William R. and Margaret Shelton

Christmas Day is the 121st anniversary of the death of William R. Shelton, my great-great grandpa. Dec 20 is the 166th anniversary of the birth of Margaret (Losh) Shelton. I stopped by the Brown Cemetery yesterday and left some Christmas flowers on their graves. Uncle Bryon Shelton used to tell a story about William, who had been laid up in bed, being visited by the spirits of his little girls, Viola and Magnolia, who had died some years earleir. They appeared as young ladies and told him that they would be back in 10 days for him. He called Mag to the bed and told him that he had "seen the girls, and they were in the flower of youth." William, a veteran of the Civil War, knew the day he would die and, I am told, that word spread around the community. Onthe day he died there was a large group of friends and relatives on the lawn to check in on the ailing William, who was only 51. Mag lived another 45 years after the death of William.