Peter Shields
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Peter Shields (1755 - 1832)

Peter Shields
Born in Lanchester, Durham County, Englandmap
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 1783 in Hardy, Virginia, United Statesmap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 77 in Braxton County, Virginiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 22 Feb 2010
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Christened at All Saints Anglican Church, 26 Jan 1756, son of Peter Shields and Elizabeth, of Langley Lane.


Notes

For my compiled book on Peter, click on this link:Descendants of Peter Shields and His Wife Elizabeth

For a website which has not only Peter Shields; but, much on the neighborhood he lived in and his neighbors: Orlando West Virginia Blog

Biography

The story, apparently told by his children and reported in several history books of Braxton County, West Virginia, Meigs County Ohio, and Blackford County, Indiana is as follows. Peter came to America with the English Army during the American Revolutionary War. No mention of which regiment; but he deserted or deserted after capture; and joined the American cause. He was present at the Battle of Yorktown for the surrender of General Cornwallis. I believe this story because it was told so consistently within the environs of where his children settled and lived out their lives. Because of the fact that the neither Regiments nor even the names of any commanding officer other than George Washington was mentioned, proving this story has become a daunting task.

Other researchers, over the years, have added what they believed to be true to the story. For instance, that Peter came to America with General Burgoyne's Army, was taken prisoner at Burgoyne's surrender possibly of the 62nd Regiment of Foot. At first I found absolutely no basis in fact for this. I checked the rosters of the 62nd Regiment of Foot and Peter does not appear there. There were, of course, other regiments in Burgoyne's army which still have to be checked. Finding the Rosters on this side of the pond is not an easy task; and the National Archives of England charges the equivalent of $90.00 to search the first regiment, then $60.00 to search any additional regiments for one name.

Burgoyne's Army, after it was taken prisoner, became known as the Convention Army, due to the fact that Burgoyne had an agreement with the Americans about the disposition of the prisoners. They were to be returned to England from the Massachusetts shore. However, America did not keep their word about returning the prisoners. Instead they first marched them from New York to Cambridge, Massachusetts where they were held for nearly a year. Food, clothing, and shelter were scarce even for the American army; and, eventually they were forced to move the prisoners on a march through Maryland, into Pennsylvania, and finally to Charlottesville, Virginia and a barracks supposedly built for them outside Charlottesville in Albemarle County, Virginia. They started out with about 5,000 prisoners; but, by the time they reached Albemarle Barracks, as it came to be known, there were less than half of those remaining. Many of the German prisoners (Hessian Soldiers which had augmented Burgoyne's Army) deserted in Pennsylvania where the German immigrants in the countryside probably helped them. They continued to lose prisoners at an astounding rate; and, by the time the Convention Prisoners were moved from Albemarle County, there were around 600 left.

Peter could have been a part of this; but, he was not listed on the lists of prisoners who arrived at Albemarle Barracks. The Albemarle County Historical Society are the custodians of the pertinent records which survive today. Of course, he still could have run away at any point in the March; but I feel, that even if he came to America with some other part of the English Army, he somehow wound up in Virginia, since that is the very first and last place where he left any trace. He first shows up in Virginia documents in 1784. It is said that he married his wife Elizabeth probably in 1783 somewhere in Virginia, probably Hampshire County, part of which became Hardy County in 1786. These early marriage records are very sparse for Hampshire County.

Since his children included the clue that he had been present at Yorktown and fought under George Washington, one would think that you would be able to ascertain which regiment he fought for under the American cause. He does not appear in any list of Continental Army Soldiers of Virginia. The NARA has been checked for this as well as all the usual books which list these soldiers. The only book which lists Peter shows him as "Peter Sheel". This book is the "Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution" by John H. Gwathmey. He shows there on page 704 ; and, after his name is the notation "IP" which denotes "Illinois Papers" as being the source. The whereabouts of this source is now unknown. It was no longer in the same place it was when Gwathmey wrote his book in 1936. I eventually found this source; and, it turned out that the Peter Sheel mentioned had joined Lewis & Clark and could therefore not be my Peter Shields.

Peter's son, Adam, named all of his sons after Revolutionary War personages. One of them was named Weeden Shields, most likely after General George Weedon. General Weedon was in charge of Weedon's Brigade at Yorktown and fought under George Washington there. General Weedon's army was made up entirely of Virginia Militia. I believe that this could be the answer to the puzzle of Peter Shields......at least half of the puzzle. I plan to search the regiments under General George Weedon command at Yorktown, Virginia for the name of Peter Shields.

It could take a very long time to finally find the answers; but, I am not giving up because I feel that Peter's story is an interesting one which begs to be told.

Peter was living in Hampshire County, as evidenced by the 1782-1784 Hampshire County, Virginia Census. It states that he was living there in 1784; but, not in 1782. This document may be found in the "Early Records of Hampshire County Virginia, Now West Virginia" compiled by Clara McCormack Sage and Laura Sage Jones, page 96, published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.

By 1807 he had moved to the property at Salt Lick and made the first settlement in the district, along with Asa Squires. They were soon after followed by P. B. Burns, John Hayman, W. B. Hayman, Isaac Riffle, Christian Heater, William H. McCoy, and John F. Singleton. The Shields property in Hardy County was not sold until 1811 to Jacob Judy.

There is in the court cases of Lewis County Circuit/Superior Court, a very unusual case. At first glance it seems to be only an attempt to collect a debt; and, not very interesting. However, this case was filed in 1836 (file No. 1836-3) yet names Peter Shields, Sr., Peter Shields, Jr., and John Shields -vs- Adam L. Henshaw.

Clearly, Peter Shields, Sr. was supposed to be deceased in 1832. Even his will was proved in that year, which should mean that he died at that time. However, this case does not identify him as being either "deceased" or being in the name of his "estate". It is very unlikely that the Peter, Sr. would actually now mean Peter,Jr. and his son John's son, Peter, was designated as Peter, Jr. instead. The reason this would be very unusual is because the youngest Peter, was only about ten years old at the time of this case and would not legally be named in such a suit. This is indeed, a mystery.


I have uncovered proof of exactly which English Regiments he served in. He came to America with the 62nd Regiment of Foot (Burgoyne's Army) and was probably captured in New York. He later escaped and rejoined the British and was taken into the 63rd Regiment of Foot in New York. He then traveled with them to South Carolina and fought and was again taken prisoner at the battle of Hobkirk's Hill. He was then transferred to Virginia, with other prisoners, probably to Winchester in Frederick County. Source for British Service: British Muster Rolls, photographed by Don Hagist, at National Arichives of England in Kew Gardens, of which I have copies. This would put him in the area where he would have joined Capt. Bell’s Company of the Virginia Militia. Capt. Bell's Company was orginally gathered from Frederick County Virginia; and, later, before being sent to Yorktown, was replenished from men of Hampshire County, Virginia. Capt. Bell's Company was present at Yorktown and fought there under Col. Joseph Neville, Gen. George Weedon, and, ultimately, George Washington. There are very few existing lists of enlisted men of the Virginia Militia. What there is, lists of allotments of clothing, food, and money, are scattered across the counties. I have checked books which list the militia; but they mostly list only officers. I have checked both Frederick and Hampshire counties without any luck. However, the land which was given to Peter Shields in Hampshire County, in the part which later became Hardy County, was originally bought by Col Joseph Neville in a large parcel which was ultimately divided up and given to men who fought in the Revolution. I must wait to see what may come to light in the future; but, I feel that this is more than likely the answer to the story of Peter Shields.

In1978 an Application for Military Headstone was submitted for Peter Shields it listed his Birthday as 1755


Sources

  • Lanchester, England Christening Records 26 Jan 1756
  • LDS Pedigree Resource File CD #132
  • Shields Family Cemetery, Salt Lick Creek. Braxton County, West Virginia
  • Will of Peter Shields 26 Sep 1830
  • 1978 Application For US Headstone Miltary Revolutionary War




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Peter by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Peter:

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