Individual Details

Miscellaneous

Thomas Shelton probably was the Thomas Shelton listed on a militia roll from Fairfax County, Virginia, under command of Capt. Bryan Fairfax during the French and Indian War.
This list is found in photocopies of the Washington Manuscripts, Virginia State Library, pp. 197-198.

Miscellaneous

Thomas Chilton and George Chilton [his brother] were paid for their attendance and travel as witnesses in a lawsuit in Fairfax County, Virginia, on 6-21-1758.
They traveled 40 miles in going to Fairfax County from their home in Loudoun County.

Miscellaneous

On 8-22-1769, Thomas Shelton purchased 198 acres of land on the branches of Burch's Creek in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, from John Creel.
His brother Charles also bought land from John Creel on the same day.

Miscellaneous

Thomas Shelton is shown on the Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Tithables in 1770, 1773 and 1774 as Thomas Chilton.
In 1775 and 1777, he is listed as Thomas Shelton.
This time period appears to be point at which the surname began changing from Chilton to Shelton for this line of the family.

Miscellaneous

Thomas Shelton's will names his wife Jane and these children:
William, Thomas, Bennett, James, Nancy Slayden, Sally Johnson, and Lucy Slayden.

Will

Thomas Shelton made his will on 6-1-1808, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The will had the following terms.

Jane, his wife: loaned to her for her natural lifetime, the land and plantation on which he now lives; his brown mare; and all his milch cattle, hogs, sheep, and household kitchen furniture.
Betsy Shelton, daughter of his nephew Charles Shelton (deceased): a feather bed, "as soon as she needs it to go to housekeeping."
His married children: Loans he has made to them when they set up housekeeping are to be forgiven, except for the loan he made to his daughter Lucy Slayden. Her loan is to be handled at the discretion of his executors, as she shall have need.
His seven children: William, Thomas, Bennett, and James Shelton, Nancy Slayden, Sally Johnson, and Lucy Slayden, : his estate, after the death of his wife Jane, is to be sold and divided equally among his children.

His sons William and Thomas were named executors, and the will was witnessed by Geo. Dodson, Margaret Dodson, John Shelton, Noah Shelton, William Ragland, and Jonathon Gurdmon.

The will was filed in Pittsylvania County, VA, and William Shelton was appointed executor in court, on 7-18-1808, after posting a $2000 bond, along with Creed Tanner, Thomas Shelton, Jr, and Charles Colley. William Shelton was to proceed with the probate of the estate with the assistance of the other executor, if William chose to have assistance.

Note:
The above information is from two sources:
(1) the partial copy of the original handwritten will of Thomas Shelton received from Karol Hartwig Richardson and copied from Reel 31, Book 11, pages 313, 314 of the Piittsylvania County, VA records. ( This copy does not include the witness names on the will, but it does show that Thomas Shelton, Jr. was named as one of the executors.
(2) a type-written transcript of Thomas Shelton's will, prepared by the Pittsylvania County, VA county clerk, S.S. Hurt, on 4-2-1929, shows the witness names, but the designation of Jr. after Thomas Shelton's name as an executor is not interpreted and shown as a blank. This transcript was found on Ancestry.com in the Bowmang (Sue4DAR) family tree and a digital copy is now in the genealogy records of Sherry Lawrence.

Miscellaneous

Thomas Shelton (d. 1808) and his wife Jane (Maiden Name Unknown) are shown to be the possible common ancestor couple of Sherry L. Lawrence, Larry D. Lawrence, Max Meyerhardt (Engert), E. Fields, and Christian David Haugen.

Autosomal DNA segment matches from tests taken by these individuals at Family Tree DNA, other DNA testing companies, or whose test results were transferred to My Heritage DNA showed matching or overlapping DNA segments in common with Sherry L. Lawrence and Larry D. Lawrence.

Additionally, genealogical information is consistent with that of Sherry L. Lawrence, Larry D. Lawrence, and Karol Hartwig Richardson.

Name Initials DNA Segment Range Centimorgans Chromosome
SLL 61,566 160,560,801 157.25 4
LDL 61,566 160,560,801 157.25 4
Max M 180,313,511 186,759,155 16.3 4
E. F 8,977,617 13,963,977 6.2 4
CDH 120,175,537 122,535,192 2.1 4

Matches in Common:
Sherry L. Lawrence: LDL and CDH
Larry D. Lawrence: SLL and CDH
Max Meyerhardt (Engert): SLL
E. Fields: SLL
Christian David Haugen: SLL and LDL

Note: DNA results are not available for all individuals from all testing sites.

Genealogy for matching individuals:
SLL, LDL, and Max M: John Chilton (d. 1744) - his son Thomas - his daughter Lucy
CDH: John Chilton (d. 1744) - his son Thomas - his daughter Nancy
E. F.: John Chilton (d. 1744) - his son Thomas - his son Thomas

These matches do not satisfy the requirements for Triangulated DNA Segment matches that is an indication of probable confirmation of a common ancestor couple by autosomal DNA testing. This group was not tested for matching DNA segments to each other, except for SLL and LDL.
The validity of Thomas Shelton and his wife Jane being a common ancestor couple for this group is suggested by Matches in Common and overlapping DNA segments, however the incomplete testing of all members of this group precludes a definite finding of them sharing a common ancestral couple by DNA testing.

These matches conform to the DNA standards of the Board for Certification of Genealogists in that all individuals have genealogically established direct lines of descendancy from Thomas Shelton and his wife Jane through three of their children. The matches do not have any common ancestors except Thomas Shelton's parents John Chilton and his unknown wife.

Y-DNA test analysis for Shelton descendants at a Family Tree DNA partner project are available at Tina Hall's website: tinasgenealogy.ushalls.com/dna.html

This project has determined three distinct and apparently unrelated Shelton families using variations of surnames Shelton, Chilton, Chelton, Skelton, Sheldon, or other similar names in Pittsylvania County, Virginia.

The Lucy Shelton-Sanford G. Slayton-Lucy Slayton and Edwin L. Lawrence family's Shelton ancestors originated from John Chilton (d. 1744) and his son Thomas (d. 1808.)

Y-DNA testers matching descendants of Thomas Shelton (d. 1808) son of John Chilton (d. 1744) are:
SH 86: Tester is a descendant of Bennett Shelton, who is son of Thomas Shelton (d, 1808) and his wife Jane. The genealogy for this tester has not been clearly established.
SH 133: Ted Shelton-descendant of Bennett Shelton (son of William Shelton, who was the grandson of Thomas (d. 1808) and his wife Jane.
Sh 166: Michael Shelton- descendant of Thomas Shelton (son of Bennett Shelton, who was son of Thomas Shelton (d. 1808) and his wife Jane Shelton.

The Y-DNA confirmed descent of Sherry L. and Larry D. Lawrence from Thomas Shelton (d. 1808) is inferred by established genealogical research.