Individual Details

I found the story of Mary's family in a letter written by her brother Henry. The letter is posted online and states that it is was found in the Shelley folder at the Austin History Center. The recipient of this letter is not known but it was written in response to an invitation to attend a family reunion of descendants of their aunt, Abigail Woodward, their father's sister. the letter is dated 13 Aug 1887 and sent from Austin, Texas to A. H. Smith, of Lyons, Nebraska..


Here is an excerpt from the letter - there are more details than shown here:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monk/austin.html

My father, WILLIAM P. SHELLEY (brother of Mrs. Abigail Woodward), was born October 23d, 1801. He was married to Margaret F. Etter, May 25, 1824. To them were born eleven children, as follows:

1st. NATHAN GEORGE , born February 20th, 1825. He was married to his cousin, Sarah F. Shelley, (daughter of Jacob D. Shelley), Nov. 24th, 1854.

2d. ELIZABETH M., was born February 13th, 1827, and died June 18, 1827.

3d. SARAH JANE, was born June 8, 1829; was married to Bolivar Eason , March 2d, 1847.

4th. JAMES ETTER, was born September 2d, 1831; was never married; was colonel of the 10th Alabama (Confederate) Regiment; was killed in battle while commanding his regiment in front of Petersburg, Virginia, on the 22d of June, 1864.

5th. CHARLES MILLER, was born December 25, 1833; was married to Kathleen McConnell, June 15th, 1865. His wife (Kathleen) died at the birth of her daughter, Kathleen (2d), and he (Charles M.) afterwards married his sister-in-law, Olivia McConnell. He was a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army.

6th. MARY CUNNYNGHAM, was born February 18, 1836; was married to George G. Haden, January 13, 1859. There were born to them four children, to-wit: Henry, Etter Green, James, and William Shelley. James died in infancy, the other children are living. Their mother (Mrs. Haden) died April 6th, 1874; her husband had previously died.

7th. WILLIAM E., was born July 20, 1838, and died December 19, 1853.

8th. Henry E. Shelley ,(the writer) was born March 15th, 1841 : was married to Cornelia W. Rice, March 30th , 1870.

9th. HARRIET M., was born July 23, 1843; was married to Jesse G. Wait, April 10, 1873.

10th and 11th. Margaret F. and Martha H. (twins) were born August 17, 1846. Margaret died in February and Martha died in March, 1855 - they were about 8 years old.

My father and mother died in 1874 : Mother, May 20th, and father, October 10th. If mother had lived five days longer, she and father would have celebrated their golden wedding. [places their marriage as 25 May 1824]

Birth	18 Feb 1836	Tennessee
Marriage	13 Jan 1859	George Greene Haden
Death	6 Apr 1874

Spouse	George Greene Haden (1815 - 1866)
Child	Henry Horace Haden (1859 - 1939)
Child	Etta Greene Haden (1862 - )
Child	James Haden (1864 - 1864)
Child	William Haden (1866 - )

Father	William Parke Shelley (1801 - 1874)
Mother	Margaret F. Etter (1803 - 1874)
Sibling	Nathan George Shelley (1825 - 1898)
Sibling	Elizabeth M. Shelley (1827 - 1827)
Sibling	Sarah Jane Shelley (1829 - )
Sibling	Col. James Etter Shelley (1831 - 1864)
Sibling	Charles Miller Shelley (1833 - 1907)
Sibling	William E. Shelley (1838 - 1853)
Sibling	Henry E. Shelley (1841 - )
Sibling	Harriet M. Shelley (1843 - )
Sibling	Margaret F. Shelley (1846 - 1855)
Sibling	Martha H. Shelley (1846 - 1855)