This information is included as an aid to those doing genealogical research on their ancestors
who were in slavery, and to others who have an interest in the history of the era.  We do not
condone slavery, but rather see it as a sad, regrettable part of this nation's history.  
Slaves Owned by Major Vincent Shelton, Sr.
Pittsylvania County, Virginia
William C. Shelton, because of his reading and writing skills, acted many times as administrator
for community resident's estates after they died.

Apparently, he was sued for not properly distributing the money for one estate when he could not
meet his total financial obligations, not having properly settled the estate. On January 30, 1869,
the Circuit Court in Chatham ruled against William C. Shelton in a suit by the administrator of the
estate of Edward W. Adkerson, deceased. The court ordered Shelton to pay the estate $213.50
with interest from the 11th of August 1866.

The story among County residents, who remember people talking about William C. Shelton, is
that he killed himself in the Clerk's Office in Chatham in 1869. In view of his financial difficulties
and the accusations of his wrongdoing, Shelton's suicide is not difficult to believe since in his
diary he expressed worry about other people's opinions of him.


By May 17, 1869, the first entry in settling his estate, William C. Shelton was dead. His old friend
and the administrator of his estate, Major Sherwood T. Mustain, paid the estate of Edward
Adkerson $251.08 "in full judgement & cost" from the Shelton estate.

Estate sales were held on August 10, 1869 and on November 10, 1869 when all his personal and
real property was sold at auction. Those present and buying at the first sale were Reuben
Mustain, William Crawley, Boston Harvey, D. W. Rowland, Thomas Tuck, William N. Reese, D. W.
Parker, James P. Milam, G. A. P. Dove, A. C. Owen, Booker Dalton, Druey Owen, John Hines,
Abner Snow, William C. Tate (Captain and surveyor bought many book including 4 volumes of
Goldsmith, Webster's Dictionary, Life of Christ, History of America, Iron Wheel, and 14 other
books.), Ned Shelton, D. R. Hunt, Thomas Worley, William C. Worsham, J. W. Barker, Edmond
Webb, Mastin Keatts, Sandy Dickerson, A. D. Rorer, Richard Goade, Vincent Shelton, William B.
Swann, John Hodnett, J. W. Shellhorse, Sarah J. Doss, John Younger, A. J. Lewis, Ralph S.
Dodd, Mastin M. Shelton, S. B. Markham, J. W. Scruggs, D. V. Dickerson, Jeff Crawley, Henry
Worsham, R. A. Mustain, E. H. Dillard, John P. Faris, H. Davis, J. J. Lampkin, E. H. Adams, J. L.
Adkerson, William D. Shelton, Isaac Keesee, John D. Owen, Morton Scruggs, H. Hoskins, William
G. Bailey, L. C. Walker, W. Dyer, Joel C. Mustain, George A. Hodnett, and W. W. Reese (He
bought a Bible, a lot of vials and a book, History of the Reformation. William C. Shelton had
married his daughter Missouri Reese, who, with their son, had already died.) The Tan Yard and
fixtures sold for $960 to Reese & Parker.

At the sale on November 10, 1869, those buying were David Parker, A. J. Saunders, William C.
Tate, Robert Coles, S. S. Johnson, D. R. Hunt, P. T. Shelton, William H. Mustain, Isaac Kessee,
William Roach, Sandy Dickerson, J. J. Lamkin, Abram Hubbard, J. W. P. Crews, J. W. Smith,
William A. Saunders, S. T. Mustain, and Abner Snow. The tract of land on Stinking River
containing 170 acres sold to John R. Payne for $650.

Several years ago, when I was doing research on William C. Shelton, I met Anderson Scott. He
remembered his grandmother, Eliza Mahew Glenn [Note 1], telling him about the death and
funeral of William C. Shelton. She attended the funeral in 1869 and told Anderson that before the
funeral, the coffin containing the body of William C. Shelton was placed in the shade of an old
post oak tree about six feet in diameter, which stood east of the house near the road. She
remembered that when the coffin was being carried across the field to the grave, blood ran out of
the corner of the wooden coffin. Although the old field stones which marked the graves were
eventually plowed under and the area made a pasture, Anderson Scott said he could put his foot
on the spot.

Notes:
1 - Eliza Glenn, who married Nathan Glenn in 1871, was the mother of Jennie Glenn, who married
Chessley Martin Scott, Anderson Scott's father.
Judgment Day
The Tragic End of William C. Shelton
WILLIAM SHELTON'S DIARIES ARE IN PRINT!  
3 DIARIES FOR THE YEARS 1850, 1851 AND 1852

CLICK HERE FOR SALE INFORMATION: