The Sons and Daughters
of Hardy and Mary Shelton
Pictured Above: Aaron Hardy Shelton, Son of Hardy and Mary Bearden Shelton, Standing Proudly In Front of His Home (Courtesy of the Family of Aaron Hardy and Fannie Key Shelton)
Born Prior to the End of the Civil War
(Teresa) Spencer Hardy Franklin Dukes Myles, Granddaughter of Pinkney and Laura Franklin
Laura Shelton Franklin Powell
Dec. 1846 - 1906 (Likely)
Laura Shelton married a man with the last name of Rowland and then married Pinkney Franklin on June 2, 1874. Laura had twelve children, with only five living in 1900. It is also possible, she may have had children in enslavement that were sold. Following his death and in an effort to take care of her late sister Mary’s family, she married Peter Powell, her husband before her death in about 1906. Laura had five known children: Ida Rowland Franklin (William John Henry Hudgins); Eugenia M. (Jennie) Franklin (Charley Bowman); (William) Hardy Franklin (Rosa Lee Hackney); Joel (Joe) Franklin (Pauline Odeoms (Dukes)); Minnie Estelle Franklin (Ernest Waddell). Laura is likely buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery. The descendants of Laura were discovered a few years ago via dna and documentation. Laura’s descendants married multiple members of the Finley family, with one line of the family descended from the Adams and Hudgins families. Many of her descendants are buried in the Pond Spring AME Zion Church Cemetery in Chattooga County, Georgia. (Source: Karen Stewart-Ross - census records and other archival resources.)
Lucy Shelton Spruce
July 4, 1850 - March 2, 1923
Lucy Shelton married Irvin Spruce, the son of Currell and Martha Dukes Spruce, on January 7, 1871. Irvin and Lucy had thirteen children with twelve children living in 1900. They were Columbus, Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Pierce Shropshire); Hattie L. (William S. Robinson & William Smith); Frances “Fannie” E. (William Selman); James Aaron Spruce (Lula Sledge); Jessie (Marcell/Marcelles) Towers & Charley T. Beverly); Earley (Addie O. Espy, Ada Street, Nora); Lela; Ollie P. (William “Edgar” Shropshire (Brother of Pierce) and Samuel Dismukes); Rhoda L. (Shannon Smith and Robert Allison); Saphronia “Froney” (Slamon Ware); Queen “Queenie” (Frank Fair, Joe Burton, Garfield Sams); Eldora G.; and Rayfield. Irvin, a farmer, was a hard-working and well-respected man in Rome, Georgia actively engaged in his community and managed a property with his mother before her passing. In 1903, the Spullock family sold him over 300 acres of property which he added to the property the family owned in Pleasant Hill/Possum Trot. Strong evidence suggests that Lucy and Irvin are likely buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery at Possum Trot.
Irvin was a deacon for the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, one of the Shelton family’s original family churches, among other notable feats. The Shelton family married two siblings of the Spruce family. (Source: Karen Stewart-Ross - census records and other archival resources.)
Daughters of Lee and Fannie Shelton Cathey: Laura Robertson, Lucy Echols, Gracie Cook, Geneva Banks (Seated), Lula Gray, Emma Gertrude Harper Williams, Joanna Hill Lewis, Antonia Robertson (Not Pictured: Annie Echols and Mary Hickman Hill)
Frances “Fannie” Shelton Cathey
1846 - In or Before 1910
Frances “Fannie” Shelton married Leroy “Lee” Cathey on whose parents were Jonas and Delse Barry Rhine Cathey. His stepmother was Sarah Ringer Rhine Cathey. In about 1895, the Lee and Fannie’s family would move to Atlanta and then to Robertson County, Texas - New Baden/Franklin, Texas where they established a homestead. Fannie had fourteen known children. Four of those children do not appear to have survived or may have been sold during enslavement. Joanna (William “Bill” Hill and Clarence Lewis), Laura E. (George Robertson), Anna “Annie” Henry Echols); Lucy (Henry Echols following Anna’s death), Mary (Arman Hickman & Possibly Cisero Hill), Antonia (Wise Robertson), Grace (Columbus McKinley & Algin A. Cook), Lula Alice (Arthur Gray), Emma Gertrude (Alfred Williams & Lewis “Lue” Harper), and the youngest of the family, Geneva (Percy Banks).
The Shelton family married two siblings of the Cathey family. The Cathey-Shelton family of Texas established their own settlement in New Baden/Franklin, Texas and have a family plot in the Owensville Cemetery in Robertson County. Evidence suggests that the Cathey family in Texas kept in contact with their Rome relatives for many years. Alvin J. Hill, Joanna’s grandson, would head the Georgia Baptist College and the Cave Spring Segregated School for the Deaf in the 1950s. It is presumed that Fannie is buried in Owensville. However, given that she and her daughter Annie were among the earliest deaths in the Cathey-Shelton family shortly after migrating from Rome, it’s possible that, like some other family members, their remains were brought back to the family’s homestead at Possum Trot for burial in the Shelton Family Cemetery. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross)
Aaron Hardy and Fannie Key Shelton
Aaron Hardy Shelton
1859 - 1952
Aaron Hardy Shelton was born enslaved and married Fannie Key Shelton on Dec. 10, 1882. A farmer who would eventually move to the city of Rome and work for Shorter College, Aaron Hardy and Fannie had seven known children: Edna Clyde, Lewis Pleas, Mary Madolyu, Lillie C., Allard Inman, Norris Charlie, and Ida Fay.
Aaron Hardy kept in touch with his Texas family even following Fannie’s passing sending a picture of himself in front of his home. Many of the family remained in Rome with some migrating to Detroit. Aaron Hardy was also a deacon in the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. Aaron Hardy and many of his children are buried in the newly-renamed Shelton Family Cemetery at Possum Trot. Their granddaughter, Josephine, would marry Samuel T. Burrell, a tremendously respected educator and the first African American commissioner of Floyd County. (Source: Written by Karen Stewart-Ross, Family Historian/Researcher - census records, documentation, oral history, and other archival records.)
Calvin Walter Powell, Sr., Son of Peter and Mary Shelton Powell (Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Powell Family)
Mary Shelton Powell
1860 - March 12, 1897
Mary Shelton, named after her mother, married Peter Powell, a farmer, on Dec. 23, 1880. Peter and Mary would own several acres of land at Possum Trot. Together, Peter and Mary would have ten known children: Kale, Lillie Mae (John R. Freeman of Freemantown); Lawrance Powell (Pearl Freeman of Freemantown); Milo, Harmony, Helen, Calvin Walter Powell, Sr. (pictured left), Alton, Ervin, and Louise.
Following Mary’s passing, Peter remarried twice - once to Mary’s sister Laura whose husband had also passed. Two of Peter and Mary’s children married nearby Freemantown family members which was discovered via documentation and later confirmed with DNA: Lillie Mae married John R. Freeman and Lawrance married Pearl Freeman, Lee Cathey’s niece. Both Peter and Mary are buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross - census records, archival records)
Henry Shelton
1862 - Unknown
Henry was born in 1862 and likely died in or before 1880. Henry worked on the family farm in Coosa. The 1870 census record denotes Henry, which may be an alternative name for Henrietta or may have been transcribed incorrectly, as a female. Henry is presumed to be buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery at Possum Trot. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross - census records)
Rhoda “Rhody” Shelton Drew
1864 -1886
Rhoda “Rhody” Shelton married John Drew on Dec. 23, 1880. She married the same day as her sister, Mary Shelton Powell. The couple does not appear to have had children. Rhoda is presumed be buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery at Possum Trot. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross)
Born in Freedom
Mattie Adams Cathey, wife of Milton Horace Cathey, son of Wallace and Lula Shelton Cathey, with their great-great grandchildren
Lula Shelton
March 8, 1866 - April 1, 1940
Lula Shelton was the first known child to be born free in the Shelton family. Lula married James Wallace Cathey, the brother of Lee and Susie Cathey Freeman, on Dec. 22, 1881 in Floyd County, Georgia. Lula would later marry Albert James. Together, Lula and Wallace had ten known children: Maggie, Milton Horace, Sr. (Mattie Adams), Jurrell (Cokely), Maud (Edward Harris), Daisy, Julia, Pinkney, Frank Sidney (Nannie Johnson), Ida (Charlie Davis & Washington), Zoe, and Elzorah (Harry Davis). Lula and Wallace lived in Chattooga County, Georgia and following Wallace’s untimely death, the family moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee with some migrating to Detroit. Lula is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee along with some of her children, including Daisy.
Their son, Milton Horace Cathey, married Mattie Adams (pictured right - seated) of the Chattooga County Adams family whose family intermarried with members of the Shelton extended families. Milton Horace’s family had a very strong relationship with the well-known Schloze family of Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Source: Written by Karen Stewart-Ross, Family Historian/Researcher - census records, archival records)
Joel Lee G. Shelton
July 1867 - Between 1910 & 1920
Joel Lee G. Shelton married Della Echols on Dec. 23, 1880. Their children were William “Wiley” Shelton (Ellen V. Turner), Fannie Mae Shelton (Charles L. Woodward & Clark), William “Willie” Preston Shelton (Lady Belle Lloyd-Scarber Smith and Bessie Wynn), Louise Shelton (Homer Hardaway). Joel and perhaps some of his children are presumed buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery at Possum Trot. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross-census records, archival records)
Interesting Facts: Joel and his family briefly lived in Oklahoma.
William S. Shelton
1869 - Unknown
William S. Shelton was a laborer who lived on the family farms in Coosa and Pleasant Hill/Possum Trot. William is presumed buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery at Possum Trot. Research is ongoing regarding William. (Source: Written by Karen Stewart-Ross - census records, archival records.)
Judy Shelton
Judy attended school in 1880. Research is ongoing regarding Judy. She is presumed buried in the Shelton Family Cemetery at Possum Trot. (Source: Research conducted by Karen Stewart-Ross - census records)
1871 - Uknown
Matilda Shelton Spruce
1872 - Unknown
Matilda Shelton lived on the family farms in Coosa and Pleasant Hill/Possum Trot. On April 10, 1890, she married Thomas Crawford Spruce, the brother of Irvin Spruce. Thomas would later remarry. It is unclear what happened to Matilda, but it is presumed she passed shortly after marriage. She is presumed buried with her family in the Shelton Family Cemetery at Possum Trot. Research is ongoing regarding Matilda. (Source: Written by Karen Stewart-Ross, Family Historian/Researcher - census records, archival records.)