Ralph Shelton and Mary Daniel

While Ralph Shelton Senior lived his whole life in Middlesex County, Ralph Shelton Junior was constantly on the move. He was born in Middlesex County, Virginia, next to the Atlantic, and died in Patrick County, Virginia, further west and down on the border with North Carolina. I don’t know what drove that relentless movement, but it passed down into subsequent generations. It seems to me that if you had a comfortable life you wouldn’t keep moving, so the going may have been tough for this line of Sheltons, constantly seeking better prospects.

What’s Happening?

What was going on when Ralph and Mary Shelton started their adult life around 1730?

• War broke out between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Philadelphia was found to be in Maryland, leading to much embarrassment and ultimately the Mason-Dixon survey.
• Benjamin Franklin co-founded Library Company of Philadelphia (in Maryland, I guess)
• Robert Walpole became the first real Prime Minister of Great Britain.
• James Bradley calculated the speed of light to within 1% of the modern value.
• Jethro Tull released a book on farming.
• Bering set out to find a strait to call his own.
• George II, German as sauerkraut, was on the throne of England.
• English replaced Latin and French as the official language in English courts.

The gradual westward movement of English settlers was increasing tensions with the French and, of course, with the indiginous people already living there. Eventually this led to the so-called French and Indian War, which was resolved in 1763. Ralph was in his mid-40s when the war broke out and as far as I know he didn’t take part personally, instead leaving things in the hands of the much-younger George Washington.

The resolution of the conflict and the encompassing Seven Years War resulted in the Proclamation of 1763, which to reduce tension set the western boundary of English settlement along the Appalachian Ridge. Outraged colonies immediately negotiated their own treaties to extend those boundaries, including the Treaty of Lochaber in 1770 that opened up what is now West Virginia and Kentucky.

Westward Ho

Ralph was born October 23, 1709 in Middlesex County, near the Atlantic Ocean. When he and Mary Daniel married in 1731 he was still living there, on or around his father’s property near the border with Essex County. Mary was the daughter of William Daniel Jr and Mary Mosely, and was born on April Fools Day 1713, also in Middlesex County.

In 1745, a few years after his father died, Ralph, his mother Mary Clark, his brother Crispen and several of his other siblings moved 150 miles southwest to Amelia County. On September 20 of that year Ralph received a royal grant of 400 acres between Snails Creek and the Nottoway River. He got another grant in 1749, this one along Ledbetter Creek a few miles away, and bought another 286 acres near his first grant in 1751.

The 1762 Tithables List of Amelia County shows Ralph owning two slaves named Adam and Phyllis.

In 1763 Ralph sold his land in Amelia County. He was later sued for an unpaid debt; apparently the mortgage hadn’t been paid off. The judgement was for 52 pounds 7 shillings, plus 5% interest charged from 1756. I hope that got paid off, because with the interest that's £23 million now.

On July 21, 1763 Ralph purchased a 400 plot of land on the South Mayo River in Halifax County, and settled there with his family. In 1771 he bought another 400 acres adjoining that land. In 1784, the State of Virginia awarded Ralph’s son Eliphaz Shelton land for his service in the Revolutionary War, and he chose two tracts, one 400 acres and the other 190, that bordered his father’s land. Ralph deeded one of his 400 acre tracts to his son James in 1784.

All of these sorts of transactions had to be recorded at the County Court, which means these landowners had to personally get themselves to the sometimes-distant courthouse. To shorten those trips, they needed a physically smaller county. Halifax County had already split in 1767, placing the Shelton’s land in Pittsylvania County. In 1776 a patriotically-infused petition to further split Pittsylvania County read:

It is extremely inconvenient for us to attend upon any business, civil or military, it being a fact that in Pittsylvania County some 75 and 80 miles from the upper end of the county to the court house and others 45 or 50 miles from the lower end, and many large water courses in the way, and we are frequently called together to the courthouse on account of the unhappy dispute between Great Britain and the colonies (being ready and willing to do all in our power in defense of our just rights and liberties with many grievous burthens too tedious to mention).

The next year Pittsylvania was duly divided, with Shelton’s part becoming Patrick Henry County. That too was apparently unwieldy, so in 1790 it was divided into (you guessed it) Patrick County and Henry County.

The Shelton land was in the new Patrick County, and the new county needed a county seat and a courthouse. So in 1791 Eliphaz Shelton donated 18 acres of his own tract for a courthouse, plus 14 acres for homes around that courthouse. That area was incorporated as Taylorsville, the county seat, until it was renamed Stuart in honor of The Odious J.E.B.

All My Children

At some point Ralph appears to have remarried, this time to a woman named Elizabeth, last name unknown. She showed up on a deed in Henry County in 1778, and in court records related to Ralph’s will. Looking at the birth years of Ralph’s children, it might be tempting to think he remarried around 1770.

Ralph’s children, likely with at least two mothers and possibly more, are (with approximate birth year):

• John (1732)
• Ezekiah (1733)
• James (1734) married Susanna Vardeman. Her last name is uncertain, but they had a boy called Vardeman Shelton, and that doesn’t happen by accident. James was a Captain of militia in the Revolutionary War, like his younger brother Eliphaz.
• Ralph (1735-1745) married Susannah (last name unknown)
• Palitiah (1736) married Mary Harbour
• Katherine (1737) married Dudley Rutherford
• Susannah (1740) married William Jones
• Jeremiah (1745) married Nancy Asher. These are my ancestors; more to come.
• Eliphaz (1748). Known as Captain throughout his life due to service in a Revolutionary War militia under Colonel Abram Penn, participating in the defense of Guilford Courthouse alongside Zerobabel Gay. He died in 1826.
• Azariah (1752) married Sarah Holt and moved to Tennessee. Three of his four boys apparently became physicians.
• Roger (1754) might be the Roderick Shelton who moved to North Carolina.
• Sarah (1755) married Julius Robertson
• Derina (1756) married William McGehee and moved to Alabama.
• Elizabeth (1758) married William Arnold and possibly moved to Tennessee.
• Abigail (1772)
• Mary (1775)
• Liberty (1780) appears to have moved to Kentucky. A patriotic name that didn't catch on, in this case the name of a boy.
• Easop (1781) married Elizabeth Luttrell. He moved to Kentucky and ended up in Tennessee.

Eighteen children, and those are just the ones who survived! As Groucho said, “I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.” Ralph had children over a 50 year span -- he was over 70 years old and still being awakened by newborns.

The unusual names Ralph and Mary gave their children suggests that they were influenced by the Great Awakening movement, which among other things drew people to choose otherwise uncommon Biblical names, primarily for boys (see also Zerobabel Gay). Apparently names ending in -iah were especially trendy. All of Ralph and Mary’s girls had biblical names too, but more traditional choices.

The Great Awakening is generally regarded as having distinct waves, and this period was part of the first wave. The second, more influential wave may have included Ralph’s grandson Asher (more below), and my Scottish and German ancestors were likely involved in the third wave in the late 1800s.

Given the tradition of giving a boy the mother’s maiden name, it’s surprising they didn’t seem to produce a Daniel; that’s biblical too, after all. But this list of children comes from Ralph’s will, so it’s possible there was a Daniel who died before it was written.

When Ralph was young he was known as Ralph Junior, to distinguish him from his father. But Junior also had a son named Ralph. By the time this third Ralph was entering adulthood Ralph the First was long gone, so in legal documents Ralph the Second morphed from Ralph Junior to Ralph Senior, and Ralph the Third adopted the title Junior. Yet another source of confusion among the Ralph Sheltons.

Death and Disbursement

Ralph died in 1789, about 80 years old. His father had died young, but Ralph and many of his descendants in this line lived long lives; 80 was not unusual amongst them. His will read as follows:

In the name of God amen the twenty third Day of April One Thousand Seven hundred Eighty Seven I Ralph Shelton Sen. Of Henry County being of Perfect sound Memory and calling to mind that it is appointed for all men once to die do make constitute and Ordain this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following (Viz.) First and Principally I Recommend my Soul into the hand of Almighty God who gave it me, and as Touching that Worldly Estate it hath pleased him to bestow on me I Dispose of them as follows. I give and Divize to my son John Shelton five Pounds Sterling Current Money of Virginia. The Intent of my Willing my son John Shelton five Pounds Sterling is to cut him from his kinship. And Also my Will and desire is that my four Last Children namely Easop Shelton, Abbegal Shelton, Mary Shelton, Liberty Shelton shall be raised of my Estate. And the Remainder part of my Estate Lands and Moveables to be equally Divided between Ralph Shelton Palitiah Shelton Eliphaz Shelton James Shelton Ezekiah Shelton Jeremiah Shelton Azariah Shelton Roger Shelton Easop Shelton Abbegal Shelton Mary Shelton Liberty Shelton Katherin Rutherford, Sarah Robertson Elizabeth Arnold Rina McGehe Susannah Jones they or their heirs. I also appoint my son Ralph Shelton and Eliphaz Shelton Executors of this my Last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I have to this my last Will and Testament hereunto set me hand and affirmed my Seal the day and year above Written. Signed Sealed Published Pronounced and Declared to be my Last Will and Testament.

Signed by: 

Ralph Shelton
Henry Holt
John Fletcher
John Branham

At a Court held for Henry Court on the 30th Day of March 1789. The within Last Will & Testament of Ralph Shelton Deceased was Exhibited in Court by Eliphaz Shelton one of the Executors there in named who took the oath of an Executor & the same was proved by the oaths of the Witnesses thereto to be the Last Will & Testament of the said Ralph Shelton deceased & and the said Eliphaz Shelton with Stephen Lyon & John Parr jr. his Securities entered into Bond & Acknowledged the same & was ordered to be Recorded by the Court. The said Eliphaz Shelton having obtained a Probate thereof in due form Agreeable to Law. Teste. John Coe C. M.

Cutting off John “from his kinship” sounds pretty cold indeed. When Ralph’s mother Mary fobbed off her older children in her will she gave them just one shilling, i.e. 1/100 of what Ralph gave John. Five pounds was equivalent to a few hundred pounds today, certainly less than a thousand. If we assume that John’s share of the estate was worth less than the shares of the many other heirs, then perhaps Ralph was reasonably well off in the end.

Later there appears to have been a dispute against the estate, and Eliphaz’s old Colonel Abram Penn represented the family.

Tuesday, 14 May 1793: Samuel Staples against Eliphaz Shelton as Guardian for Esop Shelton, Abigail Shelton, Liberty Shelton, and Mary Shelton. Abram Penn attorney for Ralph Shelton Jr, Palatiah Shelton, Jeremiah Shelton, William McGehee and Julius Robertson also Dudley Rutherford, William Arnold, William Jones, Roger Shelton, Azariah Shelton, Ezekiah Shelton, James Shelton. heirs of Ralph Shelton, dec’d. defendants. - The defendants Dudley Rutherford, William Jones, and William Arnold not having given security and not inhabitants of this county. The defendants are to appear the 2nd Monday of August and answer complaint. Copy to be inserted in the Virginia Gazette for two months.

Samuel Staples operated a blacksmith shop in Taylorsville, but I don’t know what the issue was. Apparently the defendants never showed up, so Staples received a default judgement shortly afterward and bought 90 acres from James & Susannah Shelton.

Previously: Ralph Shelton Sr and Mary Crispen
Next: Jeremiah Shelton and Nancy Asher