boyohs and trek

One of our ancestors lived in New Brunswick with his family. David Booth Shelton and his wife had 12 children. David had inherited the land from his Uncle Gideon Shelton who was given it by King George for his valour in fighting for the British in the Revolutionary War. David’s father John, had fought for the Revolutionaries. The brothers never spoke to each other again, until Gideon fell ill and wrote to John asking if one of John’s sons would be willing to accept and work the land so that it wouldn’t fall out of family hands. John responded by moving his whole family to New Brunswick and cared for Gideon until he passed away. When the American West opened for colonization, the family met for a oouncil to decide what they were to do. David Booth Shelton was old and frail by this time and was nearly blind. It was decided that David and his older children who had already established families and homes in New Brunswick would stay behind and honor the brother’s wishes. The rest of the family would go West and make their fortunes there. A wagon, supplies and a team of oxen were purchased and outfitted and William Shelton who was born in 1833 and 12 years old at the time, was given charge of the 6 younger children and they made their way West eventually settling in Arizona. He and his 10 year old brother built the log house while the younger girls helped organize the rest of the children and got the first crop planted in time for it to be harvested in the fall. That famiy never saw each other again but both did well where they had settled. I had a tough time letting me 15 year old boyohs go for a week. I can’t even imagine how heart wrenching that must’ve been for their father to insist that they go so that they would have the best chance possible for a better life… That to me, is true love and Patriotism. They’d promised to take care of the land that had been awarded to their Uncle by the King of England and were still American enough to go out at their father’s request and help open the West for this Nation. Quite a heritage for my family and for other families out there that did the same sort of things…

twindragonsmum 🙂