This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/wNHBAIB/2821.1.1.4.2 Message Board Post: Thank you for your message: "ralph shelton b:1685 in shelton county va.married mary crispin b:1688 ,crispin shelton married lettitia monticus;in1734 they had 10 children.have more if needed please e-mail me." Unfortunately, there is no record of a "Shelton County" in the Archives of Virginia. You can determine this by consulting the site of the official Archives of Virginia, as follows: Go to http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/ and scroll down to and click on "City and County Records" and on resulting screen, click on "A Guide to City and County Records on Microfilm". There you will find a listing of the names of all Virginia counties. This is the site of The Library of Virginia, of which the Archives Department is the official Archives of the State of Virginia. I think someone has gotten hold of the book by April Miller about Shelton genealogy which she entitled SHELTON COUNTY. She was referring to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. I am sure that you have seen ad infinitum the data that you have posted. The problem is that someone has estimated Ralph's birth date which has morphed into fact and someone posited the surname of Ralph's wife but no one can produce a record -- not even a datum on which to hang the argument. There has never been a marriage record found for Ralph nor has there ever been information found on the parentage of Ralph Shelton nor on his date of birth. According to the Christ Church Parish Register plus the wills of Ralph and his wife, Mary, there were 11 children, two of whom died as infants. Also, no marriage record has ever been found for Ralph's son, Crispin. The given name of his wife is known from an Amelia County deed but no one has ever been able to produce a record proving her surname. Hildred