Concord Methodist Conecuh County, AL

SIRMON FAMILY GENEALOGY Article from The Pulpit Sirmon Reunion - Mena, Arkansas, 2006

On May 27, 2006, the biennial reunion of descendants of James Andrew Sirmon was held in Mena, Arkansas, USA. James Andrew Sirmon, died in 1878 in Butler County, Alabama, and some years later, his wife, Martha Seale Sirmon, and her two young sons, John and James, moved with Martha's parents to Howard County, Arkansas, where the family settled and where many descendants of those two sons still reside.

The reunion hosted alternately by descendants of the two sons, John and James, was a time filled with fun, food, and serious discussions of genealogy. Entertainment was furnished by musically talented members of the family. Bill Sirmon (not musically talented), a descendant of Daniel Taylor Sirmon, brother of James Andrew Sirmon's grandfather Levi Sirmon, gave a Power Point presentation which included pictures of the 2005 S*rm*n Family Gathering in Witney, Oxfordshire, UK, as well as old family photographs, lineage charts, and DNA results for the participants from the Severn Valley S*rm*n Family.

James Andrew Sirmon was a descendant of the immigrant Edward Sirmon, whose lineage is well-documented and whose many descendants have participated in DNA testing, linking to family in both the U. S. and the U. K. His father, John Ransom Sirmon, his grandfather, Levi Sirmon, and his great-grandfather, Nathan Sirmon, were early residents of Alabama, residing first in Conecuh County and then in Butler County. Nathan Sirmon moved from Georgia to Alabama prior to 1817.

Unlike the ancient churchyards in Britain, where gravestones record inscriptions with dates going years back, often in the U. S., burial places were on private property, sometimes in wooded areas and pastures and often poorly maintained or completely lost over time. Often graves were marked only with wood that did not survive the elements.

Ringold-Sirmon Cemetery, Fall 2006 -- Forest Home, Butler County, Alabama
Beginning of the Day	Clearing	End of the Day

James Andrew Sirmon was buried in the Ringgold-Sirmon Cemetery in Butler County, near Forest Home, Alabama, a cemetery that had almost disappeared amid decayed undergrowth and fallen trees. Some of the graves there were marked in stone, and fortunately, thanks to the interest of the historical society of Butler County, names and dates from all of these markers were recorded at a time when the cemetery was still intact. At the 2006 reunion of descendants of James Andrew Sirmon in Mena, it was decided that the old cemetery should be reclaimed and restored. Plans were put into motion and on September 29, a team of family members armed with chain saws, mowers, and other equipment traveled from Arkansas and Mississippi to Butler County to begin work on the cemetery. With the permission and help of the landowners, the group set about clearing the plot and attempting to locate and uncover grave markers. Family members on the work team came from Arkansas and from Mississippi. All were great, great-great, and great-great-great grandchildren of James Andrew Sirmon. Distant cousins Bill Sirmon and Marilyn Sirmon also worked with the group.

Work progressed, fallen trees were cut and dragged from the cemetery site and undergrowth was cleared away. Finally, a shout from Ricky Sirmon that the first Sirmon marker had been found signaled success. When all markers were located, the family felt that its goal had been achieved. At the end of the day, a sign marking the Ringgold-Sirmon Cemetery was erected at the site. The Sirmons were treated to the hospitality of nearby neighbors, James and Margaret Bentley. Margaret graciously prepared lunch for everyone and invited other Sirmon cousins who lived in the area. Jim generously loaned tools to help with the cemetery work.

Some of the family found time to visit Pine Flat Cemetery nearby where James Andrew Sirmon's parents, John Ransom and Susan Thompson Sirmon, are buried. Unlike the Ringgold-Sirmon Cemetery, Pine Flat is a beautifully maintained cemetery on the grounds of a small church no longer in regular use.

In Conecuh County, adjacent to Butler, some of the family visited the old Concord Methodist Church which was founded in 1811, a simple white clapboard structure near the cemetery where graves lie underneath moss-laden trees in a picturesque setting. This place was of particular interest to the family since it is thought that Nathan Sirmon, the patriarch of this Sirmon family, is buried here in an unmarked grave. It has been said that Nathan Sirmon gave the land for the building of the Concord Church. It is known that he owned land here in the forks of the Sepulga River where his home was only one-half mile from the Concord Church. It was here at Concord that the family felt connected with the past and experienced something not unlike John Sermon's description of the "buzz" he felt when he stood in the middle of Cowslip Meadow in Eldersfield, land leased by William Surman in 1460. Some five-hundred years later, they had traveled far in time and distance from that Eldersfield meadow. What began as a work trip ended up a journey into the past and rediscovering a family heritage.