Dublin Core
Title
Letters to Robert Shelton
Subject
Socialist Party
Description
Between 1913 and 1917 Dr. Robert Shelton received letters from other members of the socialist party concerning the distribution of pamphlets and the lining up of different speakers for the party. One of the letters mentions Shelton, himself, getting involved as a speaker for the party and being advertised as such.
Robert J. Shelton was born June 2, 1867 to James and Frances Shelton and lived in Louisa County most of his life near Orchid at Westview, shown above. His mother died when he was very young. He was the youngest of probably seven children at that time. Very soon after his father’s first wife’s death, Shelton’s father remarried to a much younger woman, Emma Shelton, who was only eight years older than Shelton and younger than one of his sisters. By the age of 20, Emma was married and had possibly already had four children. She would eventually have a total of eleven children, meaning Shelton had a total of 16 siblings.
Both Shelton’s birth mother and his step-mother married before they reached the age of twenty; his mother being about 16 when she married his father and Emma probably being about 15 years old. Robert J. Shelton may have been sympathetic towards the women’s suffrage movement because of things he saw or knew his mother and step-mother experienced. He may have wanted to be a part of women getting the right to vote in order to give more women the chance to do more with their lives and not have to be dependent on only their husbands for a future.
Shelton himself did not get married until he was almost 50. He married Sallie Massie Walton in 1917. Shelton was a doctor, yet he seemed to have had trouble finding and keeping a position. In the decade between 1910 and 1920, he seemed to spend most of his time and energy on his farming, possibly because of his inability to find a job. Shelton was a member of the socialist party and most likely handed out fliers and helped organize speakers for the party. In 1913, he even began to make speeches on behalf of the party, who considered him as one of their local speakers. His belief and agreement with the socialist party’s ideals probably led him to join the Equal Suffrage League as one of the demands of the Social Democratic party was “equal civil and political rights for women and the abolition of all laws discriminating against women.†Curiously there is no record of his wife being a member of the ESL and she did not register to vote until 1927 after Shelton had passed away.
Robert J. Shelton was born June 2, 1867 to James and Frances Shelton and lived in Louisa County most of his life near Orchid at Westview, shown above. His mother died when he was very young. He was the youngest of probably seven children at that time. Very soon after his father’s first wife’s death, Shelton’s father remarried to a much younger woman, Emma Shelton, who was only eight years older than Shelton and younger than one of his sisters. By the age of 20, Emma was married and had possibly already had four children. She would eventually have a total of eleven children, meaning Shelton had a total of 16 siblings.
Both Shelton’s birth mother and his step-mother married before they reached the age of twenty; his mother being about 16 when she married his father and Emma probably being about 15 years old. Robert J. Shelton may have been sympathetic towards the women’s suffrage movement because of things he saw or knew his mother and step-mother experienced. He may have wanted to be a part of women getting the right to vote in order to give more women the chance to do more with their lives and not have to be dependent on only their husbands for a future.
Shelton himself did not get married until he was almost 50. He married Sallie Massie Walton in 1917. Shelton was a doctor, yet he seemed to have had trouble finding and keeping a position. In the decade between 1910 and 1920, he seemed to spend most of his time and energy on his farming, possibly because of his inability to find a job. Shelton was a member of the socialist party and most likely handed out fliers and helped organize speakers for the party. In 1913, he even began to make speeches on behalf of the party, who considered him as one of their local speakers. His belief and agreement with the socialist party’s ideals probably led him to join the Equal Suffrage League as one of the demands of the Social Democratic party was “equal civil and political rights for women and the abolition of all laws discriminating against women.†Curiously there is no record of his wife being a member of the ESL and she did not register to vote until 1927 after Shelton had passed away.
Source
Louisa County Historical Society Archives
Publisher
Louisa County Historical Society
Date
1913-1916
Contributor
Tom Walton
Rights
RIGHTS AND REPRODUCTION POLICY All items in our archives have been donated to The Louisa County Historical Society with express permission to use them only for not-for-profit purposes of education and individual research. We make them available online to further those ends. Anyone wishing to use images online or in printed publications must obtain express written permission to do so from the Louisa County Historical Society and the legal copyright holder. Users assume full responsibility for disputes arising from copyright violations or invasions of privacy.
Format
Letter
Contribution Form
Online Submission
No