Elizabeth (Shockley) Dalton (abt. 1757 - abt. 1823)

Born about 1757 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of Reuben J. Dalton Sr. — married 1789 in Virginia

Descendants

Died about 1823 at about age 66 in Grainger County, Tennessee

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Herbert Wolfe [send private message] and Ron Norman [send private message]

Biography

Elizabeth Shockley was born between 1757 and 1768 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Crabtree shows she was born bef. 1765 She died in 1823 in Grainger County, Tennessee. Reuben and Elizabeth had 6-9 children)

Daltons in History Volume 8 No 3 March 2005 http://www.daltongensoc.com/diharchive/8_3_March_2005/text.html

It is reported by Don Hadrick in correspondence dated 18 Sept 1998, that Elizabeth Shockley was reputed to have been a witch, a reputation possibly earned because she was a healer, having knowledge of homemade remedies, herbs and potions. It was a skill much in demand during the early years of settlement, when a doctor was seldom nearby. However, the rumors about Elizabeth from nearly two hundred years ago still surface now and again, as evidenced by the following account:

It was in the summer of 1976 that a descendant of Reuben and Elizabeth, who was living in Ohio, came back to Grainger County, looking for their grave site. Since Reuben and Elizabeth were not buried in a regular cemetery, he had asked the pastor of a local church to help him in locating their graves. The pastor had spoken with members of his congregation and discovered that several of them knew where they were buried and were willing to lead the visitor to the graves.

So, on a nice Sunday afternoon, after services at the church were completed, the visitor, the pastor and four members of the congregation set out to find the graves. After leaving the church they drove down a two lane blacktop road, turned off on an old dirt road, and followed it until they reached a point at the bottom of a mountain. After unloading and a few minutes of discussion on the precise location of the graves, they began the ascent of the mountain. The climb was complicated by the fact that no real path existed and the visitor was elderly and leaned heavily on a cane. With a lot of assistance for the visitor, the party arrived at the top of the mountain and declared that this was the final resting place of Reuben and Elizabeth Dalton.

After resting and talking for a spell, the party was preparing to descend the mountain, when one of the ladies suggested that since they were there, perhaps they should gather around the graves, hold hands and say a prayer. They agreed that this was a good idea and the preacher began to lead the group in prayer. As soon as he started praying, a woman's scream shattered the afternoon quiet. Those present later claimed that the scream appeared to come from the center of their circle and was so loud that they immediately covered their ears.

It seems an instant decision was made by everyone that this was not the place they wanted to be! There was no "amen" said to end the prayer, only a headlong race down the side of the mountain. So hasty was their retreat that the visitor left his cane at the top of the mountain, and, although he did not request or receive any assistance, he was the first to reach the road. The preacher finished a close second. Addendum: At the 2001 dedication ceremony, an attendee testified that his son, hidden among the trees, was the culprit.

Reuben and Elizabeth are buried on their old farm (now Davidson Farm) in Grainger County, Tennessee, nearby Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Their descendant (Archie Dalton) had a memorial stone made and dedicated in November 2001 to them being the first Daltons in Grainger County, Tennessee and had it placed in the cemetery.

Elizabeth Shockley was the daughter of Richard Shockley and Elizabeth Adkinson. She was probably born in 1757 or later. It has been reported as late as 1768. There is evidence to support a birth date later than 1757. Elizabeth had her last child, Timothy, in 1810-1811. Assuming a birth year of 1757, she would have been 53 at the time of his birth. The only date we are sure of is that in 1810, she was over 45 years old. Enos Dalton, the first-born was born about 1772, according to census data, and other records. There is a span of 38 years between Enos and Timothy.

If Elizabeth was also his mother she would have had to have been born 10 to 15 years earlier than 1768. This would have made her over 50 years old when Timothy was born. However, we also know that Reuben named all his children in his will and they included Enos and Timothy. In addition, Reuben remarked that Enos could continue possession of a certain piece of land known as Enos' field as long as his mother was alive and after that the land would be transferred to two of his brothers.

Evidence also shows that Richard Shockley arrived in the Hillsville, Virginia area about 1773. His family, it is reported, did not join him there until 1775. Reuben Dalton arrived in the same area no earlier than 1780 and probably 1781 or 1782. He shows up on record in 1782. In order for a marriage between Reuben and Elizabeth prior to 1775, Richard Shockley and Reuben Dalton, would have had to have been together back in Pittsylvania County. I believe that Reuben and Elizabeth were married in Pittsylvania County about 1772. While I still have problems with Elizabeth's age, I believe she was the mother of all of Reuben's children. Elizabeth was still alive in 1823, but died prior to 1830. This could have been resolved if the 1820 census were available.

The 1810 census for Reuben Dalton Sr was: 12101-11101. This indicates that living in his household were 1 male born between 1800-1810, 2 males born between 1794-1800, 1 male born between 1784-1794, 1 male over 45, who was probably Reuben Dalton Sr. The female included 1 female born between 1800-1810, 1 female born between 1794-1800, 1 female born between 1784-1794, and 1 female over 45 who was probably Elizabeth Shockley.

Sources

• Find A Grave Memorial# 10744671
• Burial: Mount Pleasant Church Cemetery - Thorn Hill, Grainger County Tennessee, USA
• Burial with Spouse Reuben J. Dalton (1752 - 1822)*

Other Sources

Name

Name: Elizabeth "Betsey" /Shockley/

Given Name: Elizabeth "Betsey"

Surname: Shockley

A Given name was found in addition to a first name in the NAME tag.

Birth

Birth:

Date: 1757

SDATE 1 JUL 1757

Place: Pittsylvania County, Virginia^[1]

Death

Death:

Date: 1823

SDATE 1 JUL 1823

Place: Grainger County, Tennessee^[2]

Date: 20 AUG 2006

Prior to import, this record was last changed 20 AUG 2006.

Burial

Burial:

Date: 1823

SDATE 1 JUL 1823

Place: Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Grainger County, Tennessee^[3]

Note

Note: #DWNLNOTE

Marriage

Wife: Elizabeth "Betsey" Shockley

Marriage:

Date: ABT 1772

SDATE 1 JUL 1772

Place: Bedford or Pittsylvania County, Virginia^[4]

Husband: Richard Esau Shockley

Wife: Elizabeth Meredit Adkins

Child: Thomas R. Shockley

Child: Elizabeth "Betsey" Shockley

Child: Ann Shockley

Child: Richard Shockley

Child: Mary Ann Shockley

Child: Isaiah Josiah Shockley

Child: John Wilson Shockley

Child: Meredith Shockley

Child: Alice Elsie Shockley

Child: William Shockley

Child: Wilson Shockley

Child: Nancy Shockley

Child: Isom Shockley

Child: Samuel Shockley

Marriage:

Date: ABT 1754

SDATE 1 JUL 1754

Place: Pittsylvania County, Virginia^[5]

Sources

• WikiTree profile Shockley-56 created through the import of stobie.ged on Jul 2, 2011 by Herbert Wolfe. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Herbert and others.

• Source: S4002 Abbreviation: Vicki Hill's Rootsweb GEDCOM Title: Hill, Vicki. Rootsweb GEDCOM. vlhill@airmail.net. Subsequent Source Citation Format: Hill, Vicki. Rootsweb GEDCOM. vlhill@airmail.net. BIBL Hill, Vicki. Rootsweb GEDCOM. vlhill@airmail.net. TMPLT TID 0 FIELD Name: Footnote VALUE Hill, Vicki. Rootsweb GEDCOM. vlhill@airmail.net. FIELD Name: ShortFootnote VALUE Hill, Vicki. Rootsweb GEDCOM. vlhill@airmail.net. FIELD Name: Bibliography VALUE Hill, Vicki. Rootsweb GEDCOM. vlhill@airmail.net. TMPLT FIELD Name: Page
• Samuelson, Nancy B. (1998). The Dalton Gang Story. (Contains Dalton family Genealogy - Nancy is a member of the Dalton family).
• Daltons in History Volume 8 No 3 March 2005

http://www.daltongensoc.com/diharchive/8_3_March_2005/text.html

Notes

Note DWNLNOTE

An extract from Thomas Stobie's GEDCOM created 10 Mar 2009. Thomas can be contacted at stobie@@sprynet.com.

1. ↑ Source: #S4002 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page
2. ↑ Source: #S4002 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page
3. ↑ Source: #S4002 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page
4. ↑ Source: #S4002 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page
5. ↑ Source: #S4002 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page