Shelton Farm 1880s

This is a picture that I copied from Aunt Luella. You'll want to click on it to enlarge it as that will make it easier to view. I believe it came from Bryon's collection. It was probably taken sometime in the 1870s or 1880s. It is the old Shelton farm (smae house where Wayne and Bertha lived). Standing outside are William R. and Margaret (Mag) Shelton. Near the porch is one of their sons, but I'm not sure which - yet! Seems to me Bryon told me that they built this house after the old one burned down.
Mag used to cook in a big kettle over an open fire. She smoked a stone pipe and spoke with a thick German accent which Bryon could immitate. William was a member of the Union Army and had been in a prison camp in Texas. The prisoners were fed pumpkins and he was never a very healthy man after he left the army. The Sheltons lost two little girls who died very young. Their names escape me at the moment. One day, several years after the deaths of these children, William called Mag into the bedroom and told her that the little girls had come to him and told him that he would be "called home" the following week. "They were in the flower of youth," he told his wife. William did die shortly after and was buried at the Brown Cemetery. This story came from Uncle Bryon.