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Our Felton Family's earliest history goes back in time to the very conquest of England, when two brothers were in William's army. For their service they were given land. That land was in Northumberland near the Scottish borders.

At the end of the twelve hundreds a second son was given the village and lands around it as his inheritance. His eldest brother inherited a Barony. The name of that village was Felton. The name comes from the old English "Fel" for field and "ton" for "village" Our name Felton comes from those terms.

The family were mainly warriors in service to the various Kings of England and gained fame and fortune by their service. In 1381 one of the men was a trusted soldier of the Black Prince and was "created a "Knight of the Garter". He had served the Prince in many battles in France and became the "Seneschal" or keeper of the province of Guienne and Aquitaine.

Our first ancestor to come to the newly open colonies of America was Nathaniel Felton son of John Felton of Great Yarmouth. Nathaniel came with his uncle Benjamin Felton to what at that time was the colony of Salem, in Massachusetts. He returned to England that fall and sold the family properties and returned with his mother Ellen Felton and two sisters, Margaret and Judith.

In 1644 he married Mary Skelton the daughter of the Rev. Samuel Skelton, first Minister of the Colony. The descendants of Nathaniel and Mary Felton make up what is today known as the Northern line of Feltons.

In about 1670 Richard Felton a cousin of a younger generation came to the Southern colonies with his wife Alice and settled in the Carolina's. Their descendants make up the Southern line.

There is also a line of Feltons that come out of the 'Low Lands" of Germany, that descend from a John Felton or Johanne Veletin, which is the same name. There are records of a John Felton being sent to the Low Lands in the mid 1500's to be in charge of the family business interests there.

I believe that this line is a part of our English family, but have not found confirming evidence at this time. We all can claim family that in general were strong working people, endowed with gentleness, integrity, and truth as a way of life. We all should be very proud of our ancestors who came here so long ago to make a new way of life of freedom for us that followed.

We welcome all Felton descendants and would be most happy to have you join us as members of the Felton Family Association.

Sincerely,
Cora Felton Anderson
Historian; Felton Family Association