Mary Jane (Crispen) Shelton (abt. 1690 - 1771)

Born about 1690 in Middlesex County, Colony of Virginia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Ralph Shelton Sr. — married 1706 in Christ Church Parish, Middlesex, VA

Wife of William Clark — married before 1713 in Amelia, Virginia

Descendants

Died 29 Aug 1771 at about age 81 in Nottaway, Amelia County, Virginia Colony

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Mary Jane (Crispen) Shelton resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies

Please be careful with merges and updates. There has been a lot of confusion around Ralph Sheltons. There were several of them in Virginia, and they all seemed to use similar names for their children. Add to that, their wives were all named "Mary". So, the data on their wives has also been confused.

Biography

Birth Information is based on multiple records, but no actual birth record. Residence Records in the Christ Church Parish registers in Middlesex County, Virginia, mention Mary's husband, Ralph Shelton, from the baptism of their son John in November 1707 to Ralph's death on March 13, 1733. So, she spent the entire time up to 1733 in the Middlesex County area.

Her will of 1750 shows her living in Nottoway Parish in Amelia County, VA. She had remarried a man named William CLARK, record found,and this is definitely the widow of Ralph Shelton since her will lists her children by name: Ralph Shelton, Crispin Shelton, John Shelton, Benjamin Shelton, James Shelton, Elizabeth Davis, and Daniel Shelton. Two grandchildren, Reubin Shelton and Patient Caty Blakely are also mentioned, suggesting they took their deceased parent's portion of Mary's estate.

Spouse/Children Mary was the wife of Ralph Shelton (1685-1733). We know this because the Christ Church Parish records list "daughter of" or "son of" Ralph and Mary Shelton for each baptism. Moreover, Ralph's will, though badly torn with large chunks missing, has mention of his wife Mary. References to several of his children remain as well. The U.S. and International Marriage records on ancestry.com record a marriage between Ralph Shelton and Mary Crispin in 1706 in Middlesex County, VA but it is important to note that the source of this is a collection of research notes acquired over many years by Yates Publishing.

Therefore, the maiden name of CRISPIN remains in the family lore but is unproven. In 1735, Mary married a man named William CLARK, as this is her surname in her will and the U.S. and International Marriage records on ancestry.com document this marriage.

All of the baptisms of Ralph's and Mary's children appear in the Christ Church register (under the name SHELTON), but no record has been found of the baptism or birth of their daughter Elizabeth. Her existence is known from a reference in Ralph's will (____abeth Davis) and from Mary's will (referring to daughter Elizabeth Davis). The parish registers show a marriage between Elizabeth Shelton and William Davis on 09 Oct 1728, several years before the wills were written, so this data is all consistent. In addition to the baptism records, the names of "my son Ralph," "my son Thomas," "son Crispin" appear in Ralph's will.

From these records, the children of Ralph and Mary were the following: .

1. Thomas
2. Ralph
3. Elizabeth
4. Crispen
5. Reuben (died young)
6. Mary (died young)
7. Catherine
8. John
9. Benjamin
10. James
11. Daniel

Mary's estate was probated in 1771 in Pittsylvania County, VA. Abstracts of Pittsylvania Co, VA Wills

Mary Clock, Parish of Nottoway, Amelia Co d Jun 30 1750. Wit., Crespen Shelton, John Shelton. Leg., sons Ralph, John, Crispin, Benjamin, James Shelton, and grandchildren Reuben Shelton... To daughter Elizabeth the best of her wearing clothes; to son Daniel Shelton and his heirs all the rest of her estate.

30 Jun 1750 Will drawn in Amelia Co., VA names her Shelton children

"From VA Vital Records #1 1600-1800 (Family Tree Maker CD #174),Broderbund, pages 259-260 of "Abstracts of VA Wills of Pittsylvania Co.,VA 1803-1860", printed in "The Magazine of History and Biography - The William and Mary Quarterly and Tylers Quarterly", will of Mary CLOCK,Parish of Nottoway, Amelia County, was dated 30 Jun 1750, probated 29 Aug 1770(Mary had died in 1765). This document was witnessed by Crespen (sic)SHELTON, and John SHELTON. She named her "legitimate sons" Ralph Shelton,John Shelton, Crispen Shelton, Benjamin Shelton, James Shelton, and grandchildren Reuben Shelton and Patience Catesby BLOCKEY to whom she gave 1 shilling sterling. She gave her daughter Elizabeth DAVID (the name was actually DAVIS) the best of her wearing clothes, and her son Daniel Shelton and his heirs all the rest of her estate." Ragland-212

Research Notes

Information from Ancestry:

Following from RALPH SHELTON, OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, VIRGINIA AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS”; An Account by his great-5-grandson, Kenyon Stevenson (deceased), Hudson, Ohio, 1953:855

Ralph Shelton married about 1707, either in Essex or Middlesex, a wife Mary, whose surname has been guessed to be Crispin. No record of the marriage or suggestion of a maiden name has been discovered. Birth of the oldest daughter, Elizabeth, about 1711, is not in the Christ Church Parish Register, where all the others are recorded.

There were eleven children in all, as follows:

1. Thomas, baptized November 9, 1707, married Mary Probert Jan. 14, 1730/31
2. Ralph, baptized October 23, 1709, married Mary Daniel June 10, 1731
3. Elizabeth, born about 1711, married Wm. Davis, Oct. 29, 1728.
4. Crisp (throughout life called Crispin), born April 1, baptized May 17, 1713, married Letitia ____about 1734
5. Reuben, born Feb 1, 1714/15, baptized Apr 10, 1715; died Oct. 8, 1715
6. Mary, born Jan. 21, baptized February 13, 1716/17; died July 18, 1719
7. Catherine, born Jan. 26, baptized March 13, 1719/20, married George Blakey Dec. 31, 1743
8. John, born July 19, baptized August 12, 1722
9. Benjamin. born June 18, baptized July 12, 1724
10. James, born Feb. 23, baptized March 23, 1726/27
11. Daniel, born May 17, baptized June 22, 1729

Ralph Shelton lived only five years after the birth of his son Daniel. He died March 13 1733/34. His will, badly damaged in the old Middlesex Will Book, was dated March 10, 1733/34. Some of the provisions still legible on the torn pages are , My son Ralph Shelton should have my Land. Elizabeth Davis twenty five Shillings to buy her---“, “------Ralph Shelton one cow and calf,”, “…..my son Thomas Shelton should take care of my children, and if in case my son Thomas should Die, my Desire is that my Children should be left to the -----of my other two sons, Ralph and Crispen.” “Appoint my L (oving) wife Mary Shelton and my son Thomas Shelton to (be executors of) my Last will and Testament. The witnesses were William Buford, Thomas Clarke, Henry Buford and Abraham______.

The will was presented in Court April 2, 1734 and proved by oaths of Henry Beauford and Thomas Clark. Thomas Buford, John Jones, John Clark and Garrit Daniel appraised the estate. Inventory and appraisement were presented to the court on July 2, 1734. After this there are no later entries in the Middlesex Court Orders or other county records regarding Ralph Shelton. His widow, Mary, remarried ߝ to a Clark, perhaps Thomas ߝ and as Mary Clark made her will in Nottoway Parish of Amelia County on June 30, 1750. A Middlesex deed made Oct. 5, 1757 by Mary Clark and Peter Clark of County Middlesex to John Lambeth transfers 150 acres “beginning at a deep bottom between Edward Bristow and William Bristow’s line, thence along Elizabeth Smith’s line to main run of the Dragon Swamp.

Ralph Shelton"s two older surviving sons, Ralph and Crispin, after marriage in Middlesex in the early 1730’s, apparently settled in Essex County. In May 1740 Ralph Shelton presented a certificate to the Essex Court for taking up a runaway slave Cheshire belonging to Mrs. Winifred Webb of Richmond , and in August 1742, the Essex court adjudged Sam, a negro boy belonging to Crispin Shelton to be 10 years old.

Shortly thereafter these Sheltons turned toward Amelia County, nearly 100 miles west and south, created in 1734 from Brunswick and Prince George Counties. Amelia at first also included the areas now in Prince Edward and Nottaway Counties. On July 14, 1743 Mathew Smart of Prince George County sold Crispin Shelton of South Farnham Parish, Essex County 620 acres on South Nottaway River in Amelia County. Two years later, on Sept. 20, 1745, Ralph Shelton received a royal grant of 400 acres in Amelia County, on the lower side of Snales Creek and north of Great Nottaway River.

It appears probable that with Ralph and Crispin and their families went with their mother, Mary Clark, and the four younger sons, John, Benjamin, James and Daniel. In 1745 John was 23, Benjamin 21, James 19 and Daniel 16.

Crispin sold two portions of his 620 acres in 1746 ߝ 155 acres to Henry Bueford of Amelia and 203 acres to James Beuford of Orange County. The deeds place the land as lying “on the south side of Rocky Creek in the forks of Nottaway” and recite that “Letice his said wife” joined Crispin in the sale. Ralph Shelton and Benjamin Shelton signed both deeds as witnesses. Recalling that Henry Buford and William Buford were witnesses to the father Ralph’s will in Middlesex in 1733, it is suggested that Crispin’s wife, Lettice, may have been a Buford.

On June 20, 1749, Ralph Shelton had a second land grant ߝ 400 acres in Lunenburg County, on the lower side of Ledbetters Creek. On Oct. 23, 1751, Ralph Shelton of the Parish of Nottaway bought 286 acres more on the lower side of Snales Creek from Samuel Jordan. Snail Creek, on the modern map, is a small stream scarcely five miles long in the southeast corner of Prince Edward County (created in 1753 from Amelia), emptying into the Great Nottaway where Prince Edward, Nottaway and Lunenburg meet. The Great Nottaway was then (1751) the boundary between Amelia and Lunenburg. This places Ralph Shelton’s 628 acre homestead in the extreme southwest corner of present Nottaway County and his land on Ledbetter Creek about 10 miles distant to the south and west.

Sources

• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Source number: 84.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: MES
• Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.
• Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, Source number: 1769.102; Source type: Family group sheet, FGSE, listed as parents;
• Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Marriages
• Will probated in Pittsylvania Co.["The Sheltons of England and America."<]
• Ancestry Family Tree Data