Henry Shelton (1795-1843)
Merchant, Slave Trader & Planter of St. Jago, Cuba, & New York; Lost at Sea
He was "a large man" and a Merchant in the West Indian Trade at Boston, becoming a partner in Wright, Shelton & Co., of St. Jago, Cuba. Wright owned "Gran Sofia," one of the largest coffee plantations in Cuba, and Shelton made "immense sums by importing cargoes of unchristianized Africans" to St. Jago. Returning to the States, he settled in New York where he married his "beautiful" wife, who was afterwards married to Dr. Watson. He was lost at sea, leaving two children (listed), and was the namesake of his influential nephew, Henry Shelton Sanford.
