This is a large portrait of Janelle Mildred Shelor Wilson (1917-1997) as a little girl. It is a hand-colored black and white photograph in an ornate gold frame. She was born in Albemarle County to George Malcolm and Ella Crush Shelor. Her wedding to Clarence “Sam” Cecil Wilson was in Fincastle on November 6, 1948, and was described in The Fincastle Herald. Janelle and Sam lived in Covington before purchasing their historic 1871 home at 26 Main Street in Fincastle. They lived there for many years and enjoyed entertaining. Janelle taught fifth and sixth grade at Cloverdale Elementary School and history at Botetourt Intermediate before it became Central Academy. Their home was put up for auction on November 10, 1999, by their Executor, C. Lewis Wilson, after their deaths. In 2021, Botetourt County Historical Society, Inc., was able to purchase her home at 26 Main Street from Judge Robert C. Hagen, Jr. Janelle’s portrait was donated to the Botetourt Museum in September of 2023 by Leigh Harris Clark. Ed Bordett was able to repair the frame so that Janelle can soon be on display in her former home.
~ Botetourt Museum of History & Culture
