Patrick Pioneers – Claiborne & Saluda Mustain Shelton and Haman & Pricilla Fitzgerald Shelton 

Last week, we began looking at Revolutionary War Captain Eliphaz Shelton who, in 1791, deeded 18 acres of land to newly formed Patrick County; these 18 acres created the town we now know as Stuart. 

I asked if anyone might know the fate of the Eliphaz Shelton family cemetery, and the enslaved African cemetery at the foot of Main Street. The cemetery was documented in Mr. O.E. Pilson’s cemetery book, it was marked on surveys, and was visited by locals in the community. Several people reached out to tell me that the cemetery was located on a ridge overlooking the Mayo River. If you recall the trailer park that was located at the foot of Main Street from the 1960’s through 1990’s, the cemetery was on the ridge between the trailer park and the back of Curtis Carter’s childhood homeplace. According to the folks that reached out to me, these two cemeteries were bulldozed when the ridge was flattened for development. William Letcher’s grave is the oldest marked grave in Patrick County; Letcher was murdered by Tories in 1780. The Shelton cemetery’s graves were nearly as old; the first burial was Eliphaz’s mother in 1787, followed by his father Ralph in 1789. 

I hope that by sharing the Shelton family story in this column, it will help to ensure that folks will remember their family’s immense contribution to Patrick County’s history. For this second week of the Shelton family history, we will look at Eliphaz and Nancy Asher’s son, Claiborne and his son, Haman. 

The following information is from the book, “History of Gallia, Ohio” written by W. Grody. “Claiborne Shelton married Saluda ‘Luedy’ Mustain, daughter of Thomas Avery Mustain, of Pittsylvania County, Virginia on May 16, 1785.” 

I am going to digress here a minute. If you are interested in the Mustain family, you will be happy to know that the home of Thomas Avery Mustain still survives on Telegraph Road in Gretna, VA. In “Tracks Along the Staunton,” Diane Popek writes that “Around 1750 Thomas Mustain, on the original grant by King George II of England, built a rock-wall house, a landmark of Pittsylvania County.”

Now, back to the information shared in “The History of Gallia, Ohio,” written by Mr. Grady. “Claiborne served in the Indian Wars under Gen. Wayne and was much impressed with the farming possibilities of the Wabash County, Indiana. The government, unable to pay its soldiers in cash, offered land instead. So, in 1811, Claiborne, Saluda, and ten of their eleven children, headed for that county. They loaded the bedding in a wagon and Saluda drove a cow hitched to the wagon. All but William the youngest, who rode with his mother, walked and carried packs. They followed buffalo and Indian trails and had traveled many miles when they came to what was to become Greenfield Township, Gallia Co. Saluda became too ill to go on. Chimney Rock on Symmes Creek furnished shelter. The story goes that with no time to build a cabin, and Saluda too ill to move, the family took shelter in a cave. The creek was full of fish and the woods full of game; that spring Saluda died. She was buried in a private cemetery on the opposite hillside. Claiborne built a cabin and stayed on until the rest of the children were grown.” 

Claiborne and two of his sons traveled on to Wabash County, Indiana where they established homesteads, but most of the children remained in Gallia County, Ohio to raise their families. 

Claiborne and Saluda’s only child that remained in Patrick County in 1811 when the rest of his family left, was Haman D. Shelton. I have been unable to find why twelve-year-old Haman would remain in Patrick County, Virginia, while the rest of his family headed out west, but I imagine this was a very sad time for all. Haman, born in Patrick County in 1799, married Miss Pricilla Fitzgerald on the 26th of September 1819. Pricilla was the daughter of Harvey Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gazaway Fitzgerald of Patrick County. Several of Pricilla’s brothers and their families lived in Patrick County their entire lives: Thomas; James; Leonard; and Madison Fitzgerald. 

Haman and Pricilla Fitzgerald must have left Virginia not long after their marriage because in the 1830 and 1840 census records, they were living in Marion, Illinois. The following is an account written by Roy Shelton in 1962 about his great grandparents, Haman and Pricilla Fitzgerald Shelton. “I am writing the account of Haman Shelton Sr. and his family, who came to Oregon in 1847. My great grandfather Haman Shelton was born in Patrick County, Virginia on February 22, 1799. He lived there until manhood and married Pricilla Fitzgerald, a neighbor girl in 1819. Pricilla was born on December 26, 1797. Haman and Pricilla from 1819 to 1843 had 13 children.”

Shelton continued, “They left Independence, Missouri in April of 1847 by ox team, with 12 of their children. They tried to make 10 miles per day. They arrived in the Willamette Valley in the last days of August 1847. They averaged 13 miles per day. Their journey across the plains was very hard work, getting the oxen over the ground, camp, cook, and eat. With the Holy Bible, prayer every night, they plodded on. They had no Indian trouble as their scouts were of the best. When they reached the Dalles, Oregon Territory, they were confronted with three ways to reach the Willamette Valley. One was to make log rafts and put everything on the rafts and float them down the Columbia River to the Cascade Rapids, take everything off the rafts and portage 6 miles around the rapids, rebuild the rafts, and float on down to the Willamette River to Oregon City. The second way was to ford the Columbia River, at the Dalles and go down to Fort Vancouver on the north bank of the Columbia, which was mountainous and rough. The third way was to go overland on a road that was little known in 1847. In 1845, Samuel Kimbrough Barlow, a sturdy pioneer from Kentucky, was wagon master of his train and trail boss. The Dalles was full of wagon trains, so Barlow decided to follow an old Indian trail to Tygh Valley and on to Wamic, White River over the Barlow Pass, around the south side of Mount Hood to Laurel Hill, to Government Camp, and zigzag to Oregon City. The terrain was so rough, and the hills were so steep, it is a wonder they ever made it, but make it they did, with broke wagons, fresh graves, lots of their cattle dead, some abandoned their belongings to save themselves. When Haman and his train reached the Dalles in July 1847, this was the third way he and his companions could get to Willamette Valley and the Promised Land.” 

Shelton concluded his great grandfather’s story, “Haman and his companions, being of sturdy stock and wishing to get to the valley as soon as possible, to get shelter built before winter, decided to go the Barlow Trail. In July 1847, they left Fort Dalles to Tygh Valley and over the Pass. There was no Pass. Just mountains, rivers, and steep bluffs. I’ve heard Grandfather tell of falling trees and with rope tied to the tip of the tree to the wagon, and using this for a drag, or brake, would ease the wagon down in the steepest places. They finally reached Oregon City and on up the Valley. They settled seven miles east of Scio. The time being the later part of August 1847. A campsite was decided on the north bank of the South Fork of the North Santiam River, later designated as Thomas Creek. In September, they went to affirm their signatures for the Donation Land Claim Act and Haman claimed his 640 acres (a square mile). By winter, he had a log cabin built on the camp site.” 

At the time Haman and Pricilla entered the Willamette Valley, he was 48 years old, and she was 50. Remarkably, (for the time) the couple lived for 29 more years. Haman passed away in March of 1876 and Pricilla followed 4 months later. Next week, we will look at Eliphaz and Nancy Shelton’s children who remained in Patrick County. Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or (276) 692-9626.