Walter Shields (1876 - 1928)

Born 31 Jan 1876 in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Died 17 Jun 1928 at age 52 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States

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Biography

Walter was born in Dallas, Texas 1876. His parents, George Shields and Margaret Martin, were both originally from Tennessee, and had moved to Texas about four years before Walter's birth. ^[1] George Shields worked as a grain merchant and dry goods merchant. Both he and his wife had come from prominent families that had their origins in migration from England to colonial America; members of those families then began to move west in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

There were six other children in the Shields family -- the siblings were born over the course of twenty years, from 1870 to 1891. Walter had three older siblings and three younger ones.

Walter moved with his family to St. Louis as a child, and he was educated there in the public schools. ^[2] In 1895, he began attending Washington University, where he studied civil engineering. Upon his graduation in 1899, he began working in civil planning with the firm James Stewart and Company. The book Centennial History of Missouri describes how Walter worked in the brick business, then as a contractor, and eventually with the Fletcher R. Harris Realty Company and the Chester Construction Company "as part manager and part owner." Also noted is how Walter, in Vandalia, Missouri in 1918, "laid out a subdivision on which he constructed one hundred houses from plans of his own making." ^[3]

Walter married Nellie Bond, who was a daughter of the noted physician Young Hance Bond. Dr. Bond had been the first president of the Marion Sims College of Medicine, which later became part of St. Louis University. The Bonds were a longstanding family of note in Maryland before coming to St. Louis. ^[4] Walter and Nellie had one daughter, Nellie Bond Shields (sometimes written as "Nellie Bond Shields, Jr."). ^[5] The family lived in St. Louis, where Walter continued to work in real estate and development. According to his biography in Centennial History of Missouri, he was also quite skilled in cultivating plants.

Walter died of cardio-renal disease in June 1928 and was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB2-KW9?cc=1417683&wc=QZ24-66R%3A1589414395%2C1589394751%2C1589395501%2C1589394901 : 24 December 2015), Texas > Dallas > Dallas > ED 57 > image 1 of 56; citing NARA microfilm publication T9, (National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., n.d.) (listed here as "Willie Shields" -- quality of scan is poor)
2. ↑ Centennial History of Missouri (The Center State): One Hundred Years in the Union, 1820-1921. Volume V. St. Louis-Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1921. p. 554
3. ↑ Centennial History of Missouri (The Center State): One Hundred Years in the Union, 1820-1921. Volume V. St. Louis-Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1921. p. 557
4. ↑ Centennial History of Missouri (The Center State): One Hundred Years in the Union, 1820-1921. Volume V. St. Louis-Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1921. p. 557
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M21S-JKY : accessed 28 June 2019), Walter Shields, Central, St Louis, Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 119, sheet 27B, family 375, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 810; FHL microfilm 1,374,823.
6. ↑ Missouri Death Records Archive, Record for Walter Shields. https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1928/1928_00022458.PDF
7. ↑ "Shields," death notice. The St. Louis Star and Times, St. Louis, Missouri. 18 June 199, print edition page 13. Accessed via https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33333466/walter_shields_death/
8. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVK6-W2CF : 13 December 2015), Walter Shields, 1928; Burial, Saint Louis, St. Louis City, Missouri, United States of America, Bellefontaine Cemetery; citing record ID 42291862, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8Z3-H5C : accessed 28 June 2019), Walter Shields, Central, St Louis, Missouri, United States; citing ED 132, sheet 6A, line 30, family 121, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 946; FHL microfilm 1,820,946.

• "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3TS-DD9 : 13 March 2018), Walter Shields, 1917-1918; citing St. Louis County no 2, Missouri, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,683,865.

• Houser, Doug. "Maplewood History: George Shields and his Maplewood Subdivision." 40 South News. 9 October 2019. Accessed from http://40southnews.com/maplewood-history-george-shields-and-his-maplewood-subdivision/