She was married to Fredrick ERSTLING. Children were: Minna ERSTLING .

He was married to Ann BOZMAN on 26 Sep 1723 in Somerset Co, MD. Children were: Henry SCHOOLFIELD, Isaac SCHOOLFIELD, Isaac Bozman SCHOOLFIELD, John SCHOOLFIELD, Sarah SCHOOLFIELD, William SCHOOLFIELD, Margaret SCHOOLFIELD, George SCHOOLFIELD, Benjamin SCHOOLFIELD, John SCHOOLFIELD.

He was married to Leah ADAMS on 27 Nov 1746 in Somerset Co, MD.

He was married to Margaret POWELL . Children were: Henry SCHOOLFIELD.

She was married to George Sheldon (Durg) SKILES on 23 Mar 1876 in IL. Children were: William Frederick SKILES, Lillie Maria SKILES , Maggie May SKILES, Sarah "Sadie" Evalina SKILES, Ola I. SKILES , Infant SKILES, Hazel Fern SKILES.

He was married to Mary Ann ZULAUF on 1 Mar 1863 in <OH>.

He was married to Delilah Gertrude SKILES about 1905.

He was married to Mary Ann (Polly) SKILES on 13 Jan 1861 in IL.

He was married to Mary GUTHRIE on 1 Sep 1796 in Montgomery Co., VA.

She was married to Skidmore MUNCY. Children were: Jeremiah MUNCY .

He was married to Catharine GUSTAFSSON(JUSTIS) on 30 Jul 1723 in Holy Trinity Church, New Castle Co., DE.

He was married to Nellie E SKILES.

He was married to DAU SKILES.

He was married to (SEQUENS). Children were: Sarah SEQUENS.

She was married to John PENNINGTON before Feb 1700 in Northeast River, Cecil Co, MD. Children were: Susannah PENNINGTON , Abraham PENNINGTON, Sarah PENNINGTON.

She was married to Valentine FISHER on 25 Feb 1845 in Coshocton Co, OH. Children were: Jacob Stanton FISHER, Samuel Parry FISHER, Mahala FISHER.

He was married to Sophia GAROUTTE on 25 Dec 1809 in Pleasant Hill, Burlington Co., NJ.

He was married to Mary JUSTICE.

Children were: Orley SKILES , Chester SKILES, Orpha SKILES , Lewis SKILES, George SKILES , Kenneth SKILES, Edgar (Bud) SKILES.

She was married to Richard (I) REYNOLDS . Children were: Richard (II) REYNOLDS.

She was married to George BLAKEY.

She was married to Jesse LUTTRELL .

She was married to William DAVIS.

He was married to Susanna VARDEMAN. FAMILY NOTES:
James Shelton was born in VA, lived in KY and died by 1816 in Lincoln Co., TN. His children or their husbands are named in the deed transfering property after his death.

FROM LETTER:
Regarding your query on the internet genforum, a bit of caution would be
wise regarding responses. I've been researching the James Shelton family
for several months and have concluded that much of what has been placed in
the World Family Tree of Family Tree Maker and in several published books
was at best, pure speculation, and more likely the result of less than
meticulous research.

Some of the points are:
- There is no known documentation that James' middle initial was "J." As
best as I can tell, someone jumped to a conclusion after reading either an
original county deed record of November 1, 1794 in Patrick County Virginia,
or having read one of the abstracts that made a similar mistake. There is
every indication that neither James nor wife Susannah were literate. There
are three Patrick County deed records involving James' land sales in the
1790s as he was preparing to move to Kentucky; in all instances, both he
and Susannah had to make their "mark", and they are clearly indicated as
such. Susannah made and "X" in each case, but James' "mark" was not
consistent; in the deed records of November 1, 1794 the clerk who
transcribed the record copied James' "mark" as something that looked like a
cursive "J". However in the subsequent deed recordings, James' "mark" is
clearly not a "J".
- Again, there is no documentation to my knowledge that James' wife's
maiden name was Vardaman. Many of us suspect that it was, but again there
is no proof, and the Vardaman researchers have no indications that a
Susannah Vardaman married James Shelton. The reason that some have made
the leap of faith regarding Susannah's maiden name is that one of James'
sons was named "Vardaman", and it was common at the time, particularly
within the Shelton clan, to name one of the sons by the wife's maiden name.
Those of us who have looked deeper into this, have also found that there
was a Peter Vardaman in Henry County in the 1780s, on property apparently
not too far from the Ralph Shelton Jr. extended family enclave. The
Vardaman researchers haven't been able to place this "Peter" for me, and I
haven't been able to find anything else about him as yet. However, if
Peter was the father or prior husband of Susannah, it implies that Susannah
was somewhat younger than James. I won't bother you with the logic of it,
but it might also explain why the younger sons (the only ones that can be
documented) stayed with James and Susannah when they were preparing to move
to Kentucky. Any older sons James had (and there must have been some) did
not apparently follow James to Kentucky and then on to Tennessee.
- There are those who claim (incorrectly) that this James Shelton was a
Revolutionary War veteran. As you may be aware there were at least three
James Sheltons, and possibly more) in Halifax County, later Henry County
during the Revolutionary War. One was "our" James Shelton, born supposedly
in 1734 of Ralph Shelton Jr. and Mary Daniels; one was "our" James
Shelton's uncle born in 1726 per Christ Church Parish records, and son of
Ralph Shelton Sr. and Mary Crispin; a third was James' (1726) son. It also
appears that Thomas and John, both sons of Ralph Shelton Jr. may also have
had sons named James. James Shelton (1734) also had a son James, evidently
by Susannah, but he was not born until after the war. We "know" that James
(1726) was the Revolutionary War Captain, but by inference only. That
stems from an entry in the index of Deed Book 3 of Henry County on April
25, 1778, wherein the clerk entered the name "Capt. James Shelton". The
land entry concerns a land survey which had been requested by James, and
contained a fair description of the location (on Horse Pasture Creek).
James later "sold for love and affection" this same land to his sons; we
know these sons from James' will in which he spelled them out, and
therefore we know that this was James (1726). There are also other
Revolutionary War records, such as expense chits which James submitted, but
none of these give any clues.
- The only sons of James (1734) that can be documented are still by
inference, though a strong inference. These come from the probate records
of Lincoln County Tennessee in 1816 following James' death. James died
intestate, and the County Courts recorded only the results of some deed
manuvering regarding the split of James' 100+ acres. Those who received
shares of James' land were Peter Shelton; Vardaman Shelton's family
(including wife Priscilla - Vardaman had died in 1815); Haman; James Jr.;
and daughters Letty (or Lettice) Shelton Duncan (her husband Charles also
died in 1815); Melinda Shelton Hudson, wife of Benjamin; Susanna Shelton,
wife of Michael Luttrell; Priscilla Shelton, wife of Nathan Luttrell. We
believe there was also another daughter Clary Shelton, wife of Jesse
Luttrell of Kentucky but there is no mention of her in the court
proceedings.

Of other sons attributed to James (1734), there were in Lincoln County in
1816 when James died, Sheltons with the given names of Mark, Anderson,
William, and David among others. Yet none of these people were included in
the court distribution of James' property. While it is not unusual that a
father did not mention all his children in his will if he had given some of
them estates during his lifetime, it would be extremely unusual that the
courts would ignore them during probate of an intestate. This is
particularly true because all of those who shared in James' estate also had
land holdings in Lincoln County. The court might logically have ignored
older children long established in other states, but it is not likely those
living in the same county would have been ignored.

As you're probably aware, the source that a number of books have used to
state authoritatively the names of James's (1734) children was a Mrs.
Catherine Shelton Moser, born in 1854. She is said to have stated quite
authoritatively in 1940 in her 86th year that "James Shelton, brother of
Ralph who married Mary Crispin was married to Jincie (last name unknown)
may have been my ancestor. He was born Middlesex County, Virginia in 1726.
James and Jincie had sons: Thomas, James, Joseph, Mark, Anderson,
Frederick, Jarrett or Garrett, Porter, George, William, and David, the 13th
not remembered, something like Rawleigh. David was founder of the Shelton
Laurel Branch of the family in the North Carolina mountains". You will
recognize that the James to whom she was referring was of course the son of
Ralph Sr., and the one we have called James (1726). However, the sons
(Thomas, Nathan, James Jr., and William) of James (1726) and Philiapinea ?
are well documented by virtue of his will in 1784. (While James (1726) may
have had sons by an earlier wife that fitted the names given above, there
are several reasons I won't bore you with that make that questionable.) As
a result some of the researchers from the 1940s onward concluded that Mrs.
Moser had her "James" ancestor mixed up and that she must have meant James
(1734) was her ancestor. Several have published "books" to the effect of
the latter.

It is quite unfortunate that well-meaning people, trying to be helpful,
have propagated and compounded errors by passing in an authoritative manner
the shabby research behind some of the published books. As you no doubt
can tell, after going back to ORIGINAL RECORDS to research this area, I've
become quite cynical about some aspects of the information being published
on World Family Tree and in the GenForum. (Look at the current
communications on the forum regarding Roderick Shelton, another supposed
son of James (1734), John (son of Ralph, Jr.), and/or James (1726) -
everyone has some authoritative information - but my estimation is that the
subject is thoroughly confused).

In any event, best wishes with your research, and don't let yourself reach
my level of cynicism before you get where you wish to be.

Garvin Fryar

Children were: NANCY SARAH SHELTON, Vardeman SHELTON, James SHELTON, Susanna Ann SHELTON, Peter SHELTON, Malinda SHELTON, Letty SHELTON, Hamon SHELTON, Jarmon SHELTON, Priscilla SHELTON, Clary SHELTON.

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