October 2

MEMORIAL TO...

Edna Elsie Gibson Shelton  1892-1987 age 94

Edna was a sister of my great-grandmother Lora Gibson Burford.

Photo: Gibson siblings

Edna Elsie Gibson married Eldon Lloyd Shelton and they had eight children: Virgil, Delpha, Eileen May, Clyde, Mary Lou, Eva Oleta, Arthur, and Cecil. I don't have any pictures of Eldon Shelton, and 

I was only able to find one picture of one of their children.

Photo: Clyde Shelton, killed in action in World War II at age 19

Now, family lore has it that Edna's husband Eldon Shelton was a brother to the infamous Shelton gang of bootleggers in southern Illinois during prohibition. He was not part of the gang, though. Well...

After much searching and researching, I have been able to find NO connection between Eldon Shelton and the Shelton family that spawned the Shelton Gang. 

Photo: Ben and Agnes Shelton and their children. The Shelton Gang was started by Carl, Earl, and Bernie.

Eldon Shelton's father was William Wiser Shelton, and his grandfather was William R. Shelton. I can find no connecting link between either of those men and Ben Shelton. And I can find no connecting link between any of Eldon's siblings and any of the Ben Shelton family siblings. Ho hum. I guess the Burfords and the Shelton Gang were not related in any way, after all, except that they occupied the same area of the state of Illinois.