Hezekiah Shelton was born about 1853 in either TN or AL. He married Mary Catherine Cole in Giles Co. Sept. 28, 1873. 1880 Giles Co., TN Census shows him as widower with 3 children: Jennie, William, and Ollie next door to Cole family, his in-laws. He married next Emily P. Ashley, Feb. 6, 1881 in Giles Co. The family migrated to Texas soon after.

Andrew Frank Tate, Jr., another descendant of the Coles, told me that my Hezekiah was most likely the son of Greenberry Shelton and Alpha Cottrell, which I believe is true. But there was another Hezekiah Shelton, a cousin, almost the same age (1870 Lauderdale AL Census).