Here is information about William C. Shelton, his family, and the Greenfield community, obtained through research in the Clerk's Office at Chatham, Virginia, and through personal interviews with County residents:In the early 1970's, my wife and I ran an antique shop, called "The Heritage Shop," on U. S. Highway 29 north of Danville, Virginia. One day a woman came by the shop and sold us some old magazines and papers. She explained that her landlord had asked her to clean out an old storage room of the house she rented in North Carolina near Danville, Virginia.
Among the papers was an old tattered tan-colored journal. The writer, William C. Shelton, a 36-year-old bachelor, appeared articulate and educated. As we read, we found that he was a school master (teacher) at the old log Greenfield School, which used to stand next to Greenfield Baptist Church, about five miles east of Gretna, Virginia in Pittsylvania County. The journal that William C. Shelton kept for the years 1850 - 1852, contains his innermost thoughts on people, their personalities, and current events in Pittsylvania County, along with his almost daily comments about the weather and his health.
Shelton's journal contains a rare glimpse into Pittsylvania County life before the Civil War.
Here is information about William C. Shelton, his family, and the Greenfield community, obtained through research in the Clerk's Office at Chatham, Virginia, and through personal interviews with County residents:
His Family
His Father's Land
His Grandfather's Slaves
Judgment Day
Greenfield Church & Greenfield Tan Yard
The journal for 1850 has been published by VA-NC Piedmont Genealogical Society.
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