Shelton Acorns
by Vonette Shelton Curtis

Fourth & Fifth Generations

Lucinda Shelton, born 1834, died 1903, was the mother of my great-grandfather, General Winfield Scott Shelton. She was seventeen years old when he was born and her brother Joseph Zealot Shelton took the child and raised him to be a fine adult.

Lucinda's story that has been carried down through the family (not proven) was that she fell madly in love with General Winfield Scott (1786-1866) and he fell for her beauty and youth. He was a famous soldier and was highly decorated for his military efforts and had risen to the rank of General. He was very handsome in his younger days but he was sixty-five years old when Lucinda met him and she was sixteen years old. He was married to a socialite but was rarely at home because he was an active soldier.

In July 1851 Lucinda became pregnant with my great-grandfather, General Winfield Scott Shelton. In 1852, General Winfield Scott ran for President of the United States on the Whig ticket, and he promised to marry her later. He lost the election but he never married her; they had four more children and they each carried the Shelton name, including Sarah Ellen Shelton, who married Berry Morgan Yates, and Agnes Shelton. Lucinda's last child, Albert V. Shelton, was born in 1862 and died in 1958. His obituary can be read online.

General Scott took care of Lucinda financially. He died of bronchitis when he was eighty years old and Lucinda was thirty-two years old. She had a hard time after he died; she was left with three children ages 4, 8, and 10 to raise without any source of income.

Lucinda's oldest son, General Winfield Scott Shelton, 1851-1927, married Annie McMullin, 1858-1947. Their photo is online. Annie was the daughter of John Wright McMullin, 1830-1916, and Eliza Brooks Tillotson, 1835-1892, both of Henderson County KY. The couple slipped off to Springfield Tennessee and got married 22 Nov 1875 because Annie's father did not think W.S. Shelton was good enough for his daughter.

W.S. and Annie Shelton has were blessed with nine children:

1) Naomi Shelton Oct 11, 1876 - Jan 15 1968
2) Velma Shelton Aug 11, 1879 - Dec 11, 1911; obituary online
3) Daisy Shelton Aug 25 1880 - Aug 25, 1961; obituary online
4) Zilpha Shelton Nov 8, 1882 - 13 Aug 1922; obituary online
5) Dillian Shelton Dec 7 1885 - Jan 18, 1966
6) J Z Shelton Sept 14, 1889 - April 20, 1989 see biography
7) Joy Shelton Dec 2, 1892 - 1980
8) Durward "Turk" Shelton Dec 15, 1895 - Nov 27, 1981
9) Beatrice Shelton March 2, 1899 - Dec 29, 1983

These children were well educated as a teacher came into the home and schooled them. They were taught manners in the home. There is a photo online of Annie McMullin Shelton with her great-granddaughter and the family's wet nurse.

Joseph Zealot Shelton, Lucinda's brother, 1836-1896, married Sarah Jane Chandler, the daughter of Washington Chandler and Letha Morrow, 7 Feb 1856 Hopkins County KY. Their first child, Sarah Elizabeth lived to be sixteen but she died from childbirth fever. She was married to Henry Sheffer. Their second child was Queen Tinnie Shelton, 1842-1946. She married Thomas W. Jackson, of the line Jacksons that has the stagecoach line from Madisonville to Henderson KY. Their third child was Mildred Shelton;and she lived only two years, dying in 1857. The fourth child was a boy, Henry Shelton who lived to be nine years old, dying in 1863. The fifth child, Abigail lived only a year, dying in 1858.

Joseph Zealot Shelton owned much land as well as lots in the Sebree KY area. He gave the land for the Sebree General Baptist Church and the Sebree Christian Church in 1870 and in 1900 the Christian Church built another church and the land came from Queen Tinnie Shelton and her husband T W Jackson. I have been a member of that church for fifty years. He was a good man and well thought of; his 1896 obituary can be read online.

Next Page

Submitted by Vonette Shelton Curtis
Back to Webster County Families
Back to Webster County KYGenWeb main page