The Shelton Family Settlement at Possum Trot: The Second Homestead
1874 - 1924
On December 19, 1874, three years before the end of Reconstruction and using money likely earned from farming on his homestead in nearby Coosa, Hardy Shelton and his wife Mary Bearden Shelton purchased 120 acres of property in Flatwoods, District 1120, from J.R. Towers in an area called Pleasant Hill. At the turn of the twentieth century, all or a portion of that specific area would become known as Possum Trot on what is now Berry College.
A New Era - A Change Has Come
On August 6, 2022, after many years of prayerful, purposeful, and intentional visits organized by the descendants of Aaron Hardy and Fannie Key Shelton to Berry College’s annual Possum Trot Homecoming, collaboration and advocacy by a descendant of Aaron Hardy and Fannie Key, a descendant of Irvin and Lucy Shelton Spruce, and a descendant of Lee and Frances “Fannie” Shelton Cathey, with research primarily conducted by the descendant of Lee and Fannie Shelton Cathey, the Shelton family was honored with an interpretive historical marker marking the family’s land and cemetery.
Source: The Rome tribune. (Rome, Ga.), May 26, 1896, Image 3
Pleasant Hill Community
Flatwood's Pleasant Hill was a vibrant multiracial community, home to a mixture of farms, churches, and schools near to Freemantown and other African American families. One notable school from 1896, Pleasant Hill School, served as an African American educational institution. Historical evidence suggests that this school may have eventually evolved into Possum Trot Church.
A significant historical connection is found in Mary Shelton's Guion Miller application for Eastern Cherokee status. Two witnesses from the Pleasant Hill community, including Judge J.H. Spurlock—whose father, J.M. Spurlock, settled in Flatwoods before the Civil War—stood as testament to the integrity of this thriving community. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross - Guion Miller Rolls, Archival Records)
The Shelton Family Settlement at Possum Trot
For nearly fifty years, Hardy and his family expanded their settlement at Possum Trot to encompass more than 500 acres. Inclusive of the majority of Hardy’s property, Lot 59, which grew to 160 acres of ownership, the settlement became home to several Shelton children and their spouses, including, but not limited to, Hardy and Mary’s son Joel Shelton and his wife Della Echols, their son Aaron Hardy Shelton (Aaron was taxed on property at Possum Trot), daughter Mary and her husband Peter Powell, and daughter Lucy and her husband Irvin Spruce. Irvin and Lucy’s daughter Lizzie Spruce and her husband Pierce Shropshire, also played a critical role in farm management. In 1903, Lucy and Irvin purchased the Spurlock/Spullock Farm, adding over 350 acres to their holdings, which they managed for 20 years. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross - Census Records, Archival Records)
Pierce and Lizzie Spruce Shropshire, Daughter of Irvin and Lucy Shelton Spruce
Transition and New Beginnings
The deaths of Irvin and Lucy Shelton Spruce in 1922 and 1923 marked the end of an era for the Shelton family at Possum Trot. After the family mysteriously left the settlement in the early 1920s, Lizzie Spruce Shropshire and her husband, Pierce Shropshire, established a new homestead in the city of Rome. Their property, encompassing over 100 acres, featured a recreational lake and became home to the Shropshire family, the Montgomery family consisting of the Shropshire’s daughter Clara, who married Eulas Montgomery, and the Finley family. They also founded the Shropshire Family Cemetery which is still in existence. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross - Guion Miller Rolls, Archival Records)
Burials and Legacy at the Shelton Family Cemetery
Despite the family's mysterious, abrupt departure from Possum Trot, members of the Shelton family continued to be laid to rest in what became known as the family cemetery. The last known recorded burial took place in 1956, when Fannie Key Shelton, the wife of Aaron Hardy, was laid to rest.