Robert Shields (1740 - 1802)

Born 9 Nov 1740 in Harrisonburg, Virginia [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Nancy (Stockton) Shields — married about 1761 in Augusta County, Virginia

Descendants

Died 18 Jan 1802 at age 61 in Middle Creek, Sevier, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Julie Silvers [send private message], Lee Davis [send private message], and Barbara a Shields [send private message]

Biography

Robert Shields married Nancy Stockton, a daughter of Richard and Agnes Stockton, and granddaughter of Davis Stockton of Albemarle County, Virginia. Robert and Nancy moved from Virginia to what is now Sevier County, Tennessee, and lived about 7 miles south of Nancy's brother Thomas Stockton, Sr., who preceded them to the area. Nancy and Robert are buried at their home now known as "The Fort". They were the parents of eleven children; ten sons and a daughter. Their only daughter Jennet* married Joshua Tipton, they were the parents of General John Tipton. Joshua and Jennet (nee Shields) Tipton also lived at "The Fort" in Sevierville, Tennessee, just south of the French Broad River.

Children of Robert and Nancy (Stockton) Shields:
Jennet* Shields Tipton (c.1762 - 1827)
Thomas Shields (c.1763 - 1797)
Richard Stockton Shields (c.1764 - 1825)
David Shields (c.1766 - 1815)
William Shields (c.1768 - 1823)
John Shields (c.1769 - 1809), Lewis and Clark
James Shields (c.1770 - 1848)
Robert Shields, Jr. (c.1772 - 1835)
Joseph Shields (c.1773 - 1847)
Benjamin Shields (c.1780 - 1819)
Jesse Shields (c.1782 - 1848)

*She is shown on what appears to be her original grave stone as Jennet Tipton. She is shown in the 1917 book "The Shields Family" by John Arthur Shields, as Janet Shields. She married Joshua Tipton and they were the parents of John Tipton (1786-1839), who became a United States Senator for the state of Indiana. John Tipton (1786-1839) married his first cousin Martha Janette "Jennie" Shields (c.1791-__?__), a daughter of John Shields the explorer with Lewis and Clark.

- - -

"The year 1761, the date of the marriage of Robert Shields and Nancy Stockton, marks the beginning of the 'modern' history of our division of the Shields family. To this union were born eleven children--a daughter and ten sons. The probable order of their births is observed in the following list, as nearly as the writer has been able to determine it from correlative information: Janet, Thomas, Richard, David, William, James, Robert, John, Joseph, Benjamin, Jesse."

"All of these were born in what was then Augusta County, Virginia, their birthplace being perhaps within what is now Rockingham County. It is my purpose to set down the family histories of these eleven children and their descendants in-so-far as I have been able to gather the facts concerning them." ^[1]

Pvt Robert Shields was mentioned on a memorial in Middle Creek Cemetery, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee, United States with a death date of 18 January 1802.^[2]

A Short History of the Shields Family by Martin L. Skubbina, Ph.D. Emmitsburg Area Historical Society (https://www.emmitsburg.net)

“John Shields (b. 1709) included among his children a Robert Shields (1740) who married Nancy Stockton. This family, which later migrated farther south in present-day Pigeon Forge, consisted of ten sons and a daughter. Known as the "family of the Ten Brothers," all lived to maturity and fathered what in most instances were large families. Many of the Ten Brothers migrated to Indiana Territory about 1800. Among this group were David "Big Dave" Shields, a man of great strength and equally great compassion. In his later years he was active in the Underground Railway, helping slaves escape to freedom in the North. Another of the Ten Brothers was John Shields, official scout and gunsmith of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Ten Brothers family built Shields Fort on Middle Creek in Sevier County, Tennessee, at the foot of Shields Mountain.”

Research Notes

The replacement military gravestone's birth year of 1749 would have made him 12 years old when he married. There are either two Robert Shields or there is an error on the military stone. Others have said he was born in 1740 which would be an easy transcription error. I have set the birth year to that to avoid database suggestions. - McGee-1611 19:12, 7 December 2023 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ The Shields Family, by John Arthur Shields (Minneapolis, 1917). https://archive.org/details/shieldsfamilypar00inshie/page/n8
2. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #6230137 (accessed 1 November 2022)
   Memorial page for Pvt Robert Shields (9 Nov 1749-18 Jan 1802), citing Middle Creek Cemetery, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Virgil & DeAnna Hancock-Cooley (contributor 36950484). [The birth and death dates come from a replacement military gravestone. The original stone, also pictured, is unreadable. It would have been an easy mistake to change the birth year from 1740 to 1749.]