BIOGRAPHY: The other Ralph Shelton was the son of Sarah gissage (Gissedge) widow of Richard g issage. The identity of his father is not clearly established. Richard Gissage's land was in Pamunkey Neck, on the east side of Cohoke Swamp, extending downward from the tract which ha d been patented by Ambrose Lipscomb, and which lay below the courthouse. He gained title to 2 000 acres, within the Indian Ring, in June 1699, by the action of a committee appointed to se ttle the claims to land in Pamunkey Neck already developed [Malcolm Hart Harris, MD, OLD NE W KENT COUNTY; SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PLANTERS, ETC., IN KING WILLIAM COUNTY, ST. JOHN'S PARISH , Vol. II, privately printed, West Point, VA, 1977, 671]. He previously had received a paten t to 337 acres in St. Stephen's Parish of New Kent County, for the transportation of seven pe rsons into the colony [SHELTON FAMILY GENEALOGICAL NOTES, Manuscript Collection #30057, LVA] . The will of Richard Gissage, written 3 Mar 1702/3 and entered for probate on 20 May of th e same year, no longer exists. We know its contents and have other information on Ralph Shelt on principally from a series of articles which appeared in THE AMHERST ENTERPRISE [THE AMHERS T (VIRGINIA) ENTERPRISE, 1879, articles apparently written by Thomas H. Ellis]. Mr. Ellis says that Richard Gissage divided his real property into four parts, but does not specify to whom it was to be left. He is more specific concerning Mr. Gissage's personal property which was divided into three parts; one-third to his widow, Sarah, one-third to his daughter, Mary Lipscomb, wife of Ambrose Lipscomb; and one-third to his daughter, Christian Gissage [Again according to Mr. Ellis, the daughter Christian married a Mr. Poindexter, and one of their descendants was the Hon. George Poindexter, first delegate to Congress from the Territory of Missis sippi, later a governor of the state and a U.S. Senator]. Bequests were made to his friends W illiam Noyes, Daniel Miles, and Robert Sercey. The will was witnessed by John Waller, Joseph Brown, and Isaac Ironshaw. The executors were Mary Lipscomb and William Noyes [Another source says that Daniel Miles was also an executor; Harris, OLD NEW KENT COUNTY 2:672]. On 30 Se p 1703, Joseph Bickley posted bond for securing certain personal property on behalf of Ralp h Shelton, a minor son of Sarah gissage, whom he, Joseph Bickley, covenanted to marry [Powell , Washington B. BICKLEY/BECKLEY FAMILY, 'William and Mary Quarterly (1) V, 1896, 124.]. The f ollowing Feb he received, on behalf of his wife, Sarah, her one-third share of the property o f her late husband [WMQ, 1, 124]. He also posted bond to guarantee two years schooling for hi s step-son [ABSTRACTS OF KING WILLIAM RECORD BOOKS, Nos. 1 & 2 and part of No. 3, 1702-1795 , 199, Binder #1, Archives and Records Division, LVA]. Mr. Ellis states that Joseph later ha d a distinguished career in Louisa County where he died in 1749. However, extensive work by C olonel John C. Bell, published in THE VIRGINIA GENEALOGIST in 1983, establishes that the Loui sa County Joseph Bickley was, in fact, Joseph, Jr. Joseph, Sr., probably died in Middlesex C o between 04 Sep 1735 and 26 Oct 1740 and Sarah died after 26 Oct 1740. Their children, as far as Colonel Bell could establish, were Joseph Jr., Jane, Frances and John [THE VIRGINIA GENE ALOGIST, 27, 1983, 32]. Ralph Shelton was born in King and Queen County 25 Sep 1698, his spon sors in baptism being Vincent Inge, Ralph Pea and Lydia Searcy [This information, as well a s what follows concerning descendants of this family, is from the AMHERST ENTERPRISE article s previously cited]. Mr. Ellis states that he was the son of Richard Gissage and his wife, Sa rah, and that the child, for reasons unknown, took the maiden name of his mother. The Sarah S helton who married Mr. Gissage would seem to be the same Sarah Shelton named as a headright o n 24 Oct 1701 for a grant of land in St. John's Parish, King and Queen County, in Pamunkey Ne ck, although she obviously had been in that exact location for several years by this time. Co lonel Bell examines the possibilities of Ralph's birth and concludes that 'the scenario whic h would seem to mechanically best fit the known circumstances is that Ralph was born out of w edlock [Bell, 35]. This is probably true, but emotionally it seems an unsatisfactory explanat ion. That he would marry an unmarried woman with a child seems unlikely. Is it possible tha t Sarah Shelton's husband died on the passage to Virginia or even soon after arrival, perhap s leaving her a pregnant widow? Ralph must have been about five yeras old when his father, o r step-father, died, and we have no evidence that Ralph was mentioned in the Gissage will. Wo uld primogeniture have been a factor? According to a study by C. Ray Keim, promogeniture, lik e many English customs and institutions, went through a period of change after reaching Virgi nia, befgore being abolished altogether [Keim, C. Ray, PRIMOGENITURE AND ENTAIL IN COLONIAL V IRGINIA, 'William and Mary Quarterly', 3, XXV, 1968, 54]. He says, '...during the first centu ry of the Virginia colony the status of primogeniture and entail rematined substantially tha t set in England during the reign of Henry VIII... the bulk of lands in England could be devi sed by will, yet the law of primogeniture held in all cases of intestacy...' This, however, w as not a case of intestacy. Was it decided by Sarah Gissage after her husband's death that Ra lph would henceforward be known by the name of his father, Sarah's first husband? Joseph Bick ley undertook to guarantee his schooling, which would seem unnecessary if he had inherited fr om Richard Gissage. It seems impossible at this time to acertain the facts. At any event, th e child was referred to shortly after Richard Gissage's death as Ralph Shelton, and so he wa s known through- out his life. He married, 05 Dec 1721, Mary Pollard, dau of Robert Pollard , Gent., of King William Co. Their children (surname Shelton) were [There is information on s everal of these lines in the articles by Mr. Ellis]: Elizabeth, b 16 Aug 1724, m Joseph Whitl ock. Mary, b 01 Aug 1726, m Henry Gosney, had 4 ch. Richard, b 14 Aug 1728, m Mary Wright, ha d 12 ch. Jane, b 23 May 1730. William, b 03 Nov 1732. John, b 25 Apr 1734. Ralph Shelton's wi ll, dated 01 Jan 1743, was admitted to probate in King William Co, 21 Mar 1744. His 'loving b rother John Bickley' was appointed executor, and his wife and children were mentioned by name . In only one instance did Mr. Ellis confuse the records of the two Ralph Sheltons. He mentio ns a land patent of 20 Sep 1745, for 400 acres in Amelia Co, on the north side of the Great N otoway River, which he believed was land of the Ralph Shelton born in King & Queen Co, record ed after his death. It was, rather, land of the Ralph Shelton who married Mary Daniell [sic] , as pointed out above. End of Article. Note by Anne McElroy: As recently as a couple of year s ago in England, the Duke of Marlborough (owns/resides Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winsto n Churchill) had to petition the English Parliament for permission to break the line of primo geniture in his line because his eldest son is unfit to inherit (drug addictions, alcoholism , & major problems in eldest son's life) because the law of primogeniture is still so stron g in England that he couldn't break the line without Parliament's decision.