The Sheltons of Hamilton County, IL

William Shelton - Hannah Yates
sons: William Shelton (m. rebecca Hogg) ----- Josiah (m. Nancy Ross) -----
cousins: Joseph Shelton(son of William/Rebecca) William J. Shelton (son of Josiah and Nancy and g-grandfather of Wayne Shelton )


Joseph Shelton, first cousin to our William J. Shelton, was an early settler near Dahlgren He was born Mar 1, 1793, some say in Pittsylvania Co, VA . As a small child his family moved to Kentucky.






The American flag in 1812

Joseph Shelton was a private in the War of 1812. He fought in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, and the Shelton heirs have an old watch he found on the battlefield at New Orleans. He served, probably as a captain, in the Indian Wars in Illinois in 1816 or 1817. The Shelton heirs have his old rifle and powder horn that he carried in the Indian War. When this period of service was ended, he was discharged near where Chicago now stands. His horse was lame, so he turned it loose and walked to Southern Illinois. The captains in the Indian War furnished their own horses, and the pay was $8.00 per month.
Joseph Shelton was married to Nancy Chaffin in Christian County, KY in 1815, and about 1820 he and his wife settled a mile north and a mile west of what is now Dahlgren.
Their first baby was born and died at the home northeast of Dahlgren. When Mr. Shelton was gone into the woods to make a coffin in which to bury the baby, a panther came to the door of their cabin. Mrs. Shelton drove the hungry animal away with a stick with fire on one end of it that she had grabbed from the fireplace.
One summer a long, hard rain had put out the fire which they always tried to keep near their cabin in order to have fire with which to cook. Mrs. Shelton rode a horse twelve or fifteen miles east to the nearest neighbor to get some fire in an iron pot. She covered the glowing coals with ashes so it would not out during the long journey back home.
The children of Joseph and Nancy Shelton were Lucy, Sylvester, Sophia, Julia Ann, Linnie, Leonard, Nancy and Rebecca.
David M. Garrison, one of the grandsons of Joseph Shelton, has an old kettle about four and a half feet in diameter which has been in the family a long time. This kettle was originally used near Shawneetown, Illinois, to “boil down” salt water for salt in the early 1800s.
Joseph Shelton is buried on the old Shelton homestead northeast of Dahlgren. His heirs held a Shelton Reunion every year from 1915 to 1925.