Tombstone Tuesday: Levi Marion Shelton on the 1940 Census

photo courtesy Bob Taylor via FindAGrave.com

My maternal great-great-grandfather, Levi Marion Shelton (1863-1941), who is buried in the Brown Cemetery (aka Brown-Swindle Cemetery) in Sardis, Winn Parish, Louisiana, was the next person I found in the 1940 US Census, today.

In 1940, he was living on Verda Road in the Verda community in Grant Parish, Louisiana, with his youngest son, (James) Rufus Shelton (1899-1968), along with Rufus' wife Mary Ann (Davis, age 37), and their children George (age 18), Lorene (16), Dorothy (10), James Rufus (J.R.) Jr. (8), Gerald (6), Richard (3), and Gordon (2).  Click on the image below to enlarge it - Levi is near the top, on line 44:

 You'll note that Levi was asked the supplementary questions.  It indicates that his father (Jacob Shelton, 1822-ABT 1874) was born in Alabama, which corresponds with other sources.  However, it says his mother (Elizabeth A. Bridges, 1823-1865) was born in Mississippi, while the 1850 and 1860 censuses indicate she was born in Tennessee.  However, she and Jacob were married in Mississippi, in 1845.  It's possible that his daughter-in-law Mary Ann Davis Shelton provided this information (she is marked as the one who answered the enumerator's questions) and did not know for sure.

Levi was not a veteran, did not have a Social Security number, and was unable to work (probably because he was age 77).  The regular questions indicated that he lived in the same place (Verda community, Grant Parish, Louisiana) in 1935, but not the same house - likely because in 1935, his wife Sarah Ann Shelton Spikes was still alive (she died that year) - he is listed as a widower in 1940.

What I thought was most interesting was that Levi was only able to attend school through the third grade.  Again, if Mary Ann was answering and did not consult Levi, this information may not be accurate either.

I had hoped to find my maternal great-grandmother, Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Harris (1890-1977), in this enumeration district, but had no luck.  I looked for her at her previous location in Pasadena, Texas, but as I expected, she was not there.  I'm pretty sure she was in Louisiana in 1940, and will probably check surrounding EDs in Grant Parish and possibly in her home town in Winn Parish when I have more time.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.