BLOCH – JAMES – SHUPTRINE – HOUSE

Work in progress

I was looking at an old residence for sale in Selma, Alabama and wondered how much history I could find on it in short time. The home was built in 1860, and is called the Bloch – Shuptrine House, as well as the Bloch – James House. In short order, I found that all three names, Bloch – James – Shuptrine, are accurate

The Shuptrine’s were prominent Selma residents. They owned various businesses and were involved in farming and ranching. I quickly uncovered massive amounts of information on them, enough for a book.

Peter Conrey James, and his wife Mary, were evidently wealthy Selma residents as well. I say this because of their once living in this stately home. As of yet, I haven’t put a whole lot of effort into tracing down their history. They’re both interned at Live Oak Cemetery.

I was more interested in the Bloch family because it appears they built the place. Morris Bloch came to the area around a855. They were extremely wealthy. Another book could definitely be written here. What intrigued me most, was the short timeline between Morris’s death and his wife’s. A newspaper article from 1888 told me quite a bit, as did the size of the grave monument