The Sears Gazetteer contains a list of locations in the USA with the name Sears, compiled by Ray Sears over the years. Also see Maine, Mississippi, Alaska, New Mexico, Virginia and others on this site.
There are 6 placemarks in the Gazetteer for Alabama. McEwen Cemetery, Sears Camp, Sears Chapel Methodist Church, Sears Elementary School, and Sears Marina.
Sears Chapel and McEwen Cemetery
The Sears Chapel Methodist Church and McEwen Cemeteries are located on US Hwy 231, 3.7 km (2.3 mi) and about a 3 minute drive north from Rockford Alabama, in Coosa County. There are actually two cemeteries with the same name located across the road from each other, with one purchased at a later date. The congregation was founded in 1859 by the Sears and McEwen families. The present building was constructed in 1895.
The Histories of Sears Chapel Methodist Church – Coosa Co., AL.
Methodism in Alabama
Jimmy Emerson, DVM
Flickr
In addition to Flickr, the web site ShotHotspot has some photos of the church and cemetery available here. Some names listed in the cemetery records include Martha T Waldrip (Sears), John A Sears, Tabitha J Sears, Tommie Sears, and John K. McEwen.
John K. McEwen
John K. McEwen’s family plot in the cemetery might be the most elaborate. A second hobby involved designing and building a family burial lot. In 1897, he marked off a lot forty feet square at Sears Chapel Cemetery. He cut the rock and masoned the high monument which bears the inscription: “Burial Ground of John K. and C. D. McEwen Aug 4, 1897.” He built the coping to designate his lot. The lot has an arched, marble entrance; the walk-way has inscriptions written into it, and among the tombs is a cenotaph to Jesus. McEwen said, “I made it wormproof and waterproof and now I’m trying to live so it will be fireproof.” He often said that the cemetery was constructed better than his house because he expected to be there longer.
The 15-ton white marble arch in his family’s corner of the cemetery was designed by Italian sculptor Cesare Pillade Falconi. Alabama is known for its white marble, and once even had a gas station in Sylacauga called the Marble Castle, made from surplus marble tombstones. The Comer Museum & Arts Center is another amazing marble structure with a spiritual and storied past.
John A. Sears and Tabitha Jane Sears
John A. Sears (1812-1884) was one of the founders of the Sears Chapel, along with the family of his son-in-law George Washington McEwen and his daughter Mary Catherine Sears. Both became Masons. Sears was a millwright, known as the best in the county, and was living in Rockford in the 1860s. His wife was a well-respected midwife. Ronald D. Bridges, George’s great-great-grandson, posted a biography of John, his wife Tabitha Jane Sears and his family to the USGenWeb Archives. In it is mentioned their children Mary Catherine Sears, Elizabeth Francis Sears, Martha Thomas Sears, Tabitha Antoinett Sears. Other families include Owen T. Sears and his wife Elisabeth Rush, Thomas J. Buckner and his wife, Elizabeth’s sister Temperance Rush.
In Coosa County, John and Tabitha had another son, Joseph Wiley Sears. They moved to Hatchett Creek, just north of Rockford in the late 1850’s.
John’s father was Joseph S. Sears. Many of Joseph’s descendants joined him from Georgia and east Alabama to Coosa County.
Rockford, Alabama
Rockford Alabama, population 544 as of July 1, 2020, was also known as Pondalassa or Ponedelassa, the name of original post office. Up The Pike To Rockford – Coosa Co., AL.
Sears Camp, Chilton County, Alabama
Not much information available on the Sears Camp.
Sears Marina
Sears Marina is a marina on Mitchell Lake and Sofkahatchee Creek in Piedmont, Elmore County, Alabama, south of Riddle, Alabama.
Sears Elementary School
Sears Elementary School appears to be an abandoned school in Birmingham, Alabama. Located across from Higgins Cemetery, the school on Google maps has seen much better days. It is one of many abandoned schools in Alabama.
Sears Cemetery
Not in the Gazetteer, the Sears Cemetery in Franklin, Macon County Alabama.
Sears Bluff Road
Sears Bluff Road is located off Highway 9 in Eclectic, Alabama.
Resources
Encyclopedia of Alabama http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/
Coosa Families http://sites.rootsweb.com/~alcoosa/families/coosa/index.htm
Alabama Department of Archives and History https://archives.alabama.gov/
Alabama Genealogical Society https://algensoc.org/
Autauga Genealogical Society http://sites.rootsweb.com/~alags/