feel very proud of his Christian attitude toward his neighbors and his willingness to endure the consequences of his actions.

Our Trip to Alabama in 2002 for the Old Union Baptist Church Homecoming Near Pondville in the Talladega National Forest

Here is a wonderful photo of Jeremiah at 90 years of age, with his beloved computer (now replaced with a spiffier model and a flat-screen monitor) and at his desk working on his many projects and hobbies.


In the heart of the Talladega National Forest, after traveling miles and miles on hot, dusty Alabama (unmarked) forest roads, we finally spotted a sign pointing the way to the church and the reunion. What a relief!


Stephen, Jeremiah and Stewart studying the map at our stop at Mayfield's Grocery Store in Pondville, Alabama.


And here is the Old Union Baptist Church where Jeremiah went to church as a child. His parents are buried in the church cemetery there. We expected an old-time gospel preachin' and singin', but instead we were disappointed to hear a series of Christian rock bands instead. But afterwards there was dinner on the grounds and you have never tasted such good food in your life.




Here are a series of photos of Jeremiah's cousins, Murty, Murvle and Willie Dee, and Murvle's daughter Jessie Dean. They came up from Greensboro to see us for the day.


Stewart places a basket of flowers on the graves of Jeremiah's parents, Jeremiah E. Clements and Dorothy Arrie Stewart Clements.

The Averett Family Reunion 2006 in Greensboro, Alabama

We finally made it to the reunion!

After stops in Birmingham to eat at Johnny Ray's BBQ (big disappointment this time!), a stop at West Blocton to learn more about the Great Fire of 1927, Tuscaloosa (we almost went by the Bryce Hospital where Jerry's grandfather Benjamin Franklin Clements, Jr. is buried), a stop to buy all the Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale on the shelves at a Winn-Dixie along the way, a trip to the Moundville Indian Mounds, and a visit to Mt. Herman United Methodist Church and the graveyard there, after all that, we are finally here for the Averett family reunion in Greensboro, Alabama!

And what a great time we had, so many friendly, happy people, all of them related to us, more or less, and a wonderful covered dish dinner to boot! The reunion was held at the family home of Murty Averett Lyles, her daughter Annie Mable Lyles Hill, and Mable's daughter Jo Anne Hill. Sadly, both Murty and Mable have passed away in recent years, but they were present in spirit nonetheless.




Here are two photos of Jo Anne Hill (in the blue pantsuit), who graciously opened her home to so many family members. Her grandmother, Murty Averett Lyles, had started these family reunions some years ago, and when she died, her daughter Mable Lyles Hill continued the tradtion. And now that Mable has passed away last year, her daughter Jo Anne is carrying on this time-honored and beloved family reunion.

The reunion is held at the family home on County Road 51 in Greensboro, Alabama. Three generations of the Averett family have lived here, Murty, Mable and Jo Anne. From the gazebo out front and the patio to the side, to Murty's scuppernong vines and her meticulous garden area, where no weed dared to grow, there are wonderful memories of the remarkable Averett family.


Here is a photo of Jerry's cousin, Gurthy Averett, who is a remarkable 94 years old. He is standing with his delicious peanut brittle, the best you have ever tasted in your life. Jerry was delighted to see Gurthy at the reunion, since he had not seen him in many, many years. Jerry says that Gurthy looks just like he remembers Uncle John Averett, Gurthy's father.


This photo shows Gurthy and Jerry, with his mouth full of Gurthy's famous peanut brittle. I think we ate it all before dinner was even served!


Gurthy Averett with his wife Ondean, a lovely and happy couple that we were so glad to be able to meet. Gurthy's first wife Sarvala passed away in 1988, and he and Ondean were married, I think, about ten or eleven years ago. They live in Selma, on the river, and have a wonderful garden each year.


Here are two of Gurthy's four children, Jonnie Lee Averett Webb and Joyce Ann Averett Gordy. Jonnie and Joyce are identical twins! And the nicest people, just like Gurthy, Ondean, Luther, Gracie and Jo Anne and everyone else at the reunion.

Since we have twins in our family, Jerry and Elsie's boys Stephen and Stewart Clements, this was exciting to meet even more twins. And the more we talked to people at the reunion, the more we heard mention of this one or that's sets of twins, so they are not really all that rare in our family.


This is Luther Averett with his wife Gracie Clary Averett. Gracie is, I think, the sister of Mable Clary Clements, who was Jerry's brother Johnnie's wife. Luther is Gurthy's brother, and Willie Dee Averett Woods' brother too.

We had heard stories forever about someone in the family who had been in WWII and who had been saved from an enemy bullet by a Bible he had in his pocket. Well, we learned that day that it was Luther!

Luther told us that when he went off to war, his sister, girlfried, wife, or mother, we can't remember which, gave him a Bible with a metal plate on the back and an inscription that read something like, "May this Testament protect you and bring you back safe to us soon." He carried it with him always, sometimes in his backpack, sometimes in his front pockets, shirt pockets, pants pockets, back pockets, but always with him every day he was in the war.

One day, his group went into battle with the Japanese, and almost everyone was killed or injured, so that left Luther to lead his group in the fierce battle.

Luther felt himself get shot, and figured he was done for, felt the blood dripping down his chest. So he put his hand in his shirt to see how bad it was and how soon he was going to die, and when he pulled his hand out, it was wet ... but not with blood, but with sweat! He was sweating so much in the heat and the stress of battle.

And when he pulled out his Testament, it had a bullet hole in it, all the way through, and that bullet from the Japanese enemy had been stopped by the metal plate in his Testament!

We were just awestruck by this amazing story of faith and good luck, told by one of our family members, and we were also glad to have the details filled in about this legendary family story. We have talked about this so many times among ourselves, and have told everyone we know about it. Everyone is touched upon hearing it, just like we were.


The food everyone brought was just delicious! And there was so much of it! This photo just shows one long table of food, and there was another table the same size and then the back table too! Alabama people know how to cook! I was lucky to get one of the last of Jessie Dean's fried green tomatoes! Everything was so good, and we ate and ate and ate!


In the center of this photo is one of our favorites, Jessie Dean Montz Williams. (I'm sorry I don't remember the names of the other two ladies - somebody help me out if you can.) She is Murvel's daughter and lives on County Road 51 in Greensboro. We met Jessie Dean at the Old Union Baptist Church in the middle of the Talladega National Forest neat Pondville, when we were there a few years ago. Murty, Murvel, Willie Dee, and Jessie Dean met us there and we had a very nice time with them. Mable and Jo Anne weren't able to come because they had a trip planned to Georgia to go the the Whistle Stop Cafe, home of the famous fried green tomatoes.


Here is a photo I took that shows Jerry with Searcy, Willie Dee and Gurthy. This was just before we left for home, and I wanted to get one last photo of the group.


Here is Jerry engaged in an animated conversation with Searcy Averett, who is the son of Jerry's cousin William Murphy Averett, I think. I think Searcy's mother was Ruby Lee Clary, Gracie Clary and Mable Clary's sister. I'm a little shaky on this, so anyone feel free to set me straight.

Searcy runs a hunting lodge in the area around Greensboro, and a grand and comfortable one by all accounts. We did not have time to go by it this trip, but Jerry says that he and Elsie were there for one of the Clements family reunions planned by my cousins Dorothy Anne Clements Taylor, Joyce Mayfield (I forget her last name now) and Elaine Clements Lanier. Everyone had a great time!

And following are some random photos I took of the group at the reunion. I tried not to intrude too much, being a newcomer, but I wanted to be sure and get some photos to show to everyone back home.

Our Visit to Mt. Herman United Methodist Church in Greensboro, Alabama

Since we would be arriving in Greensboro early Sunday morning, a bit too early to go to Jo Anne's for the Averett family reunion, even after stopping to buy four cases of Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale and stopping to look at the Indian Mounds in Moundville, I had the idea of stopping by the Mt. Herman UMC for church that morning, and afterwards we would go on to Jo Anne's and the reunion. Jerry thought this was a fine idea, so, armed with maps and high energy, we were on our way.

The problem was some of the roads didn't correspond to what was on our maps, and many roads were not marked, but finally we found the church at a bend in the road, right where it was supposed to be! It was a small, white frame church set way back from the road with a graveyard out back.

We arrived a little before 11:00am, and we figured church would start at that time, and then we saw some people come out of the trailer and head to the front steps of the church. We thought they were coming from Sunday School and going to the church service.

When that didn't seem to be what they were doing, we walked closer and Jerry asked some of the group when church would start. They explained that there was no church that Sunday, because the preacher had four churches and travelled, circuit rider style, to a different one each Sunday, and this was not his Sunday to be at Mt. Herman. They said church was being held at the Valley church, but we decided to look around the church's graveyard instead, so we headed around to the back.

The Mt. Herman church is where many of our relatives on the Averett side of the family goes to church and where many of them are buried.

Everyone we talked to at the church was so nice, friendly, and welcoming, urging us to come back any time, and apologizing that there was no church that Sunday. Everyone knew everyone, and once they knew who we were and who we were related to, they were even more friendly, if such a thing were possible. When we left, we drove by the group of churchgoers who were still talking to each other, the way they do in all small churches, long after the service is over, and as we went by, everyone waved and called out to us in such a friendly way. We must go back there sometime when there are Sunday services!

Here is the entrance to the church grounds of Mt. Herman United Methodist Church, with a welcoming sign out front.

A few people gathered out front caught our eye because we thought they were going from Sunday School to church services.

This larger group came out after Sunday School and stood around for a long time, just talking, visiting, and having a good time together. They were all friendly and welcoming to us, and we hope to go back to see them sometime.

This is the back of the church, showing a portion of the graveyard.

Another view of the graveyard, looking up the hill.

This is the grave of Jerry's beloved uncle and aunt, John Averett and Annie Stewart Averett. Jerry and some of his brothers spent many happy summers with the Averett family, summers that were filled with hard work, delicious food, family time, and lots of love and adventures. Many happy memories for Jerry!

The grave of Jerry's favorite cousin Murty Averett Lyles, who covered for his slow pace with hoeing corn rows. After finishing her own rows in record time, she went back and finished up Jerry's rows too! Murty died a year or two after we saw her, along with her sisters Murvle and Willie Dee, and Murvle's daughter Jessie Dean, at the Old Union Baptist Church homecoming. Jerry's parents, Jeremiah Clements and Dorothy Arrie Stewart Clements are buried at the Old Union graveyard.

We were saddened to learn that Jerry's dear cousin Murvle had passed away, and we had not known of it until we found her grave here. This was sad because we had been looking forward to seeing Murvle at the reunion.

Annie Mable (Mable) Lyles Hill, who was Jerry's cousin Murty's daughter, died last year after a long struggle with COPD. Mable's daughter is Jo Anne Hill, who is carrying on the family tradition started by Murty of having an Averett family reunion at the family home in Greensboro, Alabama.

A view of some of the Montz and Lyles family graves.

This is a grave marker that we found interesting, since it is shaped like a tree with logs, possibly marking the grave of a logger, woodsman, or just an Alabama pioneer.

The inscription reads, "Charles C. Walker, 1890-1918, You are not dead to us, but as a bright star unseen."

Indian Mounds at Moundville, Alabama

On our way down to Greensboro from Tuscaloosa, we stopped off at Moundville to look at the amazing Indian mounds there.

We have seen Indian mounds before, all over the southeast, but never so many in one place. There are probably about 25 of them here, all within sight of each other, and all built the same way.

The site is on the Black Warrior River, and contains about 25 or so large Indian mounds. These mounds were built over a period of about 100 years by Indians of the Mississippian period.

The Great Fire of 1927 in West Blocton, Alabama

Here are a few of the very few links to information on the Great Fire of 1927 in West Blocton, Alabama and the history of two of its churches:

Here are three books detailing the history of West Blocton:


http://www.mindspring.com/~jallison/west_blocton.htm

http://www.rootsweb.com/~albibb/towns/1927blocktonfire.htm

http://www.rootsweb.com/~albibb/towns/1927blocktonfire2.htm

At the time of the Great Fire of 1927 in West Blocton, Alabama, my father, Jeremiah Dotson Clements, was a young fellow who had just turned 14 years old on June 4th, 1927, about a month before the fire on July 12th, 1927.

J.D., as he was known in those days, lived with his mother and five brothers and sisters on Main Street, where his mother, Dorothy Arrie Stewart Clements, had a grocery store. The family had moved from their farm in the country about five years earlier, and were seeking a better, easier and more prosperous life in West Blocton. Unfortunately, their store, home and livelihood were destroyed by the fire.

Jerry was a first-hand observer and participant in the fire and the well-intentioned, but ultimately unsuccessful, efforts to contain and extinguish it. At 93 years of age, Jerry's memory of that day is clear as a bell, and he remembers so many interesting details of that day and the days following the aftermath of the fire. Then as now, he is a most keen observer of events and people around him.
Jerry recalls that the day before the fire, he was feeling something akin to an adolescent restlessness with the somewhat boring life he was living in West Blocton. An extraordinary coincidence occurred, and the repercussions of it have stayed with him to this day. He learned the hard way the lesson of the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for. It might come true."

He wished that the entire town would just burn down. And the next day it did. The entire town - almost completely burned down by a conflagration fueled by a strong west wind.

The day the fire started, Jerry was walking down the sidewalk outside the Douthit Hotel where he worked. He was on an errand to the grocery store to get the day's groceries for the hotel, when he heard the loud clanging of the town's fire alarm. He looked around and saw the flames of the fire shooting out of the dry cleaner's shop. These were not just ordinary flames like we see in our fireplaces or campfires, but a huge solid flame shooting out sideways from the building into the street.

At this point, he headed to his family's store, and talked to Mama about what was going on and what to do, and she urged him to go help Mrs. Manring get as much as possible out of the hotel. Afterwards, he went back to help Mama move whatever they could out of their store and put it in the vacant field behind the street.

He recalls that he and everyone in his family were all in such a state of shock, having lost everything, and he cannot remember a lot in between the time when they moved things out of their store and when they went to the preacher's house that night to stay for a few days.

He does remember looking at the remains fo the Douthit Hotel, and seeing stacks and stacks of melted glass liquor bottles in the basement. Mrs. O'Reilly served her homemade brandy in the evenings to her favorite customers. She had a brother in West End who grew peaches and she made peach brandy from these peaches.

He walked around the town for a while, looking at the devastation, and even though the fire was no longer a threat, there were many hot coals and embers, plus smoke, in many of the burned buildings.

I am working with him to put into print all his memories of the fire, its aftermath, life after the fire, and everday life in West Blocton. If anyone reading this blog has additional information related to any of this blog, please feel free to add your comments by clicking the Comment Button at the end of each post. We are endeavoring to reconstruct the events surrounding the Great Fire of 1927, to add to the historical record, since so few of the citizens involved in the fire are still living.

Where the West Blocton Fire Started

The fire started the morning of Tuesday, July 12th, 1927, and then spread rapidly due to a very strong wind that swept it through the business district.

Jerry remembers the fire as originating in the Ben L. Edmonds Dry Cleaning Plant when a tub of gasoline overheated and caught fire. The Blocton Enterprise dated July 14th, 1927 said it started in the Pipes Pressing Shop. There seems to be agreement, however, that it started when gasoline or chemicals overheated and caught fire in some sort of dry cleaning establishment.

At any rate, the building it started in was at the end of the block shown here, and is now Jack's Pharmacy (the red brick building at the corner). The building was a wooden frame building, and after the fire all that remained was the frame wall on the far end of the building. From here the fire rushed up the street, aided by a very strong wind from the west.

The Silver Moon Cafe that Jerry worked in as a child was located to the west, and across the street from the dry cleaners.

The vacant lot next to the white brick building in the photo could possibly been the location of the Manring Hotel.


Here is a photo taken on July 12, 1927, the day of the fire, by Mrs. Coleman Parker (Lelia Payne Turner). It shows the ruins of the Manring Hotel, where Jerry worked as a young boy.

Where the Fire of 1927 Stopped - at the Masonic Lodge Building

This photo was taken the day of the fire shows the wall of the West Blocton Masonic Lodge. The photo was taken by Mrs. Coleman Parker (Lelia Payne Turner), looking east from Davey's Store. The lodge wall is the wall that stopped the fire, but not before most of the entire business area had burned to the ground. More information at this link: http://www.rootsweb.com/~albibb/towns/1927blocktonfire2.htm



The fire stopped here at the Masonic Lodge because there was a brick wall on the end of the building. This brick wall had no windows and inadvertently, and thankfully, served as a firewall.

This photo shows a new building next to the present-day lodge that was not in the fire, but was built later. Next to the lodge during the fire, there was a vacant lot that also helped stop the fire.

The Water Tower That Ran Out of Water The Day of the Fire

This is the water tower for the town of West Blocton. In the photo, you can see the round black ball near the bottom of the tower, positioned on an exterior framework of some sort. This ball goes up and down, indicating how much water is in the tank, depending on whether it is full or empty or something in between.

The day of the fire, the water tower ran out of water. The fire department was all volunteer, and they did the best they could, but in spite of their best efforts, the town's only fire truck ended up catching on fire and was destroyed.

The volunteer fire department had bad luck all the way around. When they turned on the water, the force of the water broke the hose.

Then the pressure gave out from the water tower, because the water tower ran out of water. On the day of the fire, the tower was only about 1/8th full of water. Why there was so little water in the tower is a question many have asked. The water came from a well, Jerry thinks, so someone should have monitored the tower better and kept the tank full.

The fire department had one bright red Ford truck, and it had no fire-fighting apparatus at all. It only had a stand on the back for firemen to stand on while riding, plus there was space in the truck bed for storing the water hose for putting out fires.

Of course, there had been no fires in the town in ages, so it is possible that everyone involved had gotten complacent and let their vigilence down.

The Clements Grocery Store (Mama's Store)

This corner lot where the red building now stands is where Arrie Clements (formerly Mrs. D.L. Worthington) had her grocery store. She was Dorothy Arrie Stewart Clements, who was widowed at a young age with five young children, and who remarried, had another daughter named Elva Odell Worthington Waugh (Elva), and soon thereafter divorced Mr. Worthington.

Arrie Stewart Clements was Jerry's mother and my grandmother. We all knew her as Mama.

After leaving Mr. Worthington and leaving her home in the country in Hale County, Mama moved to West Blocton to be near her sister Lela Ann Eliza Wilma Stewart Harris (known as Lela) and her family. Lela's husband was Ira L. Harris, Sr. Arrie changed her name back to Clements after she divorced Mr. Worthington. Lela and Ira had seven children. One of them whom Jerry remembers is Mishia Mauselle Harris (Mauselle), who went to work in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and another was Julius Lloyd Harris, who became a barber in West Blocton.

Her store had plate glass windows with a door in the front to enter the store. It was a frame one-story building with the store in the front and the family's living quarters in the back.

Some of the wholesalers Mama used had the idea of 9 cent sales to boost store sales. These wholesalers supplied Mama with special promotional signs and banners to advertise the sales, and the sales items were priced at prices ending in 9 cent intervals. In other words, sale items were $ .09, .19, .29, .39, etc. You get the idea, and this was an innovative advertising and sales strategy for the times.

What happened to the Clements family and The Clements Grocery Store During the Fire?
Behind the store was an open field that sloped downward and eventually went upward again to the residential neighborhood behind the business district. During and after the fire, Arrie and her children tried to salvage what they could from the store and their living quarters, and they piled it up in the open field behind their store. There wasn't much to save, but Mamma got the cash box from the store and everyone had the clothes they were wearing that day. Jerry went back some time later after the fire had died completely out and found Mama's old pistol in the ashes of the store.

Mama's store was about four doors away from the hardware store.

As the fire swept through the town, the town fathers and officials tried to devise some way to stop its spread. One scheme they came up with was to blow up the hardware store with dynamite, in the hope that the vacant space left behind would stop, or at least slow down, the fire.

The owner of the hardware store was a nice man, whose name Jerry cannot recall at the moment, and Jerry thinks the owner might have had some connection with the fire department. But anyway, the hardware store was a very deep building that extended way back from the street.

In the rear of the store were supplies of barbed wire, dynamite, shotgun shells and bullets. So, using dynamite from the back of the store, the townspeople blew up the front of the store. Unfortunately, this strategy didn't do any good at all, and when the fire reached the back of the store, it heated up and burned the shells and bullets, which then started shooting off at random, in all directions, making a tremendous noise as they went off, and frightening eveyone in town because they didn't have any way of knowing which way the bullets were coming.

The hardware store was in the middle of the area that was burned, about half way down in both directions, and it, along with everything in the fire's path, was completely destroyed.

After the Clements family had moved as much as they could out of the store before it was consumed in fire, they just stayed as a family in the back lot with their meager possessions, partly from the shock of what had happened so suddenly that day in July, and also to protect their possessions from any possible looters or thieves.

Later that day, Jerry left to walk all around the town of West Blocton, to survey the damage from the fire. The devastation was everywhere, and many smaller fires were still burning, with hot ashes and coals all over the place, which were especially treacherous if you were walking around barefoot in the summer.

The night of the fire, the Clements family went to stay a few days with the preacher and his family who generously took in the family of seven. The preacher's house was located on the hilly area behind the main business district, and almost directly behind the Clements store. We drove around there looking for the house, and narrowed it down to a few likely prospects, but it may have been torn down in the intervening years.

What happened to the Clements family after the fire?
Soon after, the Red Cross came to town and gave the townspeople affected by the fire some basic supplies for starting over and getting their lives back together. Jerry remembers that the Red Cross gave him a pair of gray-black trousers that were made of a thick, fuzzy fabric, perfect for mid-July in Alabama! But he wore them just the same.

At this time, Jerry worked at the Silver Moon Cafe. He wonders how it happened that he stopped working at the Manring Hotel and started at the Silver Moon, but we finally concluded that this was a plan worked out by Mama and Mrs. O'Reilly of the Silver Moon, and they just told Jerry what to do and when, like you do with young children.

Someone gave Jerry, Johnnie and Aubrey the job of gathering, cleaning and stacking burned bricks from the fire. He was paid the grand sum of 1 cent per brick, and it seemed like a fortune in those days, and under those circumstances.

Later Mama opened another store in town, but the location was not desirable, and the store didn't do well at all. So when she had the chance, she moved her store to a far better location and was back in business again. Mama never complained about the adversities in her life, but accepted the good and the bad with grace and composure. She never felt she was the victim, and she never expected anyone to rescue her from adverse circumstances.

Somewhere along the line, Mrs. Manring from the Manring Hotel gave Mama some work and some extra money to wash the sheets and linens from the hotel. (Jerry thinks it was more of a favor to Mama to help her out after the fire than anything else.) Mama set up the washing operation in the family's living quarters, and went to work washing, rinsing, squeezing the water out, and hanging the sheets and whatever all over the house to dry. Then they had to be folded and returned to Mrs. Manring.

At this point in her life, Mama's hands and fingers were not as strong as they were in her younger days, and she couldn't squeeze much water out of the wash, so she had Jerry help her with the squeezing out of the wash and rinse water. When Jerry came home from his job at the Silver Moon Cafe, he set to work helping Mama with the washing, rinsing, squeezing out water, and hanging up the wash. In her kind and encouraging way, Mama always praised young Jerry to the skies for his big, strong hands that could squeeze that water out so well, and his big, strong arms that could hang up those sheets so well. His chest swelled with pride for being such a good helper to his Mama!

Mama never complained, not once, about the hardships she encountered in life, and never, ever thought of herself as a victim. And she never expected anyone else to solve her problems or give her charity. An amazing woman, whose strong character and example of how best to live one's life serve as a beacon of hope to those of us living in today's tumultuous world.

A few years later, with the help of his oldest brother Aubrey, Jerry moved to Montgomery to go to school at Sidney Lanier High School. Aubrey also helped Jerry get several newspaper routes in the south side of Montgomery to help pay living expenses for room, board and rent.

Back in West Blocton, Mama had decided to move back to the country in Hale County where she still owned a small farm that she and her husband Jeremiah E. Clements had acquired shortly after their marriage in 1909. They had paid off an existing mortgage and then received the title to the property near Grandma Stewart's house. The property had no house on it, except a barn, so the newlyweds lived in the barn for a time until they were able to acquire better accomodations.

Jerry's brother Johnnie was still working for the soft drink distributor in West Blocton, and he was able to make a deal to acquire a vacant dwelling owned by the coal mine operators. So he and the family set about dissassembling the house, taking it apart piece by piece, board by board, peg by peg. He was careful to label each door, window, each piece to make it easier to reassemble in the country. He even saved the hinges, screws and nails. Then he moved it by truck to the farm where Mama and the younger children (Bill, Esther and Elva)reconstructed their house, which was truly an amazing feat when you think about it.

When Mama noticed that the wooden floor was worn out, she had the idea of switching the (worn out) wooden floor for the (not worn out) wooden ceiling. So she ended up with a virtually new floor in her new home!

The older children Aubrey, Johnnie and Jerry had moved away, so she took the younger ones (Bill, Esther and Elva) with her to the farm. Their first few years were nothing but hardship and poverty, with a good bit of misery mixed in, but never any complaining that anyone knew of. The older boys sent them money when they had some to spare, which was not all that often, but they did their best to take care of the family.

Mama had a mule, but no harness or collar for the mule to plow with. Being the resourceful woman that she was, she went to the woods and found a tree in just the right shape, cut it down, and made the collar out of that. She used old wire for the harness and reins, and somehow she got that field plowed and planted, and managed to raise some crops that year.

Another good thing that happened was a federal government program to help farmers in these very rural areas. The program gave the community pressure cookers and cans so they could can their excess produce and meats, to save it for the winter season when food was scarce. This was such a big help, and then the farmers banded together to share their canned goods with each other, and balance out their diets.

The schools in the area were very poor, and at one point ran out of money, and closed altogether at Christmas time. So Bill, Esther and Elva had no school to go to. When Aubrey heard of it, he rented a house and made arrangements for them to come live with him in Greenwood, Mississippi, where they had decent schools, and that's how the younger children were able to complete their schooling. Aubrey was working as a cashier at National Biscuit Company there, and borrowed an automobile from someone and brought his younger brother and sisters to Mississippi.

Many years later, when Aubrey was in his 90's, he spoke proudly about how the months at Greenwood School had inspired his younger brother and sisters. He felt that it was this experience that led William Webster to enroll at Auburn University and become a veterinarian after his war service.

Somehow they all made it through these difficult times, with a combination of hard work, ingenuity, a little luck, and the grace of God, not necesarrily in that order.

Murphree's Drug Store, the Telephone Exchange, and More

This photo shows the remains of Pat Murphree's Drug Store after the fire swept through town. It was taken by Mrs. Coleman Parker (Lelia Payner Turner) on July 12, 1929, the day of the fire.



This photo may show some run-down buildings, but the buildings that used to be here have a very interesting story behind them.

On the right hand corner in the photo, with the large plywood front, and below the four arched windows, was the location of Pat Murphree's Drug Store. Pat Murphree was a very nice fellow who lived at the Manring Hotel.

When it was evident that the fire would destroy most of the town, he spread the word throughout town for anyone and everyone to go into his drug store and take anything and everything that they could save. This is what many people did, and the goods that were in his drug store probably helped many West Blocton residents cope with the aftermath of the fire.

What a thoughtful, unselfish gesture of kindness and generosity to give his townspeople the medicines, toiletries, home goods, foods, and whatever to start their lives over after the disastrous day that wiped out so much of the town.

Above Pat Murphree's Drug Store was the telephone exchange for the city of West Blocton. The entrance was by way of stairs on the side street to the right side of the photo. One day long before the fire, Jerry went in the exchange and given his penchant for mechanical things that continues to this day, he was fascinated with what he saw there. There were 4-5 women telephone operators, who sat in high-back chairs with foot rests and headphones. They plugged in all the the wires to connect telephone callers with other people. A technological marvel!

Jerry is not sure what the building to the left housed.

There was a sidewalk that went left to the Douthit Hotel, where Jerry worked at the time of the fire.

The Bank (and Banker!) of West Blocton, An Interesting and Touching Story

This photo of what was left of the Bank of West Blocton was taken by Mrs. Coleman Parker (Lelia Payne Turner) on July 12, 1929, the day of the fire.



The Bank of West Blocton was located in the space now occupied by the West Blocton Pharmacy, on the corner and in the same block as the West Blocton Masonic Lodge where the fire was stopped.

When Jerry was a boy working at the Manring Hotel, one of the guests was a U.S. senator there, and he gave Jerry a tip of one dollar for his superior service and attitude. Not just any old one dollar bill, but a crisp, brand new one dollar bill! Mrs. Manring told Jerry to go put that money in the bank for safekeeping, so Jerry opened an account at the bank with one dollar in it. He was about nine or ten years old at the time.

However, as luck would have it, when the fire destroyed the bank, it also destroyed Jerry's life savings at the time, his prized one dollar bill from a U.S. senator! And that deposit of one dollar was the only deposit he made in the account! Now it was gone, destroyed by the fire!

At the bank, Jerry opened his account with the president of the bank, Mr. Young, who was a very nice fellow.

A few years later, after Jerry had moved to Montgomery with Aubrey to go to high school at Sidney Lanier High School, Jerry was coming back to West Blocton for the Christmas holidays. He took the train from Montgomery to Centerville, and planned to walk the eight or so miles from Centerville to West Blocton. He was wearing his ROTC uniform, which he had received as a benefit for enrolling in the military training course in high school for the advantages it offered, including military training, discipline, teamwork and leadership opportunities. (Jerry had also joined the National Guard in high school, and was paid $7 a week, and attended weekly meetings for training in military discipline and marching.)

At any rate, it had snowed recently and the walk home that night was not easy. There was snow all around and mud with melting snow in the holes in the rough, unpaved road. And it was cold.

Jerry's shoes had holes in the soles, and he had placed cardboard in them to help keep out the cold and water, but they were quickly soaked by the snow. But there was no other way to get from Centerville to West Blocton, so Jerry walked.

He had gotten about four miles along, about halfway home, when along came a big, black car, which passed him, and then stopped and waited until he came alongside it. The man inside asked him where he was heading, and when he heard it was West Blocton, invited Jerry to ride there with him, since that was where the driver was going as well.

Jerry gratefully accepted the offer of a ride, and was even more grateful to be dropped off at his home, given the weather, and since the driver of the car lived some distance away in West End, which was where all the rich people lived in West Blocton.

And the kind man who stopped his car and gave a ride home to a cold, wet student on that snowy road that night was none other than Mr. Young, the president of the bank, who years earlier had helped nine-year old Jerry open his bank account with his one dollar deposit! What a small world, and what a coincidence! And what good fortune for Jerry to have a ride home!

Mr. Young, like all the wealthy and powerful people in West Blocton, was a Republican, and Jerry hated, then as now, all Republicans, because they had money which they used to oppress the poor people, the Democrats, of the world. (Hmm, I wonder about billionaire Democrats like Warren Buffett, George Soros, Bill Gates and John Kerry, oh, that's different...) Even so, Jerry was touched that someone who was supposed to be the enemy of the common people would do something so kind and generous for someone less fortunate. Mr. Young did not seem to remember that he had helped Jerry open his one dollar bank account years earlier, but Jerry remembered him, and was grateful that this fine man stopped by that snowy road that cold evening.