— born in CA:
4.  Erastus Matheson SHELFORD, b. 4 Oct 1859; d. 22 May 1929, Cloverdale, Sonoma Co., CA; bur. Cloverdale Cem.
5.  Martha Letitia "Lulu" SHELFORD, b. 23 Sep 1865 
6.  (Daughter) SHELFORD, b. Dec 1869; d. by 1880
7.  Cornelia A. "Nelia" SHELFORD, b. 24 Nov 1870 

Said to have had eight children.

1.  Marriage Record:

2.  1850 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com; Image #54 of 64):  Town of Chemung, Chemung Co., NY, p. 186B/372, 390/402, enumerated 8 Nov 1850 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

John Shelford	29	M	Farmer	3000	England
Susan    "	24	F			NY
Peter    "	2	M			"
Silas    "	1/12	M			"
Thomas Dimcoe	13	M			England
Mary Van Norman	20	F			Unknown

Listed three households from Timothy & Lucy SMITH.  Timothy is age 45, old enough to be Susan's father, but Lucy is only 37, which is not old enough to be Susan's mother, unless Lucy was a "child bride."  The only other SHELFORD indexed as living in Chemung Co., NY, is Eli SHELFORD (æ 26, b. England, a shoemaker) on p. 161A.

3.  1860 Census Images (online at Ancestry.com; Image #245 of 415):  Moore's Flat P.O., Eureka Twp., Nevada Co., CA, p. 387A, PN 245, enumerated 11 Aug 1860 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

2945	----	W Thomas	27	M		Miner			Kentucky
		M Shelford	35	F					N York
2946	----	P Shelford	12	M					"
		S Shelford	10	M					"
		L Shelford	8	M					"
2947	----	E Shelford	1	M					Cal
		? Hamrid	30	M		Miner			Ohio
2948	----	J Shelford	40	M		"			N York
		J Green	24	M		"			"

I cannot for the life of me explain what this census enumerator was doing. He assigned no family numbers at all, to anyone; and the dwelling numbers make no sense, for anyone.  You get the impression he was just running around the mining camp taking names, and that he (or someone else) later threw in the dwelling numbers to make it look like he'd been doing his job.  I mean, how could a 12-yr-old "P. Shelford" or a 1-yr-old "E. Shelford" be a head-of-household?!  Despite these anomalies, there seems little doubt that this is our family — nor can I find them anywhere else.  SHELFORD is a surprisingly rare surname.

4.  1870 Census Images (online at Ancestry.com; Image #105 of 504):  Cloverdale P.O., Cloverdale Twp., Sonoma Co., CA, p. 270A, PN 9, 71/70, enumerated 22 Jun 1870 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

Shelford John	49	M	W	Farmer	10000	2300	England
"    Susan M	45	F	W	Keeps house			NY
"    Peter L	21	M	W	At home			NY
"    Silas R	19	M	W	At home			NY
"    Levi	17	M	W	At home			NY
"    Erastus M	10	M	W	At home			Cal
"    Lutetia	3	F	W	At home			Cal
"    Baby	6/12	F	W	At home			Cal	Dec
Ray Elisha	35	M	W	Laborer			Ino?

5.  1880 United States Census and National Index (LDS Family History Resource File: CD-ROM Library):

Census Place: Cloverdale, Sonoma, California
Source: FHL Film 1254084; NARA Film T9-0084; Pg 181D
	Relation	Sex	Marr	Race	Age	Birthplace	Occupation	Fa	Mo
Levi L. SHELFORD	Self	M	M	W	26	NY	Farmer	ENG	NY
Elen SHELFORD	Wife	F	M	W	22	MO	Keeping House	OH	MO
Eva SHELFORD	Dau	F	S	W	3	CA		NY	MO
Effie M. SHELFORD	Dau	F	S	W	1	CA		NY	MO
Erastes M. SHELFORD	Other	M	S	W	20	CA	Farmer	ENG	NY
Susan M. SHELFORD	Mother	F	W	W	53	NY	Keeping House	NY	NY
Lutitia SHELFORD	Dau	F	S	W	14	CA	At School	ENG	NY
Cornelia A. SHELFORD	Dau	F	S	W	10	CA		ENG	NY

The enumerator did not fill out this record correctly.  To begin with, Susan should have been head-of-household.  Or, because he did make Levi head-of-household, Erastus should have been listed as his brother and Lutitia and Cornelia should have been listed as sisters, not daughters.  "Relation" is always supposed to be relationship to the head-of-household.  Susan has shaved a couple of years off her age, as widows are prone to do.  Listed next to son Peter L. SHELFORD (æ 31, b. NY).

6.  1890 Census:  was destroyed.

7.  1900 Census Index/Microfilm (online at Genealogy.com):  there are five SHELFORDs in California in this index:  Erastus, George C., Levi L., and Peter L. in Sonoma Co.; and Charles T. SHELFORD in Stockton, San Joaquin Co.  I checked all five, and Susan is not living with any of them.  George is listed four households from Peter and appears to be his son.  The Charles in Stockton is the son of Silas R., who is living with him.

8.  LDS.  Family Search: Internet Genealogy Service:  AF - Ancestral File (online at FamilySearch.org).

9.  Messages posted to the Shelford Family Genealogy Forum (online at GenForum.com).

10.  Find-A-Grave.