James Shields (1633 - 1712)

Born 1633 in Armagh, Antrim, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1712 at about age 79 in New Castle, Delaware

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Biography

James Shields was born in 1633 in Ireland, son of William Shields.

He and his older brother were exiled to Barbados by Oliver Cromwell. They managed to get passage on a slave ship and arrived in Virginia 1655-58.

James married Jane Prather (1646-1710) a Maryland native; they had at least one son, William (1668-1741).

James died in 1712 in New Castle, Delaware.

Research Material

Selected History of the Shields Family By Martin L. Skubinna, Ph.D.

The major Shields family in America today is chiefly of Irish origin and can probably lay claim to having ancestry in Ireland dating back to the time of the initial Celtic invasions -- sometime between 500 and 1000 B.C.

Irish Origins

The original migrating generation of the Shields family to America appears to have been the sons of a family member who lived at the turn of the 17th century in County Antrim, Ireland. County Antrim is "on the shores of Lough Neagh," adjacent to Belfast, and the largest lake in the British Isles. William Shields, born at some time between 1590 and 1600, fathered four sons of whom we have record. He may well have fathered daughters as well, but we know only of the sons - as many genealogical records from this period often mention female offspring only in passing or omit them entirely. These were: William (born 1630); James (born 1633); Daniel and John (born apparently in the early 1640s and presumed by other circumstances to have been significantly younger than the two older Shields sons).

Exile

The two elder Shields offspring seem to have been involved in the roundups and deportation of young Irish men during the Commonwealth Period (1653-1659) under Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Their principal offense was the fact that they were Irish. Accounts report the family was greatly harassed, and younger sons were kept in concealment for much of their youth. This suggests that, for whatever reasons, the Shields' were in particular disfavor with Cromwell and the "Roundheads."

Family histories and tradition hold that these two older Shields brothers, William and James, were both exiled, in 1650 in their early twenties, to Barbados in the West Indies. At this time, during the middle 17th century, Barbados was an important British trading center and had a greater European population than the entire North American mainland. How they survived their exile is not know, but family history is agreed that within less than two years they managed to take passage via a slave ship to Virginia, arriving around 1655-58 at Middle Plantation, the site of present-day Williamsburg.

The subsequent histories of these two Shields brothers is extensively chronicled, chiefly in books by John Arthur Shields [see below], John Edgar Shields, and other descendant members of the resultant family lines. Other accounts exist which connect these two Shields immigrants with the two younger sons of William (1600), the youngest of whom was John Shields (ca. 1640).

Research Source Material

A Shields family account written in 1790 by William Hathaway, son of George and Eliza Shields Hathaway and great grandson of James Shields:

“My great grandfather on the Shields side was James Shields. He was born in County Armagh in theyear 1633. His father was born in County Antrim. In about the twentieth year of his age he and his brother and many others were arrested by the English and reported to the Barbados Islands. He came to Baltimore before 1660. He settled first in Kent County and then in Newcastle. His brother John and family came to America about the year 1738 to 1740. I was a mere child when they arrived. Cousin William lived with us about two years, his father having died on the ocean. The family settled in Frederick County. I have not seen any of them for nearly fifty years. Cousin William has a large family. Great grandfather Shields died when my mother was a little girl.”

“My grandfather was William Shields. He was born in Kent County in the year 1668. My grandmother on my mother’s side was Jeannette Parker. Aunt Jane was born January 15, 1696. She died in Lancaster County in the year 1750. I had four Uncles. One died young. Uncle Tom was born in the year 1699. Uncle James was born in the year 1694. Uncle John was born in the year 1709. They all lived first in Chester County and then moved to Augusta County, Virginia. Mother was born June 3, 1704. She died in Chester County in the year 1742, being stricken with pneumonia. Grandfather was killed by falling down while helping my uncles building a house in Virginia in 1741. Grandmother lived with Aunt Jane until her death. Uncle James died about the year 1750. His son John was about my own age. He visited us soon after his father died. I have never seen him since then. He was living in North Carolina a few years ago. Uncle Tom died about the year 1765, leaving several children. Uncle John died just before the war. Several of my cousins were in the Continental Army. Uncle Tom’s children moved away and I do not know where they are. Some of them went south, I think. Uncle John’s children scattered. One lived in Pennsylvania. One went to North Carolina. One went to Boone’s settlement in Frankland a few years ago. Some of them lived in Virginia. My relatives on my mother’s side were all large, strong, and long-lived and industrious people.”

Robert Shields, Editor: Little of interest has been found in addition to the foregoing. The early records of Kent County, Maryland, indicate the marriage of William Shields and Jeanette Parker in 1692, and also show that Thomas Parker, of Kent County, by will dated July 17,1695, proven September 2, 1695, willed to his son-in-law, William Shields, certain property.The Three Bothers in VirginiaThe Chalkley Records, and other historical data of Augusta County Virginia, (which included in territory that has since been organized into half a dozen states) make frequent reference to Thomas, James, and John Shields, who settled in what is now Rockingham County, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, in 1740, having come from Chester County, Pennsylvania. James Shields was listed a “cordwainer,” or shoemaker. In 1746 he bought 298 ½ acres of land on Moffett’s Creek. He died in April 1749, leaving a widow, whose name was Jean Armstrong, and a minor son, John. Having left no will, his brother John was appointed to administer his estate. The son …. land that Thomas and John Shields purchased was in the Beverley Manor section of the Borden land patent. Both of their properties were in the middle of present-day Augusta County, near the county seat, Staunton. Having looked at the pertinent entries in Lyman Chalkley’s Chronicles of the Scott-Irish Settlement inVirginia, it is the opinion of the editor that John’s son, Robert, as well as Janet and the “10 Brothers,” were born in what is still Augusta County.

Sources

• Shields, John Arthur. Shields Family History (1917). Edited by Bob Shields, 2002. (https://www.studylib.net)
• Emmitsburg Area Historical Society

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86906809/james-shields: accessed 04 July 2023), memorial page for James Shields (1633–1712), Find a Grave Memorial ID 86906809; Burial Details Unknown, Unknown location of Burial; Maintained by William Price (contributor 47121479).