1. JOHN SHIELDS was born about 1817 in England. John set sail from London and arrived in the United States on 20 December 1837, going to Cape Vincent, Jefferson County, where he died in 1888. He was a pioneer settler of the town of Alexandria. In 1860 he reported his age as 41, setting birth year in 1819, but his tombstone records his birth year as 1815.
Early in their marriage, John and Sally lived at Stone Mills in the town of Orleans. In the 1850 federal census they were living with sons Hiram, age 7, and William, age 5. According to the 1860 federal census, John and Sarah were farmers. Their real estate was valued at $1,250 and personal estate at $300. Land ownership maps of Jefferson County for 1864 show John owning property in Lot 20 in the town of Alexandria. The farm is within a mile of the residence of Sally's relatives, the Arnolds, who lived just across the border in the town of Orleans on lots 9 and 13.
The names of their children are reconstructed from family narratives, cemetery records, and the federal census of Jefferson County.
He married in or before 1842
SARAH "Sally" ARNOLD, born about 1822 in New York State, died between
21 July and 31 December 1898. They are both buried in Omar Cemetery, town
of Orleans, Jefferson Co., New York.
Children, SHIELDS:
2 i HIRAM SHIELDS married (1) JANE (---); (2) IDELL (---)
3 ii WILLIAM SHIELDS
4 iii SARAH JENNIFER SHIELDS married CHARLES H. JUNE
5 iv JOHN SHIELDS
*6 v MARY IDA SHIELDS married FREDERICK WILEY
7 vi EDWARD SHIELDS
8 vii EUGENE A. SHIELDS
9 viii CHLOE A. SHIELDS married (1) (---) VAN BROCKLIN;
(2) WILLIS G. WALRATH
10 ix ALTON "Alt" SHIELDS
*(For more information on their descendants contact Dick Hines and Chuck Simons).
For further information, contact:
Mark Wentling
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