Married Life, Serilda:

Shanton and Serilda appear to have had twelve children, eight boys and four girls. The boys were George Washington (b. 1848), Fielding (b. c 1850), Benjamin (b. 1852), Shanton, or Shelton, (“Shent”?) R. (b. c 1855), Franklin (b. c 1856), William Henry (b. Aug 19,1859), Zacariah (b. c 1862) and Joseph L. (b. c 186d). The girls were Mary Ann (b. c 1841), Sarah (b. c 1844), Oily (b. c 1847), and Phoebe (b. Apr 20,1853). All were probably born on, or near, Still Branch.

Both Shanton and Serilda grew up on Still Run. According to Sayre, the Webbs lived two houses from the Joe Workman home as indicated in the 1840 Logan County census.

In 1850, the census lists them living in the Slab Fork District of Wyoming County, VA. (Wyoming Co. was formed in 1850.)

In 1853, the family was living in Slab Fork, Wyoming County, Va., when their daughter, Phoebe, was born, according to the Wyoming County Birth Records,

In 1859, the family was living in Slab Fork when their son William was born.

In 1860, they were still listed in the Slab Fork District of the Wyoming County census.

Sometime during the 1860’s, Shanton and Serilda are thought to have divorced. Sayre says that she filed for divorce around October of 1860 and moved to Pineville taking her children with her. However, he says they were still having children up until 1867. My research indicates that Joseph L. was born in 1864, although that is probably beside the point here which is that they were still having children after she filed for divorce.

Sayre says their divorce must have become final around 1869, or 1870.

In 1870, in my research, Serilda, one daughter, and seven sons were living in the Washington District of Braxton County, WV., where I found her listed under the household of Daniel Murphy in the census. This doesn’t necessarily conflict with the anecdotal account below because she could have stopped off in Braxton County along the way temporarily, or she may have just been picked up in the Braxton County census survey. Orlando is almost exactly on the county line.

I could not find a Washington District on the current map of Braxton County, so the district names must have since changed.

In 1871, Serilda moved to Lewis County, according to Sayre, who recounts two family anecdotes here that are interesting:

"...She (Serilda) never remarried, but brought some of her children by covered wagon to Lewis county to start a new life. They arrived at Confluence (now Orlando) about 1871. The older ones made the trip on foot for the most part, and the younger ones rode on the backs of oxen... (anecdote) given in part by Clennie Workman... as told to him by his father Fielding Workman (GD Shanton’s younger brother).”

"... By Fieldon Joseph Workman, gg grandson of Razilda,... Razilda was a midwife and regarded by many in the old days as a ‘country doctor.’ She traveled from Wyoming county to what is now Orlando in a horse-drawn wagon. Her sons drove cattle and other livestock as they went. The distance was about 170 miles and there were no paved roads. Many areas which they crossed were virtually unsettled tracts of wilderness.”

The current map of West Virginia shows Orlando on Oil Creek in the headwaters of the Little Kanawha River near Burnsville, just across the Lewis County line with Braxton County and in the Collins Settlement District

Grandma Serilda’s trip to Lewis County begs the question: Why? Why would she have undertook such a trip as recounted above? She didn’t remarry; so, it apparently wasn’t to go to, or with, another man. Although the Braxton County Marriage Record lists her oldest daughter Mary Ann being married to James J. Nottingham on the 21st of March 1871, that certainly doesn’t seem cause enough to move herself and her remaining children through the wilderness to Lewis County. The death of her father George Webb was in February 1872 –after she was already in Lewis County. This is a mystery worthy of further research.

Another, and possibly related, mystery is why were there so many deaths on Still Run in the winter of 1871/72 as recounted in an anecdote that Sayre quoted in his book from the WPA book, Pineville,about the death of Serilda’s father George. The anecdote tells how John Workman, in February 1872, was building a kitchen on the Bower cabin (in the head of Still Run –and, now within the Twin Falls State Park) and “... to his great irritation, neighbors borrowed his boards for coffin wood as fast as he sawed them...”

Where was Granddad Shanton at that time? Did Granddads Shanton possible service and George’s service during the Civil War have any bearing on events?

Many accounts of the Civil War in West Virginia mention bush whackers and other types of home militias who roamed the countryside during the war. Devil Anse Hatfield’s Wildcats were one such group. One of the Hatfield and McCoy Feud books found at Tamarack discusses the role that Civil War animosities played in their feud. Devil Anse was Confederate and Randall McCoy was Union in sympathy. Questions. Questions?

In any case, the l880 census has Razilda (Serilda) listed as a widow living in the Collins Settlement District of Lewis County, WV., with five of her children and a daughter-in-law, Ardmissia, who was married to her son William.

The 1890 census was destroyed in a fire, so there is no information for that period.

On 17 January, 1899, GM Serilda (Razilda) passed away and was buried in the Skinner Cemetery at Orlando, Lewis County, WV. Her death was reported in the Weston World on February 1,1899, according to Sayre’s research.

In 1870, 1 did not find Shanton in any census record. We can only assume that he was still in the Wyoming County area. Then again, he may not have been.

In 1873, he remarried, and it is assumed that is when he moved to Greenbrier County.

All of the family’s names are something of a jumble with all sorts of spellings; however, there is reasonable similarity in the spelling and in the given ages over time in the records. Shanton is also listed as Shantle. Serilda is found as Srilde, Sarilda, Surilda, Civil and Razilda. The children suffer the same problem with Oley also listed as Polly, George W. as Washington, Fielding as Fielden, Phoebe as Phebe, Shanton R, as Shent and Shelton, Franklin as Frank, and Joseph as Josiah.