JAMES ANDREW AND FRANCES ALOIS McNICHOLL marriage and family

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Married 6 June 1890

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Some records state that this marriage occurred 23 March 1890. We have a photo copy of a picture of James, date unknown, but none of Fannie (as she was known). We know little about his early life. Fannie told her children a few memories that they passed on to their children who wrote them down.
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James Andrew McNicholl  circa early 1900's

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Like many other people of their time this family moved many times and settled new frontier areas.   Prior to 1890 the US had a 'frontier of settlement'. The 1890 census announced that the frontier region of the United States no longer existed and westward migration would no longer be tracked.

In the scant records of names and birth, marriage and death records we can observe that many people, like the McNicholl's continued to 'go west'. Some sought land, some gold and other riches or opportunities, and for some the challenges were merely exhilarating adventures.

History teaches us that, "At noon on April 22, 1889, just a few weeks after [Benjamin Harrison was inaugurated President of the United States], a gunshot signaled the opening of the Indian Territory in Oklahoma—some 1.9 million acres—to white settlers. That day, 20,000 people crossed into the territory, claiming all the available acreage. This event in Oklahoma was on the heels of the land rush for over 11 million acres of Sioux Indian territory in the Dakotas two months earlier. On October 15, 1892, Harrison made an additional 1.8 million acres of the Crow Indian reservation in Montana available for general settlement."

Archives Unbound states, "To bring the lives of these settlers into focus, consider the Western land itself—the vastness, the boundless plain, and awesome mountain barriers. ... At first they travelled in covered wagons, then by steamboats and stagecoaches. The coming of railroads increased the speed of the journeys, but for the emigrant travelers there was little in the way of amenities. ... Westward settlers following trails west typically [followed one of several established trails]. Although each trail had a main route, there were many cutoffs and alternative routes, some of them were notoriously ill-chosen while others provided significant savings of time and effort...

"It is estimated by historians that up to half a million settlers crossed the West on these trails from the earliest wagon trains to the building of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. The journey across overland trails took settlers 2,000 miles and around seven months to complete. Most groups traveled at a pace of fifteen miles a day. Few traveled the overland trails alone; most settlers traveled with their families. Large groups of settlers joined together to form 'trains.' Groups were usually led by 'pilots' who were fur trappers or mountain men that would guide them ...

"The journey over the trails usually began in the spring to avoid traveling in the winter. The most common vehicle for Oregon and California-bound settlers was a crude farm wagon covered with a canopy and led by a team of oxen (which were greatly preferred over horses and mules)."
The first child in the McNicholl family, Lenora Blanch McNicholl was born 31 Aug 1893 at Hope, Steel, North Dakota; followed by Alice Mabel McNicholl born 9 February 1893 in Denton, South Dakota [place unidentified]. Sarah Isabell McNicholl, Papa's maternal grandmother, was born 7 December 1894 Yankton, Yankton, South Dakota. Next came Cora McNicholl  born April 1896 in South Dakota, Georgia McNicholl born about 1898 or 1899, who died as an infant 2 Feb 1899 in South Dakota, and the last child born to this family of girls was Dora McNicholl born 27 October 1906 in Volmer, Idaho [may be present day Craigmont].

In a cook book published for a Shelton / Bennett Family reunion in 1990, compiled by Carrie and Gina Shelton, cousins, there is a photocopy of an old photo of 3 McNicholl daughters.  The book is full of fun pictures of many family members. The Cookbook says photos and Geneology research were courtesy of June Shupe, her daughter Pat Shelton Erdman, and Hazel Bennett Berry.

Alice McNicholl back left, Sarah McNicholl back right, 

Cora McNicholl front  circa early 1900s

We are grateful for all the work, dedication and research these individuals, and others, give our family for the discovery, and preservation of,  records and photos. They also contributed significantly to a history of Sarah Isabelle McNicholl Shelton, a daughter of James Andrew McNicholl.

In that history of Sarah Isabelle McNicholl Shelton, Papa's maternal grandmother, some of her children tell some of the stories and memories they heard from their mother.

Sarah's son (Herman Shelton) records, "[In our family] the boy's height came from Fanny's uncles and James McNicholl was tall - 6 feet. I understand [Fanny] was nice but she was very strict. That's the way it was in those days ... James wasn't a farmer - he worked in town in a profession of some kind but Mom [Sarah Shelton] never told us what. I got the impression they were not poor."

Sarah's daughter, Katherine May (Shelton) Ames, known as Kit says, "Chief Sitting Bull (the Titular Chief - title existing in name only, not the renegade) was a friend of the family and several times was an overnight guest at [James and Alois McNicholl's] home. Sometimes the Chief and his wife would just drop in for a visit and stay for several days. The Chief gave [James McNicholl] his War Bonnet when he learned that the McNicholl family was going to Idaho."

I have been unable to find any support or evidence of whom these Native American visitors might have been. Chief Sitting Bull the renegade did live in the Yankton, South Dakota area but died in 1890 only a few months after their marriage, and four years prior to Sarah Isabelle McNicholl's birth.

It has been claimed that 'Frank and Jesse James' were friends of the McNicholl family and stopped at the family home whenever they were passing through.' This seems quite unlikely as Jesse James was killed in 1882 (8 years prior to their marriage) and most of the James brothers infamously barbarous and cruel  exploits took place much further east and south than South Dakota. Although many romanticized legends sprang up regarding these men they were murderous criminals. Much of their lawlessness began as Confederate supporters in the Civil War.

Kit continues, "About 1906, after saying all their 'goodbyes', the McNicholl family joined a wagon train going west to Montana and Idaho [from Yankton, South Dakota - see below]. A history teacher says they probably took the Lewis and Clark route up the Missouri river and through South Dakota."

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Kit adds, "By this time, most Indian tribes were friendly with the whites or at least not making war with them, so there was not the need for large wagon trains or military escorts.

"Theirs was a small group of a couple dozen or so wagons, heavily loaded with all their possessions. They took all summer going from Yankton, South Dakota to Grangeville, Idaho.

"There were the McNicholl family, the George Huckins family, the Robert (Bob) Dougherty family and a few other families. Mrs. Bob Dougherty was Daisy Huckins, a sister to George Huckins and Fanny Alois McNicholl was also a sister to George Huckins. So there were strong family ties causing these three families to be traveling together.
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1900  census: Lower Methow, Okanogan County, Washington State

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On the 1900 census the parents of Frances, James and Mary Huckins, were living in Washington state and Robert Dougherty was a boarder/miner living in their household. James Huckins was the foreman for the Tom Hal Mining Company formed in 1899. If Robert Dougherty was traveling with the group in 1906, as Kit describes, he has traveled west to Washington state previously. (Note: previous census records show many Dougherty families in Washington.)
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Daisy is not with her husband (married 1897) or parents on this census. We find a Daisy Dougherty on the 1900 census of Heyde Park [Hyde Park], Cook County, Illinois near Chicago, as a neice of John and Mary McGrayel. Is this the sister of Frances Alois Huckins? I do not yet know. It is of interest however that Frances was born in that general area. 

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"While crossing the plains, ... Sarah was the 'boy' of the family of six girls. She cut the wood, gathered buffalo chips for the fires, carried water and did boy chores - she liked that. ..."
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In Donald James Shelton's history (special thanks again to cousin Pat Erdmann and all that many have helped her) Kit tells about visiting some of their mother's old friends in Entiat while moving from Oregon to Washington in the spring of 1929. "They came running out to the car and said 'hello Jim'. We were all surprised because, as Donald said to me, 'We ain't got no Jim'. We found out later that was what they called mom when she was a girl. She was the only one of six girls that would do boys work. Donald James Shelton was named after his mother's nickname Jim."

Kit continues her narrative, "As the covered wagons traveled through the mountains they had some very interesting experiences. When they came to a steep hill that they had to go down, they sometimes had to cut down a big tree and tie it to the back of the wagon so that it would be a drag and let the wagon down slowly.

"One of the stories Mom [Sarah Shelton] told us was: 'When they were in their covered wagon, coming across the plains they came to a river, which they had to ford. As arrangements were being made, an Indian rode up on his horse on the other side of the river and sat and watched them. They had heard so many Indian stories that they were scared to death of Indians and the girls were afraid he was going to scalp all of them when they got across the river. The bedding in the wagon was on top of the load, so the girls all hid under the bedding. The Indian apparently had seen them and knew what was going on. He met the wagon and came around to the back, lifted up the bedding, peeked at the girls, laughed and went back to talk to the rest of the people."

"They settled in Grangeville, Idaho, Idaho between then and the time Sarah's father, James McNicholl died on 29 March 1910 in Grangeville." Death certificate in possession of Pat Erdman.

James Died: 29 March 1910
Grangeville, Idaho, Idaho
Buried: 6 April 1910

Kit tells that, "Sometime after James McNicholl's death, Fanny married Roy Dougherty, brother of Bob Dougherty. Roy Dougherty was then Sarah's stepfather. Roy Dougherty and George Huckins later moved to Wenatchee, Washington where they lived for a short while and then moved up the Columbia River by stern-wheeler Steamboat to Pateros, Washington.
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"To get to Pateros, one must go up the Pateros rapids, which is a pretty wild piece of water. It was so swift and rough that they would put a line ashore and hook it to teams of horses to help the steamer up over the rapids. On this particular trip, Grandpa's trunk was sitting on the afterdeck and the tossing of the boat shook the trunk overboard and it sank in the rapids. Chief Sitting Bull's War Bonnet was in that trunk."

Frances Died:17 May 1918, Weatherby, Baker, Oregon
Some records say she died in nearby Durkee.

Buried: 1918 Malheur, Malheur, Oregon

Update July 2012: see an interesting site about pioneer travel from South Dakota west at http://history.sd.gov/Museum/education/Transportation.pdf

FRANCES ALOIS HUCKINS death

Spouse: James Andrew McNicholl

Married 6 June 1890

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When the husband of Frances Alois Huckins died, 29 March 1910 in Grangeville Idaho, their youngest child was still a toddler. (Family records say that child Dora McNicholl was born 27 Oct 1906 making her about 2/12. The 1910 census lists her age as 1 year 7 months.)  Two daughters,  Cora age 10 and Georgia an infant preceded him in death.

Fannie left Idaho and went to live with her recently widowed mother in Pateros Washington. Her father, James Huckins, died only 8 months prior to her husband. On the 1910 Census she is head of household living with 4 daughters at the same residence as her mother, 3 brothers, and a nephew.
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The first name on the same census page is Roy Dougherity [also spelled Dougherty, Dougharty and other variations]. Fannie later married him and when she died they were living  in Oregon. Some sources say Fannie was living at Durkee, Oregon. Others say she died at Weatherby, Oregon. Both are tiny, mostly abandoned villages/camps in the Oregon high country wilderness where this family lived.
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Notes from Papa's first cousin, Pat Shelton Erdmann, say,
"Funeral record from Weatherby, Oregon.
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"Certificate of Death, Oregon State, Multnomah County of Fannie Dougharity, died near Weatherby, Baker, Oregon.  Was 44y 23d d 17 May 1918 of Valoular Insufficiancy. She had dropsy for 3 years.  She was married to Roy Dougherty (signature) at the time of her death.  Her father was listed as James Huckins born in Canada. Her birthplace was listed as Peoria, Ill.  She was buried at Malhure Ore. 20 Jun 1918.
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"Fanny was 44 when she passed away.  Her death record says she was born in 1874. ... The Huckins family history says that Fanny and Roy lived in Grass Valley, Oregon which is more north central Oregon than where they lived when she died.  They must have lived in Weatherby at least 6 months as the Doctor that attended her stated he had treated her from 26 Oct 1917."
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Hazel Bennett Berry (a child of her daughter Lenora McNicholl and Marion Allen Bennett) wrote, "the furthest back I can remember was when my grandmother died. In those days the body wasn't taken to a funeral parlor, but was kept at home until time for burial. I remember seeing the coffin in a room, my parents and Aunt Sarah [Isabella McNicholl Shelton] were there. 

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"This was a large two or three story house. This is the only time I can remember mama's sister Dora [McNicholl. Dora died one month later 13 June 1918 at Entiat, Washington, see note below]. She was about twelve or thirteen years old, and when grandmother died she ran across a creek and up a road to the neighbors to tell them what had happened. 
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" I was about four years old [born 24 July 1914 ]and this made an impression on my mind that was hard to forget. This all happened at a very small town called Weatherbee, between Baker City and Ontario, Oregon. My Aunt Sarah and her family must have lived in that house with us or close by, because she was with my older sister, Blanche, and I quite a lot."
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Notes from Pat Shelton Erdmann, say, "

Dora died of diphtheria. 

Washington State Death Certificate, 13 Jun 1918 #102  Both of Dora's parents died before she did so Clarence Shelton (her brother in law) listed her parents as Roy Doughartiy (step father) and Ida Snelson (his new wife). Place of burial on the death certificate is Sunny Slope, it also states she was born in Oregon.

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"Dr Coulter took care of Dora during her illness."

CLARENCE CHARLES SHELTON history

Clarence Charles Shelton, Papa's grandfather

Born: 
7 April 1888 Henry, Marshall, Illinois

In 1978 Patricia Shelton Erdman [a first cousin to Papa] gathered photos, memories and stories from the children of her grandfather, Clarence Shelton, (and many other relatives) in preparation for the first ever reunion of his family.

In the short history prepared at that time she states, " ... his mother lived in Henry, Illinois at the time of his birth. He was recorded to be the third child. His parents were both 35 at the time of his birth and his father was born in [Ohio] and his mother was born in Pennsylvania. Older brother, Martin [Edward Kear], was born 22 September 1884 in Mossville, Peoria County, Illinois. His sister, Mary Edna [Kear] was born [about 1886]."

Father: Reuben Thomas Shelton (1853-1892)
     Son of Joseph Shelton and Elizabeth Cochran

Mother: Mary Agnes Kerr (1853-1889)
    Daughter of George Kerr and Lowetta Williams

"Anna Rathbun, a first cousin, writes of Clarence Shelton: Aunt Mary died shortly after Clarence was born so Grandma Lowetta Kear [spoken Care] took him for a while but he was not getting along very well. She took him to the doctor and he said that what Clarence needed was a mother's milk or he would not live much longer. Since mother (Stella Kear Newell) was nursing my sister Pearl, who was about 8 months old, she brought him home to live with the family and she nursed him just the same as if he was her own until he was old enough to eat like any baby does."

Clarence's mother died about January 1889. He would have been about 8 or 9 months old. His cousin Pearl was born 28 August 1888. She is approximately 5 months younger than he is. Pearl would have been 8 months old in April 1889. Clarence would be 1 year old at that time.

"She also gave him fresh cow's milk. She kept him until he was big enough to get around by himself. Then he went back to Grandma's, as Mama was expecting again. She said he was almost 2 years old. Clarence was just like the rest of us and I remember he was just like my older brother Oscar. Clarence was always welcome and came to our house and stayed for days sometimes, as it was like home to him. 

" As far as I know Clarence went to school in Sparland [Illinois], as that is the first school I went to. He was Pearl's age and they were older than I was, so were not in the same room I was. There were 4 rooms in our school. The first 4 grades were in room 1, the next 4 grades in room 2, and the first 2 high school grades in room 3 and the last 2 high school grades in room 4. Rooms 3 and 4 were up stairs and I don't remember being in room 2 but once. The teacher sent me in to ask Pearl something but I don't remember what it was.

Grandmother Lowetta Kear and her son Edward Kerr
with Grandson Edward Shelton end this 1900 US Illinois census page 

The 1900 census shows Clarence as a 12 year old living with his Grandmother in Sparland, Illinois. He attended school 9 months of the previous year, can read and write, and he speaks English.

Clarence Shelton's name is on the top line of this Illinois US

1900 census page (after his grandmother, uncle and brother

 at the bottom of the previous page)

Anna continues, " My Uncle George [Kear] gave Clarence a bad time, so he came to our house often, until Uncle George moved away. Clarence stayed with Grandma more until then. 

He and his brother Ed didn't get along either. Ed always bossed Clarence, as he was about 3 years older, and always put the blame on Clarence if he could.

"Uncle Ed Kear never had children so was always taking children into his home as he and his wife Addie loved children. Ed and Clarence were also know to have lived with them too. The family lived in and around Sparland, Illinois.

"About 1904, when Clarence was 16 or 17 years old, he ran away from home and lied about his age to get into the Navy. He said he was 18 years old to get away from Ed and Uncle George. It seems Ed had done something and told Uncle George that Clarence did it, so Uncle George gave Clarence a beating. That was when he ran away from home and joined the Navy.

"We didn't see him again until he got out of the Navy and he came to our house. Mama (Stella) talked him into going back and staying with his Grandmother, as her health was failing her.

" He got a job working in the timber, cutting cord wood, as they used a lot of cord wood for props in the coal mines then. He stayed until Ed came home too. Ed wouldn't stay very long as he wanted to go out and do as he pleased and he couldn't do that around Grandma. Grandma was always boss wherever she was and we did not dare to question her about anything, as she was old, and we were not to talk back to her or be contrary when Grandma was around. Clarence stayed at our house afer that, as it was close to where we lived and Mama told him he couldn't batch it and stay in a tent in the winter. He also helped us, as he was like one of the family, and my father was crippled."

Spouse: Sarah Isabelle McNicholl
    Married 4 June 1913 Entiat, Chelan, Washington

Martha Doris Dugan married Clarence Shelton in Las Vegas, Nevada 20 June 1945. In the history mentioned above she says, "His health was never good. X-rays showed over half his lungs were scar tissue from working in the mines in his younger years." 

George Kear, his grandfather that took him in as an orphan child worked in the coal mines. From the above statement of Martha Shelton Childs we may conjecture that Clarence worked in those coal mines also. We know that as an adult he worked mostly in the timber and sawmill/lumber business.

Died: 27 December 1953 Barstow, San Bernardino,California,USA

Buried: 29 December 1953 Barstow, San Bernardino,California,USA

SARAH ISABELLE MCNICHOLL death

My husband's grandmother, Sarah Isabelle Shelton nee McNicholl died on 16 February 1955.

Death Certificate states Sarah died in Wenatchee, WA

My husband was a couple months old. His mother told him that he met her mother coming as she was going. I think it might have been very difficult to have my mother die when I had a new and nursing baby.

page from history of Clarence and Sarah (McNicholl) Shelton

We have a history a cousin, Patricia Shelton Erdmann, kindly compiled from memories written by Sarah's children, and the Bennett's - children of Sarah's sister. Sarah helped to raise the children and care for them after their mother, Lenora Bennett,  died 27 June 1927.

It helps us know many things about her life and character. What a marvelous thing for her children to have preserved for their children and grandchildren.

Program cover

Memorial Service program for Sarah Isabelle Shelton (McNicholl) 

She is buried in a Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery in East Wenatchee, Douglas County, Washington.