Christopher Shockey (bef. 1755 - 1779)

Born before 1755 in Province of Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Son of Johann Christoffel (Schacke) Shockey and Barbara (Hess) Shockey

Descendants

Died 11 Dec 1779 after age 24 in Carlisle, Cumberland, Pennsylvania, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jeffrey Niles [send private message]

Please Note - Christopher Shockey is not Christian Shockey (1756-1829)

We have confirmed that Christopher and Christian were not the same person. Christopher was the son of Johann Christoffel (Schacke) Shockey (1720-abt.1775), and Christian (his nephew) was the son of Valentine Shockey (1738-abt.1810). Y-DNA testing has demonstrated that Valentine was the first Shockey with the specific DYS507=10 mutation which was passed on to Christian and his male patrilineal descendants.

We can confirm Christian had the same mutation as his father with a 99.9934% probability. In other words, the probability of Valentine and Christian being brothers (instead of father-son) is 1 in 15,000 - 500,000. Valentine's brother (this profile) and his descendants did not have this variant.

Christopher (son of Johann) and Christian (son of Valentine)

Christopher Shockey and Christian Shockey are two different and distinct individuals who have often been conflated because Christopher was sometimes called “Christian.” This discussion has been revived in the last several years as the availability of online resources has shed much light on the matter. Sharon Shockey Wetzel, Shirley (Shockey) Kowalski and several others have advocated for a view that distinguishes Christopher and Christian. This is the position taken by the present team of researchers in this report.^[1]

Two different lines of evidence must be unraveled in order to make sense of the various threads of evidence. First, one must lay out the separate paths of Christopher and Christian’s lives noting where those paths intersected and where they diverged. Second, one must make sense of the military records since both men appear in the records under the same name, “Christian.” Third, one must consider the DNA evidence now available. This report will interact with that evidence throughout, however, we will try to summarize those threads here and explain how others have dealt with this data in the past.

1. “Two Roads Diverged in a Wood”

Christopher and Christian Shockey spent much of their early years on the Shockey farm, “Sarah’s Delight.” After the death of Johann Christoffel Schacke both men seem to have become entangled in the Shockey gang to one extent or another. It was an easy path to follow, for Christopher was Valentine’s brother and Christian was his son. And it was here that we find the first thread of evidence demonstrating that Christopher and Christian were two men, for in 1777 they were both arrested and tossed into a Frederick County jail.

They broke out at the end of March with Isaac Shockey and two others which led to a bounty on all of their heads. A Maryland newspaper provided the first clue for it clearly distinguished the two men and identified Christian Shockey as the son of Valentine.^[2]

(a) This is a pivotal piece of the puzzle because it clearly shows there were two men: Christopher the brother (his father, Johann Christopher, had died by this time), and Christian the son of Valentine Shockey. After the jailbreak, both men joined the Continental Army and both appeared in records under the name “Christian Shockey.” It is possible they enlisted as some sort of bargain to clear their record. We’ll discuss their military records and the two court martials in the next section. However, this junction in the Maryland woods seems to be where one Shockey took the road less traveled, and that made all the difference.

(b) Christopher enlisted in Col. Malcolm’s Regiment as a private, but within two years had deserted twice and faced two court martials (again, see the next section). His nephew, Christian, also enlisted and eventually ended up in “The New Eleventh” Regiment. Christian distinguished himself and was promoted to corporal about the same time that Christopher was being promoted to the gallows. Christian served until 1783, was eventually promoted to orderly sergeant and later took bounty land and a pension.

(c) Christopher married and had three small children by the end of his military career and short life. His wife was Rosannah and both of their names are mentioned in the death records of one of their children. He mentioned his “three small children” in his second court martial as well as his rejected petition for clemency. Sometime after Christopher’s death, they all moved south into Virginia, and later, some of his children migrated west into Kentucky.

His nephew, Christian, married after the war to Mary Ann Welsh with whom he had eleven children. Their first child was born in 1785 proven from the prayer book record in his Revolutionary War Pension Application.^[3] Their family settled in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

(d) Finally, Christopher was condemned for uttering counterfeit money and was hanged on 11 December 1779 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. His nephew, Christian, lived a full life and died on 18 April 1829 in Salisbury, Pennsylvania at the age of 72.^[4]

2. Two Court Martials for the One who “Bent in the Undergrowth”

The confusion of names and conflation of individuals was likely caused by Christopher occasionally appearing in records with the name “Christian.” It is unknown whether this was a simple clerical error made at his arrest and enlistment, whether it was a simple name variation, or whether he intentionally used the variant spelling in order to evade local authorities. Whatever the case, we believe that Christopher enlisted in the Continental Army in April 1777, about the same time as his nephew, Christian. And both men appear as “Christian.”

We do have the pension folder for Christian (the nephew), but unfortunately, his muster rolls have not yet been found. The good news is we have most of the monthly muster rolls for Christopher, although he was recorded as “Christian Shockey.” However, we believe Christopher, not his nephew, Christian, was the individual who enlisted in Capt. Kearsley’s Company for the following reasons.

(a) There were two court martials on 21 May 1778 (for a soldier called “Christian Shockey”) and on 12 June 1778 (for a soldier called “Christopher Shockey”). Lt. Walker gave a deposition in the second court martial saying that the prisoner had deserted from his company in the spring and enlisted in a new regiment, was brought to camp and was pardoned.^[5] Therefore, it is certain that Christopher did desert twice and the first desertion took place in the same time frame as described in the first court martial.

Christopher mentioned his wife and three small children during the second court martial. The same claim was made in his petition for clemency a year later which positively identifies the individual who deserted twice with the same Christopher Shockey who was hanged for counterfeiting in 1779.

(b) Capt. Montgomery testified during the first court martial that Shockey (Christopher) had “formerly kept his father,” implying that his father was of more advanced age, at some point needed “keeping,” and possibly that his father was no longer alive. Valentine (Christian’s father) was still less than 40 years old at the time of the court martial, but Johann Christoffel (Christopher’s father) had died about three years earlier.

(c) Col. Hartley sent the proceedings to Gen. George Washington after both court martials regarding Shockey (Christopher) and King’s (John) desertions. The correspondence from both Hartley and Washington seems to imply that the “Christian Shockey” who was tried in May was the same individual as the “Christopher Shockey” who was tried and condemned in June.

(d) The muster rolls of Kearsley’s Company demonstrate a narrative that is consistent with both of these court martials being for the same individual. Pvt. Shockey (Christopher) was given a 31-day furlough in March 1778 from which he did not return and the muster rolls indicate that he was still on that “furlough” into late April. During his first court martial, he described the circumstances of that furlough and the reasons that prevented him from returning. One officer testified that he had seen his furlough papers.

Christopher was sentenced to be executed after the second court martial, but received a pardon from Washington. He escaped death, but the same muster rolls of Kearsley’s Company demonstrate a continued narrative in which he spent the next few months in a York jail cell and did not return to active duty until October or November 1778. If Kearsley’s rolls included the nephew’s record, then there is not a good explanation for why he received 100 lashes (the sentence at the May court martial) but was subsequently incarcerated for half a year. The rolls are consistent with the record of an individual who deserted twice and posed a risk for further trouble or flight.

(e) The regiments were merged at the end of that winter, and it appears that Christian Shockey (the nephew) was promoted around this time to the rank of Corporal. This would be highly unlikely if he had just finished several months locked in a cell and removed from the rest of his company with no opportunity to distinguish himself over the succeeding winter months at Fort Clinton.

Christopher, not his nephew, Christian, enlisted in an independent Pennsylvania company under the name of “Christian Shockey.” We don’t know why. It may have been a simple name variation or an error made at his enlistment papers. Or he may have intentionally used a different spelling in order to evade local authorities across the state line in Maryland. But the man in Kearsley’s Company of Malcolm’s Regiment was almost certainly Christopher Shockey and not his nephew.

If one attempts to argue that Christian was the subject of the first court martial instead of Christopher, then the burden of proof necessitates answering the following: (a) When did Christopher first desert and from what company and under what circumstances did he receive a pardon? Were there three court martials? (b) In what way did Christian “keep” his father, Valentine? (c) Did Hartley send the first transcript because of the request for John King’s pardon? And was the court martial of a Shockey just coincidence? (d) Why would Christian have been in jail for so long after his sentence was carried out? (e) How did Christian then distinguish himself so quickly after 100 lashes and months in jail to so rapidly receive a promotion, being that he would have only been in one battle (Brandywine) before transferring into the “New Eleventh”?

3. The DNA Evidence

Six men have now taken Y-DNA tests who are descendants of Christopher and Christian, three from each forefather.^[6] It has been determined that a few mutations took place in the first two generations of Shockey men in America because of these and other tests from other lineages. The science now provides specific indicators that point to which family living descendants come from.

Specifically, Christopher (the uncle) possessed a mutation that first occurred in his own Y-DNA (or possibly it was his son, John).^[7] This harmless variation on the Y chromosome is inherited by direct male descendants which ends up being a beacon that says, “Hey, I belong to the branch of Christopher!”^[8] Valentine also possessed a separate mutation that first occurred in his own Y-DNA and he has passed that variant on to his descendants.^[9] Again, this harmless variant ends up being a beacon that says, “Oh yeah, well I belong to the branch of Christopher’s brother, Valentine! My dad did beat up your dad (well, maybe)!”

The most significant factor in this discussion is that the variant which was first possessed by Valentine was passed on to the descendants of Christian (the nephew). This gives evidence using hard science that Christian was not the same person as Christopher, and that Christian was indeed the son of Valentine.

One may also observe patterns in autosomal DNA (offered by companies like Ancestry.com, 23&Me, and MyHeritage) in addition to the Y-DNA evidence. The descendants of both Christopher and Christian have compared their DNA connections and the evidence again points to Christian being the son of Valentine, and thus the nephew of Christopher.

4. Summary (“Somewhere ages and ages hence:”)

Both Christopher Shockey and Christian Shockey were associated with the Shockey gang. Both men broke out of jail and were named in the same newspaper article identifying them as distinct individuals. Both enlisted in separate companies of the Continental Army around April 1777 under the name “Christian Shockey.” And both were eventually named as members of Col. Thomas Hartley’s Regiment. They were two different and distinct individuals, but only one took the road less traveled by.

Christopher Shockey (the subject of this report):

• was the son of Johann Christoffel Schacke and Barbara
• married Rosannah between 1770-1775 and had three children before 1778
• served as a private in Capt. Kearsley’s company from 1777 to 1779
• deserted twice and was court-martialed twice
• received a pardon from Gen. Washington after the second trial
• was charged for uttering counterfeit money and hanged on 11 December 1779 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Christian Shockey (the nephew):

• was born 7 May 1756
• was the son of Valentine Shockey (1739-1810) and Barbara Bixler (c.1739-1803) as evidenced by both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA tests
• served as a private from 1777 to 1779, but was promoted to corporal and orderly sergeant in the Continental Army between 1779 and 1783
• married Mary Welsh in 1784 and had eleven children
• was the individual who died 18 April 1829 in Salisbury, Pennsylvania

When the Library of Congress created an index of George Washington’s papers over a century later, the name “Christian” was retained from his first trial but “Christopher?” was added in brackets showing that the transcriber was unsure about which name to use.^[10]

Because he appeared under the name of “Christian Shockey,” his records have often been included as the military records of his nephew. For example, Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution^[11] lists the nephew as the individual who served under Capt. Kearsley before being transferred to “The New Eleventh.”^[12] While both men probably served in Hartley’s Regiment for a short time over the winter of 1778-79, it was almost certainly Christopher who appeared on the muster rolls of Capt. Kearsley in Malcolm’s Regiment.

Needless to say, a great amount of confusion has persisted, usually resulting in Christopher Shockey being conflated with his nephew, Christian Shockey. Shockey History and Genealogy (1981) made the judgment to place the nephew in Christopher’s place as one of the sons of Johann.^[13] Christopher himself was thus omitted completely from the two-volume work and his children were presumed to belong to Christopher’s brother, Isaac (and a wife, Jane).^[14] The Shockey Chronicles (1986) made a similar choice and included the nephew, Christian, as one of the children of Johann Christoffel Schacke.^[15] Christopher was again omitted, however Rosannah was recognized as the widow of an “unknown Shockey.” The Shockey Chronicles rejected the theory that their children belonged to Isaac, so Rosannah and their children were included as Family “A” in hopes that future research might shed more light on this family.^[16]

Online family trees and the sharing of inaccurate information caused this conflation to persist and become even more entangled in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The result has led to great confusion regarding which Christopher or Christian Shockey belongs at the head of many family trees.

In conclusion, the position of the Shockey Genealogy Committee is that Christopher was the son of Johann Schacke, but Christian was the son of Valentine Shockey. They were two distinct individuals. Instances where Christopher’s name were spelled otherwise were either clerical errors, a variation in spelling, or an intentional switch used to evade local Maryland authorities. Furthermore, he did not have a middle name and the usage of “Christopher Christian Shockey” is a late intrusion brought about by inaccurate family trees that have been perpetuated online. It is our recommendation that the name “Christian” should be removed from his profile and left simply as “Christopher Shockey.”

Biography

This profile is part of the Shockey Name Study.

Private Christopher Shockey served with 11th Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

1. Christopher’s Early Years

Christopher Shockey was most likely born in Pennsylvania before 1755 to Johann Christoffel and Barbara Schacke.^[17] Following usual naming conventions in wills at that time, being that male children were typically listed first and in birth order, Christopher was probably the last male child born to Johann and Barbara. The children are named in this order: Valentine, John, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Christopher, Elizabeth, Barbara and Magdalena. However, one cannot solely rely on naming conventions. Children may be listed out of order to acknowledge fondness or disfavor. Unfortunately, at this time, we cannot narrow down a specific birth year.

To settle an over 80 year old title dispute, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed the boundary between Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware between 1763 and 1767. An entry in Mason’s log book showed the future Mason–Dixon line dividing the property owned by Christopher’s father near Antietam Creek between Maryland and Pennsylvania. The boundary dispute between the states was also personal for Johann and it lasted years after the Mason–Dixon survey was completed. The log book detailed a “cave (near the Mountain about 6 miles South of Mr. Shockey’s).” Washington County is scattered with many smaller caves similar to this larger one, but one of those smaller caves later became infamous due to the shenanigans of the Shockey Gang, ultimately resulting in Christopher’s early demise.^[18]

Around this same time, Johann was involved in another land dispute regarding his 30 acre parcel in Antrim Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Johann had applied for, was granted and made improvements to the land; however, a prior warrant issued to Michael Halm resulted in Halm’s warrant being satisfied first. Ultimately, Johann’s warrant was satisfied and his improvements were taken into consideration during the resurvey. The warrant confirmed that this parcel of land adjoined “his other land which he holds by a Maryland Patent,” that patent being the Third Resurvey of Sarah’s Delight.

The “Sarah’s Delight” patent contained a total of 1,820 acres in Frederick County, Maryland, but a small portion was being claimed by Pennsylvania as a result of the recently surveyed Mason-Dixon line.^[19] Taxes on this land were paid to Maryland, but he had also made improvements on the Pennsylvania side which gave them cause to seek their share for a portion of his property, a point of contention which may have led to later conflict. In 1771 Johann filed a complaint against Justice Reynolds [Rannels] in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. When Johann became indebted to a merchant in Cumberland County, the merchant secured the debt by stealing “two Horses & one mare out of my Inclosures in Maryland in the dead time of night”.^[20] Having already paid Maryland taxes Johann did not believe that Pennsylvania had jurisdiction over himself or his property. He was unable to seed his grain without the horses so he decided to steal them back. A son who was an accomplice in the act was apprehended, tied with cords and brought before Justice Reynolds. Johann was forced to pay a £40 Bond for his release. Christopher may have been the aforementioned son, although it could have been any one of his brothers living in that area at the time. Regardless, Christopher’s introduction to the legal system began at a young age, and it was Justice Rannels who later served on the Grand Jury which indicted Christopher on the uttering charge resulting in his death.^[21]

Christopher’s mother, Barbara, died sometime between 1771 and 1772 and his father married Mary, a widow with at least one daughter named Catherine. Johann sold all 1,820 acres of Sarah’s Delight between October 1769 and May 1773 and in June 1773, Johann purchased 300 acres in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Christopher was married and had started his own family sometime around 1771.

On 25 Oct 1774, Johann and his new wife, Mary, welcomed their son Samuel Christian to the family, however, it is unclear if Johann was alive for Samuel Christian’s birth. Deed records confirm that Johann died sometime before May 1775. In May 1778, Capt. Montgomery testified that Christopher had “formerly kept his father,” so it is possible that Christopher was living with him until the time of his death. And this is when Christopher’s troubles began.

2. The Shockey Gang and the Elizabethtown Jailbreak

The records are scarce for the next years of Christopher’s life, but two things are certain. First, Christopher had married Rosannah before his father’s death and they had started their family. They had three children (John, Mary and Henry; note Henry may have been born later and the third child may have been Abram Shockey) by 1778 who all later claimed to have been born in Maryland. If Christopher did follow his father to Westmoreland County around 1773, then it is certain he had returned to Maryland by 1777.

Counterfeiting had been a nuisance in the colonies for decades, but the crime came to the attention of the newly formed American government as early as August 1776 when they passed some of the first ordinances against counterfeiters who were already undermining the economy of the infant nation. The penalties for counterfeiting included fines, scourging, having one’s ears cut off or the death penalty; but much of the counterfeiting took place behind British lines as one of the crown’s greatest tools against the rebel government that it was seeking to squash.

The Shockey’s had become absorbed in their own counterfeiting schemes and were already beginning to build their notorious reputation in northern Maryland by 1777. The governing authorities in Elizabeth Town (i.e., Hagerstown)^[22] were largely focused on raising money for the militia in January 1777; but in February, the arrest of John Tedrow put the Shockey operation in public light. Tedrow confessed to obtaining counterfeit money from Isaac Shockey, so an order was given on 2 February to apprehend Isaac, Christopher, Valentine and Abraham Shockey.^[23] The first of the Shockeys were in chains a day later, confined to the Frederick County jail. By month's end they had apprehended Isaac, Christopher and Valentine’s son, Christian; and their rifles had been sold to pay for the cost of keeping a guard over the prisoners.

Toward the end of March, Christopher and the other prisoners had broken out of jail and they all went into hiding. A bounty was put out for their capture, but by the time the notice was placed in a Baltimore newspaper, at least two of the fugitives had already enlisted in the Continental Army, perhaps as a means of evading the local Maryland authorities. Abraham had enlisted in March (it is unclear if this was Johann’s son or Valentine’s son, but he was never apprehended), Christian (the nephew) enlisted on 7 April, and Christopher probably enlisted sometime that same month.

3. The Revolutionary War

The first shots of the Revolutionary War had been fired in April 1775 and the colonies had declared their independence just over a year later, but by the end of 1776 it appeared the cause had been lost. New York had been seized, Washington’s army was in retreat, the Continental Army had been reduced to fewer than 10,000 men and enlistments were about to expire at the turn of the year. Washington lamented the army’s prospects in a letter to John Hancock on 22 September 1776:

As the period will soon arrive when the Troops composing the present Army (a few excepted) will be disbanded according to the tenor of their Inlistments, and the most fatal consequences may ensue, If a suitable and timely provision is not made....—Genl Schuyler tells me in a Letter received Yesterday, That … Regimts stand engaged only till the Beginning of next Month, and that the Men he is fearfull will not remain longer than the Time of their Inlistments.^[24]

The Continental Congress retreated to Baltimore from their capital in Philadelphia and the British began to celebrate the victory that was soon at hand, estimating that the war could be over within a year. But on Christmas night 1776, Washington rallied his troops and crossed the Delaware achieving a decisive victory in the Battle of Trenton followed by a victory at Princeton on 3 January 1777. Washington wintered his army at Morristown, but did so with morale regained and hopes restored because of his leadership over those nine days.

Congress had recently passed a resolve that changed enlistments to three-year terms and called each state to raise new regiments in proportion to their population. Throughout the winter, new regiments were recruited and the army was reorganized. Washington informed Congress in April that he had appointed four men as captains of independent companies to be raised, most of which came from Pennsylvania. One of those captains was Samuel Kearsley, Esq.^[25]

About this time, Christopher Shockey had just escaped from the Frederick County jail and it appears that he sought refuge across the state line in Pennsylvania. Kearsley had recruited a couple dozen men for his company and Christopher was one of them, and as previously mentioned, he appears under the name “Christian Shockey.” Again, this may be the source of much of the confusion which has caused so many of us to conflate him with his nephew, the son of Valentine. Did the recruiting officer make a clerical error? Was it simply a variant spelling of his name? Or did Christopher purposefully use the name, “Christian,” in order to evade the local authorities in Maryland. We may never know.

Kearsley’s Company was annexed into the Virginia 6th Regiment sometime that summer under the command of Col. James Hendricks. Their first major engagement was at the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777. In an attempt to end the war quickly, British Gen. Howe made a move to take the rebels' capital in Philadelphia. Washington attempted to thwart Howe’s plan and met him north of Delaware on the fords of the Brandywine River.

The Battle of Brandywine was intended as a defensive maneuver by Gen. Washington, but he failed to secure a crossing to the north while focusing on the main British army across the river. This allowed Gen. Cornwallis to set up position against the Continental Army and forced the Americans to fight on two fronts. Kearsley’s Company was likely still fighting under the Virginia 6th and would have fought with the 2nd Virginia Brigade under the command of Brig. Gen. George Weedon and Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene.

Greene’s Division was kept in reserve until Washington realized the dilemma the army was facing. Late in the afternoon, the division (including Christopher’s company) made a three-mile march in 35 minutes, and then positioned themselves in a grove of trees along the Wilmington Pike road. There they served as a rear guard for the retreating American forces and inflicted heavy losses on the British pursuers who were marching across an open field as the sun began to set. General Howe attempted to flank the 2nd Brigade where Christopher was fighting, but was repelled by the cavalry. Thus Gen. Greene’s defense gave the main army the chance to retreat in orderly fashion down the Nottingham Road and the ability to fight another day.^[26] At the Battle of Brandywine, Kearsley’s Company suffered two casualties: Pvt. Peter Reamer and Pvt. Charles McCarty were wounded and Pvt. George Cooke (previously under arrest) went missing in action.^[27]

Col. William Malcolm’s First Additional Regiment joined the main army two weeks later, after which Capt. Kearsley’s Company was transferred to his command.^[28] Malcolm’s Regiment, in turn, was assigned to the 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade (Gen. Conway), but this was not until 11 October. So Kearsley’s Company likely was not present for the Battle of Germantown. In any case, no new casualties were recorded for their unit. Christopher and his company (as part of Malcolm’s Regiment in Conway’s 3rd Brigade) spent the winter at Valley Forge where several became sick from dysentery and Pvt. Joseph Dodds died. Christopher survived the Battle of Brandywine and the winter at Valley Forge without any remarks of wounds or illness. Brandywine was likely the only major military engagement Christopher took part in.

4. Court Martials

In the spring of 1778, Christopher was granted a 31-day furlough. He left sometime before 20 March and seems to have made the long trek from Valley Forge back to his home in Maryland (about 140 miles). Ten days before his furlough was over, Christopher was seized and put into jail at Hagerstown where he remained incarcerated for 26 days. He claimed that he was without guilt and had not committed any crime to deserve such “rough treatment.” However, one possibility is that he might have been arrested in connection with the 1777 counterfeiting charge and the ensuing jailbreak for which he probably had never given account. Whatever the “crime,” the arrest caused him to miss a timely return to his company and set in motion the events that led to his first charge of desertion.

According to Lt. Walker, the recruiting officer for Col. Irvine’s Regiment, Christopher proceeded to enlist in another unnamed company. Christopher was likely aware of the trouble he was in and it is possible he enlisted with a different unit in order to evade authorities and a desertion charge. However, he was quickly discovered and delivered to Capt. Montgomery in order to be escorted to York, Pennsylvania.

Around the end of April, Capt. Montgomery escorted Christopher and four other deserters as far as Taneytown, Maryland, and then entrusted them to the care of Sgt. Thomas Bowles and three armed men who were to proceed to Yorktown, Pennsylvania. Along the road, the prisoners escaped and ran into the woods. Bowles pursued, but was beaten by some of the prisoners before escaping back to the road. Christopher was caught again and charged with desertion and mutiny.

His first court martial took place 21 May 1778 in Yorktown. Matching his muster roll records he was called “Christian Shockey” and the record states that he was from Col. Malcolm’s Regiment. Col. Hartley presided over the trial. Christopher pleaded “guilty” to the charge of desertion but explained how he had been wrongfully detained in Hagerstown. He pleaded “not guilty” to the charge of mutiny claiming that he had escaped “but did it without striking the Serjeant or otherwise ill treating him.”^[29]The court acquitted him of the mutiny charge, but sentenced him to 100 lashes for desertion.

At the same time, John King, Jr. was also tried for desertion. The court found that his conduct was “very improper in his trial,” he was “a person of very bad fame,” and his character was found to be “infamous.” Seeking someone to use as an example to other soldiers, he was sentenced to death.

Christopher presumably received his 100 lashes and soon returned to his duties which included driving a team of horses. However, within a short time Christopher once again found himself in trouble.

Within a couple weeks of his first court martial, Christopher was informed that his wife and children had been put out of their lodgings and were in a dire situation. He was persuaded by his brother, Abraham (who himself seems to have deserted in September 1777), to once again desert his post, this time taking two horses from the wagon that he drove. He later claimed that Abraham had stolen the horses from elsewhere, but others testified the horses from Christopher’s wagon were missing the next morning. Christopher claimed that he and his brother rode the horses 15 miles and then put the horses out in a pasture. However they traveled, they did make their way back to Maryland (presumably, their destination was Valentine or Jacob’s farm) where he found his family living in his brother’s stable.

Christopher was arrested once more and this time returned to Carlisle and then to York where he faced a second court martial on 12 June 1778. Col. Hartley presided once more. This time he was charged with desertion and the stealing of two horses. He again pleaded “guilty” to the desertion charge, but claimed that it was his brother who had taken the horses and only persuaded him to ride after they had proceeded a mile or two down the road. A character witness was also presented that tied Christopher to the counterfeiting operations in Maryland.

The court martial found him guilty on both counts and sentenced him to death. Col. Hartley sent a letter to Gen. Washington the next day expressing that John King’s behavior had changed since his trial and included a petition for mercy that was filed on his behalf. Because of his penitence, his youth, and because the members of the court martial only wanted one execution, they asked for a pardon for King and to instead use Christopher as the example to be set on the gallows. On 14 June, Washington pardoned John King, but also chose to pardon Christopher Shockey. His letter arrived in time to stop their execution on the 16th.

The pardon may have come in the middle of June, but Christopher remained in the York jail at least until October according to the company’s muster roll. While in jail, his company fought at the Battle of Monmouth without him. The muster rolls indicate that he was finally released and he rejoined his company which had moved on to Fort Clinton (West Point), New York. They then proceeded south and wintered at Haverstraw the next month.

5. A Night in Carlisle

The army was reorganized that winter which included Col. Patton’s Regiment and the Pennsylvania companies of Malcolm’s Regiment being consolidated with Col. Hartley’s. The combined unit was called “The New Eleventh.” Additionally, Capt. Kearsley resigned in February 1779 and Col. Hartley resigned on 13 February 1779, having been elected to Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. “The New Eleventh” was transferred to Gen. Edward Hand’s Brigade on 9 April and fell under the command of Lt. Col. Adam Hubley in June. It is probably for this reason, and because of the popularity of the commander, that Christopher later claimed that he was a soldier of Col. Hartley’s Regiment, even though the duration was temporal. The Regiment took part in the Sullivan Expedition in the summer of 1779, but Christopher would not join in that fight.

Christopher once again found himself in trouble having used counterfeit money on a Carlisle shopping spree on 23-24 April 1779. He purchased some clothes, bought a shave and a bath and then finished his evening at the tavern. The three vendors reported him to the sheriff the next day, but Christopher had already skipped town. A warrant was issued for his arrest. Over the next few months, it appears he went into hiding (meaning he probably deserted a third time) and found refuge in the midst of the Shockey gang.

The following September, Mark Milligan was also arrested for passing counterfeit bills. He testified against the Shockeys as part of a plea deal, which gave the Maryland authorities what they needed to declare war on the Shockey operation. Sometime in September, a posse was assembled and a hunt began to find Isaac and Abraham in the woods around the Shockey lair, but it was Christopher who ran into their line and once again found himself in chains. One writer later gave an account of the arrest:

One of the party was Squire Bourns…. The night waned, and the silence continued through the forest, interrupted only by the occasional bark of a fox, or the hoot of an owl. But as the morning began to dawn the soldier’s intent ear caught from a little distance a rustling sound like that made by animals moving thro’ the underbrush; and quickly its cause was revealed in the approach of a man whom Bourns in the twilight mistook to be one of his party who wore a military hat…. Being in doubt, the canny Scot … followed until the growing light proved the fugitive was bent on eluding him…. [He] proved to be one of the brothers Schockke; and he ordered him to halt and surrender. The man without halting looked back, muttering an angry reply; and making a misstep he fell to the ground, when the ‘Squire coming up, had his bayonet instantly in use to keep his burly and stronger foe from rising. Within a very few minutes Col. Johnson, with the rest of the loyal party rode up; when the march was started upon down the mountains homeward, with the prisoner in company.^[30]

Christopher was held at the Carlisle jail where he awaited his trial, which took place on 18-20 October 1779. He was charged with counterfeiting and three counts of knowingly uttering counterfeit money. The jury declared, “Christopher Shockey is not guilty of the felony in Counterfeiting, but that he is guilty of uttering knowingly in manner and form.” Simply put, they could not prove that he actively took part in making the money, but he did intentionally use and pass counterfeit 30-dollar bills. The judgment was “that he be hanged by the neck till he be dead.”^[31]

Christopher made a petition for clemency six days later. He claimed to have “been near three years a soldier in Col Hartley’s Regiment in the Continental Service and during that period hath fully discharged his Duty as a soldier, and would still wish to render his services in that Way to his Country.” His statement neglects a few things: (1) he probably only served under Hartley for a few weeks; (2) his “three years” was actually just over two that spanned three calendar years (1777-1779), and he spent almost half of that time on furlough, on the run, or in jail; and (3) the phrase “fully discharged” bore a different meaning for those of Shockey blood. Christopher also appealed once again for his “helpless family,” “having a wife and three small children.” Several others petitioned on his behalf including several neighbors, the Sheriff of York and his jailer, both of whom he had spent a good deal of time with.

His signature included the salutation, “An unhappy brother of the temple of fame.” It was a statement alluding (1) to the court which had designated him as “a person of evil name and fame and of dishonest life and conviction,” (2) to his family whose notorious crimes and infamy had made him the target of society’s wrath, and (3) to the pseudonymous letters of “Junius” published in 1772, one of which stated, “The Temple of Fame is the shortest passage to riches and preferment.” The Letters of Junius were a critique of the government’s infringement upon the rights and liberties of the people.^[32]

His petition for clemency was rejected. Christopher had survived two court martials and a death sentence for desertion, but was arrested by the sheriff for uttering counterfeit 30 dollar bills. He was convicted by a jury of his peers, sentenced to be hanged, and an order was issued to carry out his sentence by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania.

Christopher Shockey was hanged to death, as scheduled, on 11 December 1779 in Carlisle, leaving a widow and three small children scarred by his crimes and outcast by society. It is uncertain how long they remained in Maryland, but by 1787 they had moved over 250 miles away to present day Franklin County, Virginia.

Research

Name

Name: Christopher Shockey (also Shocky, Shorkey & Sakey)^{[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]}

Abbreviated: Stophel Shockey

3 Feb 1777 - Order for Apprehension - The transcript does not contain a comma so it is unclear if the statement should be read:

“Isaac, Stophel, Felty and Abraham Shockey”

or

“Isaac Stophel, Felty and Abraham Shockey.”^[49]

Stophel was a shortened form of Christophel. As a matter of fact Christopher’s father, Johann Christoffel who went by Christopher, was noted as being Mr. Stophel Shockey in the Mason Dixon Log Book.^[50] No one with the surname “Stophel” appears in the Elizabethtown committee records, and the Shockey family was the subject at hand. It is unclear whether it was Christian or Christopher who was apprehended first and which spelling represents the clerical errors, but both Christian and Christopher were apprehended in the end and both of them broke out of jail together.

Incorrect: Christian Shockey^{[51][52][53][54][55]}

Proposal - We should officially drop the name “Christian” from his profile and leave it simply as “Christopher Shockey” on the following basis:

• He is consistently called “Christopher” in various kinds of records (military, court, newspapers, etc.).
• We doubt that one of the names was given as a middle name. When he was called “Christian” it was likely a variant spelling and likely used by others who were outside his immediate circle, or he possibly used the name “Christian” for misdirection. Other spelling variants may have included “Stophel,” “Christophel,” and “Christoffel.”
• See the discussion at the beginning of this report for further rationale.

Birth

Date: before 1755

Place: Pennsylvania, USA

Christopher’s birth date is unknown and can only be estimated based on life events and his father’s will and land conveyances.

Typically, children were named in birth order in a will, even though male and female children are often listed separately. Johann’s will lists his male children in this order: Valentine, John, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham and Christopher.^[56] The first sons are listed in the order of their birth, so we may assume that Christopher was the youngest male child with the exception of Samuel Christian who was born after the will was written in 1773. Nevertheless, one cannot solely rely on naming conventions. Children may be listed out of order to acknowledge fondness or disfavor. Unfortunately, at this time, we cannot narrow down a specific birth year.

Johann also conveyed parcels of land in the 1,820 acre “Resurvey on Sarah’s Delight” conveying tracts to Valentine, John, Jacob, Phillip Stambaugh (who married Magdalena), and Michael Hoover.^[57] Isaac, Abraham and Christopher were possibly all under 18 years of age and most likely still living in their father’s household in 1769, which would explain why no land was conveyed to them at that time. Therefore it is likely that his birth was not earlier than 1751.

Christopher’s first son was born about 1771. If Christopher was born as late as 1755 then he and Rosannah became parents in their late teens or early twenties. His jail break and enlistment in the continental army took place in 1777 during his early to mid-twenties.

Shockey History and Genealogy records that Valentine “signed a two thousand Pound Sterling in favor of his father, Christopher Shockey, for the use of water from Cow Creek.”^[58] Some have suggested that because the bond was submitted after Valentine’s father’s death that this must refer to Valentine’s brother. But that is not the case. The original bond was issued in 1768 between Valentine Shockey and his father Christopher. In Christopher’s will, his wife Maria was appointed Executor and Christopher specified that she had the power to appoint someone “who she seems fit” to also act as Executor. Maria had just given birth to their son Samuel. In the 21 May 1778 court martial for the younger Christopher, a witness testified that Christopher “kept” his father, meaning he most likely stayed at home and cared for his father or the farm during his final years.^[59] The younger Christopher, brother of Valentine, most likely had this bond recorded as part of the probate of the progenitor’s estate. Typically, notes between parent and child were not recorded when written, but rather when necessary such as in this case for transferring property rights during probate.

We propose using “Bef. 1755” for Christopher’s birth year.

Furthermore, his father was residing in Manheim Township, York County by 1750 so this remains a possible birthplace, but we recommend using “Pennsylvania” as his birth place until further evidence is found.

Marriage

Rosannah (King?) (c.1754 - after 1850)

m1. Christopher Shockey, between 1770-1775

1. John Shockey

2. Mary Shockey

3. Henry Shockey

m2. Jacob Shilling, 1787

1. George Shilling

2. Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Shilling

3. Eva Shilling

Stepmother to the children of Jacob & Christena Shilling:

4. Jacob Shilling

5. Catherine Shilling

DNA evidence demonstrates the descendants of Christopher and Rosannah share a significant amount of DNA with the descendants of John King, Sr. and John King, Jr. The evidence (though it still needs validation) is strong enough to demonstrate that Rosannah was probably from the King family, however, more proof is needed to validate the hypothesis that she was the daughter of John King, Sr. It is possible that he was an uncle or a close cousin.^[60]

It is unclear what happened to Rosannah immediately following Christopher's execution. She does not appear in any records found to date until 1787 when she married Jacob Shilling in Franklin County, Virginia.^[61]However, she remained in close proximity to the family of John King, Sr., all of them moving to Virginia in the 1780s.

In addition to the DNA evidence, there are a few early points of contact with the King family that demonstrate their association with the Shockeys. In the Mark Milligan deposition, he testified that he had made plates for $5 and $7 bills for Joseph Nicholson and John King around 1777. It is not clear if he was speaking of the father or the son.

John King, Jr. also deserted and faced a court martial at the same time as Christopher. He was the original target for execution, but both King and Christopher received pardons from Washington. It is unlikely that their desertions took place under the same circumstances, nor that John King was one of the other mutineers involved in Christopher’s case.

Furthermore, John and Caty King witnessed Rosannah’s request to issue a marriage license to Jacob Shilling on 30 November 1787 in Franklin County, Virginia. John King was also the suretor on the marriage bond dated 2 Dec 1787.^[62]Joseph and John King were also witnesses for the marriage of Rosanna’s daughter, Mary, in 1796.^[63]John King, Jr. later named one of his daughters Rosanna. Another of his daughters married John Shilling, Rosannah’s step-grandson. And Henry Shockey (Rosannah’s son) was the first witness to John King, Jr.’s last will. All of this, combined with the DNA evidence, makes John King, Sr. a very likely candidate for Rosannah’s father and the best proposal to date.

Very little can be absolutely confirmed about Rosannah. Perhaps the next generation of genealogical and genetic tools may shed further light on Rosannah’s family. Based on the births of their children we propose that Christopher and Rosannah were married between 1770 and 1775.

The best estimate for Rosannah’s birth comes from the 1850 census where she was enumerated as 96 years old with a birth place of “Brunswick” (probably the towns of Brunswick in Maryland or Virginia; not the city in Lower Saxony). She was living with her son, George, and likely died sometime during the 1850s.^[64]

Jacob died before March 1796 when a chancery case was dismissed because of his death.^[65] Rosannah was again left a widow with three small children (George, Elizabeth and Eva Shilling), as well as two children from Jacob’s first marriage (Jacob and Catherine Shilling) and her three children with Christopher (John, Mary and Henry; and possibly Abram).

After the death of Rosannah’s second husband, Jacob Shilling,^[66] she can be found on every personal property tax list in Montgomery County from 1796 through 1830.^[67] She can also be found on the personal property tax lists in Floyd County [formed from Montgomery] from 1831 through 1834.^[68] Rosannah was 80 years old in 1834. Her disappearance from the tax lists after 1834 could be for one of two reasons, to wit: either she was deemed tax exempt due to age by the court or she liquidated all her taxable assets to her children.

In 1801, John Michael Shilling brought a chancery suit in Montgomery County Virginia against Rosannah Shilling. Rosannah, acting as administrator on Jacob Shilling’s estate, her recently deceased husband, empowered Thomas Ferguson to collect a debt from John M. Shilling on which her deceased husband was security. John M. Shilling claimed that he had already paid the debt to Thomas Ferguson. John King provided an affidavit on behalf of Rosannah stating that Thomas Ferguson told him he never received payment. The court ruled in favor of Rosannah and ordered John M. Shilling to pay the debt.^[69]

In 1811, the Montgomery County Orphans Court gave Rosannah custody of Polley Shilling, 10 years old on 6 January 1811, a daughter of Catherine Shilling, Rosannah’s step daughter.^[70]

An 1826 Deed of Trust recorded by debtors Henry Shockey and George Shilling, half brothers and children of Rosannah, involved the land and plantation where Rosannah resided on the south fork of the Roanoke River, containing 182 acres, as well as other personal property. George was allowed to use half of this parcel as his estate right and interest in land patented to his father, Jacob. Henry and George failed to pay the debt of $200.70 and the land was sold to Jesse Webster in 1829.^[71]

In 1828, Rosannah and George Shilling were indebted to Henry Huff in the amount of $13.29. Peter Smith Sr. paid and settled the debt on their behalf. Rosannah and George indemnified Peter with several personal property items as collateral, whereas if Rosannah failed to pay Peter the $13.29 with interest, the personal property would be conveyed to him. The witnesses to this agreement were Andrew Lewis, Elizabeth Wiley and George Shilling.^[72]

In 1840, Jacob Smith and Eve, his wife (Eve/Eva being the daughter of Rosanna), conveyed all of their interest in a tract of land on the headwaters of the Roanoke River where Rosannah Shilling was residing and patented to Jacob Shilling in the year 1786, to George Shilling. The deed states that Eve and George are lawful children of Jacob Shilling who died intestate. Witnesses to the deed were Henry King, Leonard Aldridge and Charles B. Reynolds.^[73]

In 1846, Jacob Shilling, “as a lawful child of Jacob Shilling, dec’d”, conveyed all of his interest in the land that Rosannah was residing on to his son John K. Shilling.^[74]

In 1848, Henry wrote a letter to his son Jonathon stating that “your grandmother Shilling is alive and in good health.”^[75]

Military

1777 - Enlistment

We have not found any papers documenting his original enlistment, but he was reported as enlisting sometime in 1777 according to the 1880 publication, Pennsylvania in the war of the revolution, battalions and line. 1775-1783.^[76] Christopher, himself, claimed to have served as a soldier in the Continental army for three years (it was closer to two, though he served during three calendar years, 1777-1779).

Christopher may have enlisted soon after escaping from the Frederick County jail. It is possible that he and his nephew, Christian, may have even enlisted at the same time. Abraham (either Christopher’s brother or nephew) had enlisted on 10 Mar 1777; Christian enlisted on 7 April 1777;^[77] Christopher was found in Kearsley’s Company soon after this but was enlisted with the spelling, “Christian Shockey;” Isaac had also enlisted, but deserted by May 1777.

1777 - Capt. Samuel Kearsley’s Independent Company

Gen. George Washington appointed Samuel Kearsley as a captain of an independent company in April 1777 which was to be raised by him.^[78] It seems that Christopher was a part of that recruitment.

It also appears that Christopher either enlisted under the name “Christian” or his name was simply transcribed that way at first. Either way, the muster rolls over the next two years recorded him as “Christian” and not “Christopher.” This may be the source of much of the confusion which has caused so many of us to conflate him with his nephew, the son of Valentine.

Summer 1777 - Virginia 6th Regiment (Col. James Hendricks)

Capt. Kearsley’s Company had been annexed to the Virginia 6th by July 1777 and served under the command of pro tempore Col. James Hendricks. They served in the Main Army. Christopher appears on the muster rolls as “Christian Shocky,” one of about 25 privates.^[79]

11 September 1777 - Kearsley’s Company fought at the Battle of Brandywine^[80] and suffered 2 wounded and 1 missing in action.

1777-1778 - First Additional Regiment (Col. William Malcolm)^[81]

By the end of September, it seems that Kearsley’s Company had been transferred to Col. Malcolm’s Regiment (who had been appointed to the main army on 23 Sep) which in turn was placed under the command of Brig. Gen. Thomas Conway on 11 Oct.68^[82]

4 October 1777 - Likely, the regiment did not join the main army until after the Battle of Germantown. No casualties were noted on Capt. Kearsley’s company muster roll nor was there mention of the battle.^[83]

The winter was spent at Valley Forge^[84] where several from Capt. Kearsley's Company became sick from dysentery and one private died in January.^[85] Shockey’s service was not noted with any remarks throughout his first year of service.

Sometime before 20 March, he was granted a 31-day furlough. Christopher probably returned home to his family in Maryland.^[86]

April 1778 - First Desertion & Court Martial (21 May)^[87]

Ten days before his furlough was over, Christopher was seized and put into the Hagerstown jail “without being Guilty of any Crime to deserve such rough treatment,” according to his testimony.^[88] He remained in jail for 26 days.

It should be noted at this point that all of the above muster rolls and the first court martial were for “Christian Shockey.” We believe that this was actually Christopher and he either was called by both names or he used the alternative spelling when he enlisted. In Christopher’s June court martial (for the second desertion) it was stated by Lt. Walker that “the Prisoner deserted from his Compy last Spring-enlisted in another Regiment, was brought to Camp & pardoned.”^[89] Lt. Andrew Walker was the recruiting officer for Col. Irvine’s Regiment, but his second court martial states that he was a soldier of Col. Hartley’s Regiment.

So it seems that Christopher may have been released after his 26 days and then attempted to reenlist in either Col. Thomas Hartley’s Additional Regiment or Col. Irvine’s 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, perhaps to evade the very trouble that he now entrenched himself in. There is also a record for a certain “Chris. Shock” on the muster roll of Capt. John Kershner’s Company (of the Maryland troops) which was guarding prisoners of war at Fort Frederick. This individual was discharged on 19 Jun and could possibly indicate the company that Christopher had reenlisted with.^[90]

Lt. Walker’s testimony makes it clear that Christopher deserted twice and his first desertion had taken place at the time of the furlough mentioned above. This is the first piece of the puzzle which demonstrates that “Christian Shocky” from Capt. Kearsley’s Company is the same individual as “Christopher Shockey” who faced a court martial for a second desertion.

Around the end of April and after his Hagerstown incarceration, Christopher was “delivered handcuffed to Capt Montgomery,” who took the five deserters as far as Taneytown, Maryland (Samuel Montgomery was a captain who was also serving in Col. Irvine’s Regiment, which gives further weight to the theory that Christopher may have attempted to enlist in that regiment). He “sent them on with a guard of a Serjeant and three men with arms, intending himself to follow in a little time - when he overtook his party he found the Prisoners had escaped, tho Shockey & three others were Handcuffed.”^[91]

Serjeant Thomas Bowles testified that “after going some distance, his men remained a good way behind & he being left alone with the prisoners. They all at once Cryed out ‘Farewell & then ran off, he followed into the woods where he was surrounded by them all, swearing they would kill him & then nobody could tell which way they went. He was soon knocked down by a blow upon the back part of his head & while he remained on the ground, he recd several other strokes across the Shoulders - at length he got up & made off, the Prisoners pursued, till he got into the Main road & then stoped."^[92]

In the above deposition from his first court martial, Capt Montgomery testified “that Shocky formerly kept his Father, Born where the Deponent had sometimes seen him & he always behaved very well.”^[93]

This statement may imply that his father needed “keeping” at some point, and may further imply that his father was no longer alive. This is a second piece of the puzzle that seems to indicate that the first court martial was for Christopher and not for Christian, and therefore, that the soldier who served in Capt. Kearsley’s Company was indeed Christopher, the subject of this report. At the time of his court martial (1778) Johann Christoffel Schacke (Christopher’s father) had been dead for about three years, but Valentine Shockey (Christian’s father) was alive and seemingly well.

At some point, Private Shockey was again apprehended and delivered to Yorktown where a court martial was held on 21 May 1778, Col. Hartley presiding. He was charged with desertion and mutiny. Christopher pleaded “guilty” to the charge of desertion but explained his circumstances in Hagerstown. He pleaded “not guilty” to the charge of mutiny claiming that he had escaped “but did it without striking the Serjeant or otherwise Ill treating him.”^[94]

“The Court having duly considered the Evidence acquit the Prisoner of the Crime of Mutiny & sentence him to receive one hundred lashes for Desertion.”^[95]

It should also be noted that the proceedings from his 21 May 1778 court martial were enclosed in a letter from Col. Hartley to Gen. Washington dated 13 June 1778, the date of the second court martial for “Christopher Shockey.” This is a third piece of the puzzle that gives evidence that both court martials were for the same individual, though it could be argued the May court martial was included because John King was mentioned on both occasions and it was for him that a pardon was sought. An included petition on King’s behalf had been filed on 11 June.

Two other men were tried before the same court martial on 21 May. William Jones from Capt. Davis’ Company of the Maryland Troops was charged with desertion and stealing a watch. He was found guilty and sentenced to 200 lashes (which Gen. Washington disapproved of as being contrary to the articles of war). John King (likely Christopher’s brother-in-law, Rosannah’s younger brother) was charged with desertion. The court found his conduct was “very improper in his Tryal,” he was “a person of very bad fame,” and his character was found to be “infamous.” Seeking someone to use as an example to other soldiers, the court was of the opinion about King that “a properer object cannot be met with. Do sentence him to suffer Death.”^[96] It does not seem either of these men were a part of the mutiny that Christopher was accused of, but they merely shared the same trial date.

Christopher presumably received his 100 lashes and soon returned to his duties. Unfortunately the muster rolls were recorded on 20 March, 7 April and 4 May and only record that Shockey was on furlough (although a bit of flourish seems to have been added to the May roll).^[97] Also, the May and June rolls are missing. However, the remarks demonstrate that the individual who was called “Christian Shockey” in Capt. Kearsley’s company rolls was the same individual who was called “Christian Shockey” in the first court martial who was in Col. Malcolm’s Regiment.

May/June 1778 - Second Desertion & Court Martial (12 June)^[98]

Christopher found himself standing before a second court martial within three weeks, this time for desertion and horse stealing. Shortly after receiving 100 lashes for his first offense he claimed that “he was informed last summer that his Wife & three Children were turned out of Doors by her neighbours, & were then without a place to put their heads.”^[99]

Sergeant Kerney of Col. Hartley’s Regiment testified, “the Prisoner told him, that last Summer, when he Deserted, His Brother Abraham Shockey who persuaded him, took two Horses, one of which the Prisoner rode 15 Miles, & his Brother the other, & there they were put into a pasture.”^[100] Lt. Mahan deposed “that the night the Prisoner deserted, two horses were taken & carried off from a waggon which the Prisoner drove.^[101] Lt. Walker deposed, “that the Prisoner deserted from his Compy last Spring-enlisted in another Regiment, was brought to Camp & pardoned. That about one or two months afterwards, he deserted a second time & two Horses being missing from the Team he drove the morning after he wint away, it was supposed he had taken them.”^[102]

Christopher claimed, “that believing his Family in this Situation, he deserted in order to give them all the assistance in his power – when he got home he found his Wife & Children in a Stable of his Brother. In answer to the Charge of stealing the Horses, he says his Brother who persuaded him to desert, took them both, & led one of them a mile or two before he would consent to ride - that at length being overpursuaded, he took one of the Horses, & rode about 15 Miles, & then both the Horses were turned into a pasture.”^[103]

Christopher was apprehended once more and taken to Carlisle. Sergeant Kerney “brought the Prisoner from Carlisle” on 10 June at which time Christopher told him about Abraham and the horses. His court martial was held on 12 June 1778 and he was charged with desertion and stealing two horses. Christopher pled “guilty” to the charge of desertion but denied stealing the horses.”^[104] Col. Hartley again presided. It was also stated that “Christopher Shockey [was] a soldier of Col. Hartley’s Regt” for which there are a couple possible explanations. Hartley may have had more authority over other regiments like Malcolm’s by this point. It is also possible that Christopher had enlisted in Hartley’s regiment when he enlisted the second time, and the trial may have simply reflected this.

In addition to the above testimony, Cornet Beauford was also sworn in and “called upon for the Prisoners General Character - deposeth that he was sometime ago near Nicholsons Gap, the place where it was said a number of People had counterfeited Money - that he was informed, the Prisoner, who was a deserter, Lived in that Neighbourhood, & was connected with the People who were suspects of Counterfeiting the Money - that he heard a very bad Character of him, & endeavored to take him, but could not find him.”^[105]

“The Court after due consideration of the Evidence before them, are unanimously of Opinion that the Prisoner is Guilty of the Charges exhibited against him - & the said Court do sentence him to suffer Death, under the 1st Artl. of the 6th Secn of the Articles of War.”^[106]

“The Court (most of the Members of which were on the Trial of John King Jun) wishing that there may be but one Execution, of hearing of the Pennitent Behavior of King since his Trial – Do beg leave to recommend the said John King to His Excellency Gen. Washington for Pardon.

“Shockey has been taken since the former Trial & is considered as the fittest object for Punishment.”^[107]

The following day, June 13, Col. Hartley penned the following in part of a letter to Gen. Washington and enclosed the proceedings of both court martials^[108]

May it please your Excellency

I inclose you the proceedings of a Genl Court Martial held Yesterday.

You will observe the Sentiment of the Court relating to King and Shockey - the former has much changed his Conduct since the Trial.

on account of his Youth and penitent Behavior Several very respectable People petitioned Congress in his Favour. Congress did not chuse to interfere no further than to direct his Execution to be suspendd till Tuesday next.

This is sent by Express we hope for an answer by Tuesday noon….

I am with the greatest Respect your most obedt & most humble Servt

Thos Hartley.^[109]

Gen. Washington responded with a pardon for both John King, Jr. and Christopher Shockey on Sunday, 14 June 1778:^[110]

Sir

I this Evening received your letter of the 13 Instant, with the papers to which it alluded.

It appears to me, from a consideration of the respective proceedings, that both King and Shockey might be executed agreably to their sentences, without the imputation of a rigorous severity; However, as the Court Martial have interposed a petition in favor of the former, which has also received a sort of countenance from Congress, by their suspending his execution, I grant him a pardon. I also pardon Shockey, as the crime of which he has been convicted, although clearly proved according to the proceedings, does not seem to me to deserve death more than King’s: Indeed, in the conduct of King, there were some circumstances, leading to consequences of greater political criminality.

With respect to the affairs of your Regiment, I should suppose nothing will be finally settled before you arrive here, if you march at the time you mention.

I am sorry for the indisposition of Colo. Connor and hope he will soon recover.

I am Sir Yr Most Obed Sert

G Washington^[111]

Christopher received the pardon in time and was not executed for these crimes. However, he was left in the York jail through September or October. Whichever regiment he had attempted to join (whether it was Col. Hartley’s or Col. Irvine’s) the muster rolls indicate that he remained under the command of Capt. Kearsley in Col. Malcolm’s Regiment (again, under the name “Christian”). The May and June muster rolls are missing, but the July through September rolls (dated 6 Aug; 4 Sep; and 3 Oct 1778) remarked that he was “Confined in York Jail.”^[112] While in jail his company fought at the Battle of Monmouth without him. His prolonged incarceration provides another piece of the puzzle demonstrating that both court martials were for the same Christopher Shockey and not for his nephew, Christian.

Return to Duty

The muster rolls indicate that Christopher was finally released and he rejoined his company which was now stationed at Fort Clinton (West Point), New York (10 Nov; 9 Dec 1778) before moving down the Hudson to Haverstraw (13 Jan; 3 Feb 1779).^[113]

1779 - “The New Eleventh” Regiment (Col. Thomas Hartley)^[114]

The Pennsylvania companies of Malcolm’s Regiment and Col. Patton’s Regiment were consolidated into Col. Hartley’s over the winter of 1779. The new unit was called “The New Eleventh” as the old 11th had been merged into the 10th the previous July. This explains why both Christopher and Christian were included in later lists of Hartley’s soldiers and why Christopher claimed to have been under Hartley at his trial later that year.

Capt. Kearsley resigned in February 1779 and Col. Hartley resigned on 13 February 1779 (having been elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly). “The New Eleventh” was transferred to Gen. Edward Hand’s^[115] Brigade on 9 April and fell under the command of Lt. Col. Adam Hubley^[116] in June. The Regiment took part in the Sullivan Expedition in the summer of 1779. Unfortunately, we do not have Christopher’s muster rolls for this period so it is uncertain how long he remained, but he likely deserted again after his next crime.

Christopher once again found himself in trouble having used counterfeit money on a shopping spree on 23-24 April 1779. He likely went into hiding until he was captured in September.

Court Proceedings

Christopher was caught up in four proceedings. Two had to do with his involvement in the counterfeiting operations (one took place before he enlisted in 1777 and the other took place at the end of his life in 1779). And two court martials addressed two separate desertions from the Continental Army (1778).

2 Feb 1777 - Order of Apprehension for the Shockey Brothers^[117]

Immediately before all of the Shockey brothers and their nephew, Christian, enlisted in the Continental Army, an order to apprehend the Shockey brothers was issued for their involvement in the local counterfeiting operations.

John Tedrow testified of having received counterfeit money from Isaac in January 1777. On 2 February a guard was sent to apprehend Isaac, Stophel (AKA Christopher), Felty (a German nickname for Valentine) and Abraham Shockey, as well as all others suspected.

Isaac and Christian were apprehended and examined a day later. It is unclear if this was Christopher or his nephew, Christian, at this point of the narrative because the spelling alternates throughout the transcript. They denied the charges, nevertheless, they were confined to irons in the county jail and Valentine’s rifle was confiscated. John Acton joined the others in jail on 4 February for an earlier plot with Isaac to break John Tedrow out of jail. The posse was paid for apprehending the brothers and the Shockeys were ordered to pay the sum on 8 February.

The four prisoners remained in custody through the entire month of February, and on 1 March Christopher’s rifle was appraised and sold to defray expenses for the guard standing over them. Unfortunately the transcript ends on 3 March, but it is apparent that over the next few weeks Christian Shockey (or Christopher depending on the identity of the first prisoner) was also apprehended and added to the list of prisoners.

March 1777 - Jail Break ^[118]

Isaac, Christian, and Christopher Shockey, John Tedrow, and John Acton were all broken out of the Frederick County jail toward the end of March. A ten-pound reward was issued for their capture on 30 March and notice was published in a Baltimore newspaper on 8 April. Christian was noted to be the “son of Valentine” indicating that Isaac and Christopher were brothers.

By the time the notice was published on 8 April, at least Abraham (Christopher’s brother or nephew) and Christian Shockey (his nephew) had already enlisted in the Continental Army. It seems that joining the army was the means they used to evade the local authorities.

April 1778 - First Desertion

Christopher received a 31-day furlough after spending the winter at Valley Forge. Sometime in April, with only ten days of his furlough remaining, he was seized and cast into the Hagerstown jail. All of this led to his first court martial detailed above.

We have not found any documentation explaining these events though Christopher claimed that he was incarcerated “without being Guilty of any Crime to deserve such rough treatment.” It is possible he was arrested for the events of the previous year that led up to the jailbreak and that while he was home on furlough it was discovered he had returned to Maryland.

21 May 1778 - First Court Martial

Charged with desertion and mutiny

Cleared of mutiny and sentenced to 100 lashes for desertion

See previous section, 4. Military Records.

12 Jun 1778 - Second Court Martial and Pardon from Gen. Washington

Charged with desertion and stealing horses

Declared guilty and sentenced to death

Received a pardon from Gen. George Washington on 14 Jun

See previous section, 4. Military Records.

20 Oct 1779 - Felony in Counterfeiting and Uttering Knowingly and True Bills

24 April 1779^[119](Carlisle, PA) - Christopher brought 34 forged counterfeit 30-dollar bills (worth 11 pounds 5 shillings each, at the time) and used three as payment in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to Michael Miller, Joseph Sabole and William Holmes. Joseph Cress summarized Christopher’s shopping excursion in Wicked Carlisle:

He visited three vendors including Michael Miller, who owned a clothing store on the east side of Hanover Street two doors north of Louther Street. There he bought new clothes before walking around the corner and almost two blocks east to the barbershop of Joseph Sabole, located midway between Bedford and East Streets on the south side of Louther Street. There, he paid for a bath, shave and haircut. Looking all dapper, Christopher Shockey then made his way to a tavern kept by William Holmes, just east of St. John’s Episcopal Church on the town square.

By the next morning when all three vendors complained to county sheriff James Johnston that they had been paid with counterfeit money, Shockey had disappeared.^[120]

A warrant was issued and Christopher seems to have gone into hiding over the next few months.

10 September 1779 - Mark Milligan, part of the Shockey counterfeiting operation was captured and pleaded guilty. In exchange for leniency, he provided information about those who were engaged in the printing of money. He testified in a deposition that he had made 8 dollar plates for Isaac and Abraham Shockey as well as for John King, and that Valentine Shockey had paid him to make plates for thirty dollar stamps.^[121]

Christopher’s name was not mentioned, but the deposition gave the authorities what they needed in order to declare war on the counterfeiting ring as well as anyone who used the bogus money. The deposition was enclosed in a letter from the Maryland Delegates of Congress to Governor Johnson along with a request that he “adopt such measures … necessary” in order to “bring these wretches to punishment.”^[122]This set in motion a systematic search for the Shockey gang, particularly for Isaac and Abraham, but the brother who would fall into the snare would be Christopher.

September 1779 - Dr. John Francis Bourns wrote an account of Christopher’s capture preserved from his own family history:

The time of our incident was during the War of the Revolution, the locality, on the banks of the now historic Antietam; and the chief actors were loyal patriots and disloyal, or “Tory marauders.” Of the disloyal actors there was a band quite small, yet well known in Cumberland Valley and no little feared; while respected citizens of the valley were the patriots. Prominent among these citizens were Col. Johnson, John Bourns, Esq., …

The notorious marauders were known to be the two brothers Nugent, the two brothers Schokke, and one Hunt…

Near sunset one day [Magistrate Bourns] was notified that the Schokke’s were now certainly at a certain hiding place of their’s in the neighboring mountains. He mounted his best horse and hastened with the news to Col. Johnson … and up into the mountains [the posse of troopers] rode, accompanied by citizens, until they had approached so near the hiding resort that absolute [quiet] became needful in every movement. Strategy had been planned, the countersign given out, and, dismounted, the party divided, walking stealthily apart through the dense woods to surround the tory den or cave.

One of the party was Squire Bourns but he appeared rather as a noncombatant: he simply had a staff in his hand. But for the night’s darkness he might have been noticed, however, to wear at his side a bayonet, as he wore that weapon when a soldier under Washington three years before.

The night waned, and the silence continued through the forest, interrupted only by the occasional bark of a fox, or the hoot of an owl. But as the morning began to dawn the soldier’s intent ear caught from a little distance a rustling sound like that made by animals moving thro’ the underbrush; and quickly its cause was revealed in the approach of a man whom Bourns in the twilight mistook to be one of his party who wore a military hat; and by the planned whistle he called for the countersign. This was not returned, and being in doubt, the canny Scot started toward the man who he followed until the growing light proved the fugitive was bent on eluding him; and he immediately shouted the battle rally for his party to hear and join him. Being fleet afoot, ‘Squire Bourns gained on the disguised Tory, who proved to be one of the brothers Schockke; and he ordered him to halt and surrender. The man without halting looked back, muttering an angry reply; and making a misstep he fell to the ground, when the ‘Squire coming up, had his bayonet instantly in use to keep his burly and stronger foe from rising. Within a very few minutes Col. Johnson, with the rest of the loyal party rode up; when the march was started upon down the mountains homeward, with the prisoner in company.

Halting at the Bourns abode and taking breakfast, most of the party went to their several homes. It was deemed best that the prisoner be handcuffed before sending him to the county jail, which was at Carlisle fifty miles off, and the cuffs must now be made. The Colonel ordered the prisoner to blow the bellows in the nearest smithshop for ‘Squire Bourns to make the handcuffs, which no little provoked the undaunted tory. When the guard for his sure escort started off with him he cast a very angry parting look at ‘Squire Bourns, and declared “he would before long see the reddest drop of the Scotch Whig’s blood.”^[123]

Bourns goes on to say that the above-mentioned Shockey brother (whom he does not name) escaped on the day of Nugent’s execution and that he would write of it in “the next paper.” However, it does not seem that he wrote the next chapter. Likely, Bourns had confused Christopher Shockey with one of the Nugent brothers; it was Shockey who was executed and the Nugents who were indicted but failed to appear and sacrificed their bail.^[124] Joseph Cress (Wicked Carlisle) and John Logan (The Potomac Street Irregulars) also concluded the above was an account of the capture of Christopher in 1779 which led to his trial and execution.^[125]

Bail was denied and Christopher was imprisoned at Carlisle at the Stone Jail.^[126]

18 Oct 1779 (Cumberland, PA) - Court Oyer and Terminer and General Goal Delivery ^[127]

20 Oct 1779 - Jury reached its verdict that “Christopher Shockey is not guilty of the felony in Counterfeiting &c but that he is guilty of uttering knowingly &c in manner and form &c

Judgement - That he be hanged by the neck till he be dead.”^[128]

26 Oct 1779 (Carlisle, PA) - The Petition of Christopher Shockey^[129]

To His Excellency Joseph Reed Esq & the Honorable the Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania

the Petition of Christopher Shockey now in the Jail of Carlisle

Most Humbly Sheweth

That your Petitioner has been indicted and convicted for having payed counterfeit Money and has received Judgment of Death.

Your Petitioner has been near three years a soldier in Col Hartley’s Regiment in the Continental Service and during that period hath fully discharged his Duty as a soldier, and would still wish to render his services in that Way to his Country. But his present deplorable situation prevents him, and having a Wife, and three small Children he most earnestly solicits and prays for your Honors clemency and Mercy and that your Honors in consideration of his past Services and helpless Family will grant him a pardon of his Offense and of the awful Punishment to which he is sentenced.

And your Petitioner will is in Duty bound pray

(signed) Christopher Sakey

An unhappy Brother of the temple of fame

Note that Christopher inaccurately makes three claims:

• That he had served as a soldier for near three years

His service had lasted just over two years (Apr 1777 - Apr 1779), although he served during three calendar years and may have technically still been enlisted if he had never been discharged.

• That he served in Col Hartley’s Regiment for near three years

He only briefly served in Hartley’s Regiment when his company from Malcolm’s Regiment had been merged in December 1778 to form “The New Eleventh.” Then Hartley resigned in February 1779 when he was elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. However, Hartley had official duties even among the other regiments before 1779, and the New Eleventh Regiment was widely called “Hartley’s Regiment” which may have continued long after Hartley entered Pennsylvania politics.

• That he fully discharged his duty as a soldier

His two court martials and presumed third desertion when he went on the run for his most recent crime might indicate otherwise.

His signature included the salutation, “An unhappy brother of the temple of fame.”

Following Christopher’s petition, several others made their recommendations for a pardon. The names added to his petition were Chas. Lukens (the Sheriff of York County who testified Christopher had been a good and faithful soldier in Col. Hartley’s Regiment), his jailer Matthew Atkinson (who certified that Christopher had behaved himself while in custody) and several neighbors, who certified that they had dealings with Christopher and never knew him to pass or offer to pay with counterfeit money before Carlisle (at least one of them was connected to the counterfeiting ring, themselves).

22 Nov 1779 - Order from the Pennsylvania General Assembly

Christopher’s petition was rejected and orders were given for his execution and for others who had passed money that had been produced from the Shockey counterfeiting ring (including Henry Trout and Nathaniel Patton):

A Transcript of the record of Conviction of Christopher Shocky, found guilty of uttering counterfeit Money, at the said Court, and the sentence passed upon him that he be Hanged by the Neck ‘till he be dead, being now read,

Ordered, That the sentence be executed on Saturday the Eleventh day of December next, and that a Warrant be accordingly issued, under the less Seal of the State.^[130]

Land Purchases and Tax Records

Christopher’s Clemency Hearing referred to him as a Yeoman which typically means a landowner; however, no land records have been found to date. It may have simply implied that he came from a land-owning family.

In Christopher's court martial for desertion & stealing a horse, he stated that his wife and three children were "turned out of doors by her neighbors and were then without a place to put their heads." He found them living in his brother’s stable. This coupled with the fact that we cannot find any land records for Christopher, leads us to believe they may have been destitute and without money.

Death - 11 Dec 1779 - Carlisle, PA

Execution of Christopher Shockey by Hanging

“Christopher Shockey was tried and convicted, and received sentence of death, for passing counterfeit thirty dollar bills of Continental money, dated the 22d July, 1776.”^[131]

The order given by the Executive Council was for 11 December 1779. One newspaper (27 Nov 1779) misprinted the dates for the executions reporting that Christopher was executed on the eighth while Henry Trout and Nathaniel Patton were executed on the eleventh. The order was actually reversed and the executions were carried out as ordered by the State.^[132] Several other papers reprinted the mistake.

Christopher is listed on the “Espy” list.^[133][134]

This 3 Jan 1780 newspaper article from the Boston Gazette is referenced in the Espy collection.^[135] It was a reprint of the previously mentioned 23 November 1779 article from The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser.

The second resource mentioned in the ESPY record is a book written by Negley K. Teeters entitled Scaffold and Chair, A Compilation of Their Use in Pennsylvania 1682-1962. Teeters confirms Christopher’s execution from the Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council mentioned earlier.^[136]

Burial

No information has been found about his burial. Christopher was most likely buried in a pauper or prison grave on the day of his execution or shortly after.

Counterfeiting was considered an act of treason at the time, so he would not be treated kindly by the governing body who executed him in regard to burial.

In Christopher's trial for desertion and stealing a horse, he states that his wife and three children were "turned out of doors by her neighbors and were then without a place to put their heads." He found them living in the stable of his brother. This, coupled with the fact that we cannot find any land records for Christopher, leads us to believe they may have been destitute and without money or means to provide a proper burial for him. Not to mention the fact that other relatives most likely would have distanced themselves from a convicted felon who was hanged for uttering counterfeit bills during a time when this was considered so heinous that death was considered a reasonable punishment.

John McClellan writes:

These executions had become almost carnival in atmosphere; that’s why they were scheduled on Market Day. Everybody came to town. The prisoners “were taken out midst a Crowd of Spectators–they walked after a cart in which were … their coffins … their arms were tied behind them … generally they were accompanied by their family, wife, sisters and mother, and a clergyman.”^[137]

Will

No will has been found. He may not have had time to make a will after being convicted.

Census & Tax Records

Census and tax records are scarcely found before Christopher’s death in 1779.

DNA Research

Q-BZ224 - Confirmed Y-DNA Haplogroup

• Paternal relationship is confirmed by 24 Y-DNA tests on FamilyTreeDNA.com; three of these comes from descendants of Christopher (1 through his son John and 2 through his grandson Daniel). Shockey men are now classified by the Q-BZ224 variant. Q-BZ6 is a parent variant and Q-BZ4 is another branch parallel to the Shockeys, but does not include the Shockeys. See more on the Shockey - Schacke Group Project at https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/shockey-schacke/about. A parallel study is being led by Tyson Smith for Christopher's son-in-law, Jacob B Smith Sr., the husband of Mary Elizabeth (Shockey) Smith.

• Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA test results on Family Tree DNA. A son of Oral (Shockey) Eddins, FTDNA kit # 249000, and his 5th cousin 2x removed, Dan Shockey, FTDNA kit # 393948, match at a Genetic Distance of 1 on 111 markers, thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their most-recent common ancestor who is Johann Schacke, the 5x great grandfather of Oral (Shockey) Eddins and 4x great grandfather of Dan Shockey.

• Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA test results on Family Tree DNA. A grandson of William Shockey, FTDNA kit # 163316, and his 6th cousin 1x removed, Will Shockey, FTDNA kit # 467027, match at a Genetic Distance of 2 on 67 markers, thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their most-recent common ancestor who is Johann Schacke, the 4x great grandfather of William Shockey and 5th great grandfather of Will Shockey.

• Paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA test results on Family Tree DNA. A son of Leonard Shockey, FTDNA kit # 124773, and his 6th cousin 1x removed, Les Shockey, FTDNA kit # 115454, match at a Genetic Distance of 3 on 67 markers, thereby confirming their direct paternal lines back to their most-recent common ancestor who is Johann Schacke, the 4x great grandfather of Leonard Shockey and 6x great grandfather of Les Shockey.

• STR Variants:

Three tests (through his son, John; and his grandson, Daniel) all share a variant on marker DYS481 where the allele has increased from 24 (Shockey norm) to 25. It is unknown if this mutation was original to Christopher, himself, or if his son John was the first. A Y-DNA 67 marker test on Henry's branch could answer this question. For now, Y-67 tests can serve as a test for evidence that male patrilineal descendants are from this branch.

Autosomal DNA

• Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confident based on a triangulated group on GEDmatch who share a 20 cM segment on chromosome 16, consisting of LaTasha (Shockey) Jackson, GEDmatch kit # T093461, and Brian Kunde, her 7th cousin 1x removed, GEDmatch kit # KG7493857, and LME, her 4th cousin 3x removed, GEDmatch kit # T927820. (Brian Kunde and LME are 5th cousins 2x removed.) Their most-recent common ancestors are Johann Schacke and Barbara Hess, the 7x great grandparents of LaTasha (Shockey) Jackson and 6x great grandparents of Brian Kunde and 4x great grandparents of LME.

• Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confident based on a triangulated group on GEDmatch and on 23andMe who share a 12.8 cM segment on chromosome 3, consisting of Ben Smith, GEDmatch kit # T581222, and Jeffrey Niles, his 6th cousin 2x removed, GEDmatch kit # WE2739068, and BJH, his 6th cousin 2x removed. (Jeffrey and BJH are 6th cousins.) Their most-recent common ancestors are Johann Schacke and Barbara Hess, the 5x great grandparents of Ben Smith and 7x great grandparents of both Jeffrey Niles and BJH.

Excerpt from Wicked Carlisle: The Dark Side of the Cumberland Valley

by Joseph David Cress

from Chapter: Temple of Fame - The Plight of Christopher Shockey

(bold parts deal with Christian Christopher)

Christopher Shockey may have suspected he had purchased a death sentence for himself during his spending spree in Carlisle. He was long gone by the time the local vendors realized he had passed them counterfeit money. For five months, the veteran soldier evaded capture until his arrest on South Mountain in September 1779. While an inmate in Cumberland County Jail, he pleaded his case to authorities until the hangman came to collect on a life tainted by his family's bad reputation.

In February 1779, Christopher Shockey was discharged from the Continental army after serving three years with the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment. There is speculation that after all the sacrifice of military life, he wanted to treat himself to a good time, so Shockey asked his brothers if he could borrow the counterfeit money or purchase it at less than its face value.

Shockey arrived in Carlisle sometime in the afternoon or evening of April 23, 1779. He visited three vendors including Michael Miller, who owned a clothing store on the east side of Hanover Street two doors north of Louther Street. There he bought new clothes before walking around the corner and almost two blocks east to the barbershop of Joseph Sabole, located midway between Bedford and East Streets on the south side of Louther Street. There, he paid for a bath, shave and haircut. Looking all dapper, Christopher Shockey, then made his way to a tavern kept by William Holmes, just east of St. John's Episcopal Church on the town square.

By the next morning when all three vendors complained to county sheriff James Johnston that they had been paid with counterfeit money, Shockey had disappeared. Authorities issued an arrest warrant for the fugitive, whose older brother Valentine (seventeen years Shockey's senior) was a leader in a gang of counterfeiters, highwaymen and horse thieves. These men operated as part of a late eighteenth-century crime syndicate that extended from Virginia, north to Canada and included southern Pennsylvania and the Cumberland Valley. They intimidated the population by burning the property of anyone who spoke out or moved against them. Brazen, these criminals flaunted their wealth by riding the best horses and by wearing the finest clothes and jewelry.

This gang eluded justice until Michael Milligan, an engraver from Black's Gap, Blair County, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possessing metal plates used to make counterfeit money. In exchange for leniency, Milligan agreed to inform on the syndicate. In a deposition taken on September 10, 1779, he testified that Isaac and Abraham Shockey came to his home in 1776 and paid him to make plates for fake thirty-dollar bills. The following year, he was asked by Joseph Nicholson and John King to engrave two more plates -- one for five-dollar bills and one for seven-dollar bills. Shortly thereafter, Valentine Shockey asked Milligan to make plates for counterfeit thirty-dollar bills. This was followed by a request from Isaac and Abraham in late April 1779 to make plates for forty-dollar bills.

Authorities used this information to launch a manhunt and nab Christopher Shockey. Although Milligan did not mention him by name, Christopher was probably implicated because of the close association with his brothers and because he was a fugitive from justice. Meanwhile, Milligan was sentenced to stand in the pillory in York for an hour on November 8, 1779, before being confined in York County Jail until July 4, 1780.

Searching for the counterfeiters was not easy because they used the long, narrow valleys of the Blue Mountains as a covert travel route and its secluded coves as hideouts. Christopher Shockey was apprehended by a pose under the command of Johnston and Squire John Bournes, a magistrate of what was then Antrim Township in Cumberland County, now Washington Township in Franklin County. Posse members had set up an all-night vigil after surrounding the suspected hideout of the counterfeiters.

Sometime during the night, a footman wearing a military hat came through the picket line and was mistaken at first for a posse member. When the man was finally challenged, he failed to give the proper countersign and fled into the wilderness. The pursuit continued until he was surrounded by posse members and detailed at the point of Bourne's bayonet. Identified as Christopher Shockey, the man was marched off the mountain and then transported to Cumberland County Jail in Carlisle. The court denied the young Shockey bail, and the grand jury indicted him on October 18, 1779, on charges of counterfeiting and passing bogus thirty-dollar bills similar to those issued by the Continental Congress on July 22, 1776.

On October 20, 1779, Christopher Shockey was put on trial, and the jury heard testimony from the three victims of his April 23, 1779 shopping spree in downtown Carlisle. The panel found Shockey not guilty of the counterfeiting charge but guilty of passing bogus money. The judge sentenced him to be hanged, and on November 23, 1779, the State of Pennsylvania issued a warrant for execution, setting the date as December 11, 1779. But before this could happen, Joseph Reed, president of the Supreme Executive Council, heard petitions from Carlisle-area residents who begged for leniency.

Pleas for mercy on his behalf focused on young Shockey's military service along with the helpless state of his wife and three small children. Given the reputation of his family name, none of this carried any weight for the condemned man. Charles Lukas, an acting colonel at Carlisle Barracks, said he knew Shockey as a good and fatihful soldier in the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment. However, Lukas only took command of the unit after Colonel Thomas Hartley resigned in early 1779, so Shockey never served directly under Lukas. This unit saw action at the Battle of Paoli, Brandywine and Germantown under the command of Hartley.

Jailer Matthew Atkinson wrote how Christopher Shockey behaved himself while a prisoner in Carlisle. Neighbors who had past dealings with Shockey testified how they never knew him to pass any counterfeit money. They lived in what is today Franklin and Hamilton Townships in Franklin County. In seeking a pardon, Shockey asked authorities to consider his willingness to serve again in the military. "Your petitioner...most earnestly solicits and pleads for your honor's clemency and mercy," the condemned man wrote before signing his letter "Christopher Shockey -- unhappy brother in the Temple of Fame." In his paper, "Colonial Counterfeiters of the Blue Ridge," John H. McClellan said the temple of fame reference was probably Shockey's way of saying the reputation of his family name had earned him the death penalty. The pleas of mercy failed, and Shockey was executed on schedule.

As for Valentine, he eluded capture and continued his life of crime through the late eighteenth century. Authorities believed the gang operated out of a cave east of the Great Falls on Falls Creek. A posse in pursuit of Valentine once torched his house hoping the fire would draw out the counterfeiter into an ambush, but this failed when Valentine refused to budge from his lair and decided instead to let his property burn. There was a reason why authorities resorted to such extreme measures to combat counterfeiting: It had become a matter of economic survival for the fledgling nation.

The start of the American Revolution saw a Continental Congress unable to pay for an army, and the bureaucracy needed to run a centralized national government. Although the states collected taxes, that money was used to support their own governments. As a result, Congress issued $240 million worth of paper money during the war that had no financial backing other than the promise by the United States to redeem these bills of credit with gold or silver sometime in the future. Despite protests from Congress, the states printed another $200 million of their own paper money.

Quick to see the weakness of such a system, the British flooded the market with counterfeit bills hoping to destroy the American economy. They did this by shipping printing presses and false currency through blockaded ports. While the colonies used set type to print paper money, the British used engraved plates to make higher-quality fakes that looked more genuine than the real thing. As more money was distributed, its value depreciated, even though Congress enacted laws to control prices and to punish those who refused to accept Continental money at its face value. Such laws could not be enforced, and the currency continued to depreciate at an alarming rate until it became worthless. The result was runaway inflation, a prosperous black market and financial ruin for hundreds of American families.

Counterfeiting and passing counterfeit bills became crimes equivalent to treason during the Revolutionary War. Conditions only worsened until the currency failed entirely in 1781. Robert Morris of Philadelphia organized the Bank of North America to stabilize the economy by taking in money from prominent families loyal to the cause and loans from such friendly nations as France and Holland. This bank was also supported by states putting up provisions like flour, tobacco, rice and other goods that were then sold as commodities to the West Indies for gold or silver. Still, counterfeit money served the British as a highly effective weapon of war.

In his deposition, Milligan also mentioned James Nugent of Cumberland County as someone who passed counterfeit money. Like the Shockeys, the Nugent brothers were reputed criminals.

Sources

1. ↑ Kowalski, Shirley Lee (Shockey). “Shockey Ancestry.” 2010, pp. 26-31. Retrieved from Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/13950694/person/282433820855/media/ffcb4739-2aec-4d32-b731-966854fa5a40. Shirley has articulated several lines of evidence that demonstrate these were two different men. Some of her work is more particular to Christian’s story and has not been included here. However, much of her work has provided a foundation for the discussion which has taken place over the last decade and for the position advocated by the Shockey Genealogy Committee.
2. ↑ “Ten Pounds Reward.” Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette; or, the Baltimore General Advertiser, 8 Apr 1777, p. 3 [parentheses included]. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/176823326. NB: contrary to modern punctuation conventions, the comma was inserted before the parentheses; while this possibly adds a complication, it likely was just due to inconsistency in punctuation during the 1700s. We believe the reference to Valentine belongs with Christian, not Christopher.
3. ↑ Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15, National Archives, W2968, Christian Shockey. Retrieved from Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1995/images/MIUSA1775D_136798-00868, citing NARA microfilm publication M804, image 865 of 1112, roll 2177.
4. ↑ “Uttering” refers to the crime of passing counterfeit money or a counterfeit document with the intent to defraud. “Forgery” would be the crime of creating the counterfeit. Christopher was found guilty of uttering, but was cleared of the accusation of forgery.
5. ↑ Men were being paid to enlist and commit to three-year terms or until the end of the war, whichever came first. Many started to enlist, desert and re-enlist in order to get paid twice. General Washington put a stop to this practice. Christopher’s motives may have been for such financial gain, possibly to avoid discipline for not returning when his furlough expired, or perhaps he was motivated by both.
6. ↑ These tests are through FamilyTreeDNA.com. At the time of this writing, two men have tested (Y-67 and Y-700) from the lineage of Christopher’s grandson, Daniel (who we think was his son, John’s, son), and one man has tested (Y-67) from Christopher’s grandson, George (also a son of John). One man has tested (Y-111) from the lineage of Christian’s son, Valentine and two men (Y-67 and Y-700) from Christian’s son, Christian Jr.
7. ↑ Future testing of his son Henry’s descendants will determine if Christopher or John was the first person to have this mutation. This may also help determine if Daniel was John’s son. Thus far, all descendants of Christopher have a variant on marker DYS481 where the value mutated from the normal 24 alleles to 25. This marker appears on Y-67+ tests (Y-37 will not include it). Furthermore, the one Big Y-700 test that we have for this line has two further variants. Another Big Y test will determine if these mutations also occurred in one of those first generations.
8. ↑ It is possible that the same mutation can occur elsewhere, but it is rare and there are usually other indicators that show these circumstantial variants.
9. ↑ Thus far, all descendants of Valentine have a variant on marker DYS507 where the value mutated from the normal 9 alleles to 10. This marker only appears on Y-700 tests and has only been observed in the descendants of Valentine Shockey.
10. ↑ Calendar of the Correspondence of George Washington Commander in Chief of the Continental Army with the Officers, prepared by John C. Fitzpatrick, vol. 1 (June 17, 1775 - October 19, 1778), Government Printing Office, 1915, p. 622. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/books/edition/Calendar_of_the_Correspondence_of_George/cPNM4tUIxCwC.
11. ↑ https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniainwa01linniala/page/784
12. ↑ Blair, John Linn and William H. Egle, editors. Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, Battalions and Line. 1775-1783, vol. 1, Lane S. Hart State Printer, 1880, p. 784. Retrieved from Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniainwa01linniala/page/784.
13. ↑ Shockey, Ralph N. and Marie F. Shockey History & Genealogy, vol. 2, HBP, 1981, pp. 919-1115.
14. ↑ Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 604-753.
15. ↑ Shockey, Lt. Col. Donald E. and Thelma I. (Peterson). The Shockey Chronicles, vol. 2, Gateway Press, 1986, pp. 999-1259.
16. ↑ Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 1273-76.
17. ↑ It appears that many of the birth dates for their children were estimated at some point. The Committee recommends that these should be held loosely as there is a scarcity of hard data, especially since it turns out that the Abraham who was born in 1755 was actually the son of Valentine and not Johann. Our best estimates are based on the order they were listed in the will, the birth dates of their own children and the timing of their appearance in the tax records. We believe that it is possible that Christopher, himself, was born as early as 1751.
18. ↑ “Local Correspondence.” The Catoctin Clarion [Mechanicstown, MD], 29 Dec. 1898, p. 3. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/image/339120126/?match=1&clipping_id=129771908; 5 Jan. 1899, p. 3. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/image/339117513/?match=1&clipping_id=129773004. This article notes that “the location of [the Shockey] cave is near Mt. Misery, east of the Great Falls on Fall Creek.”
19. ↑ While the assignment of the Third Resurvey of Sarah’s Delight from Charles Carroll to Christopher Shockey was not recorded until 1768, the accounting ledger for payments on this land began in 1760. The land was also noted in a 1765 patent to Christopher Shockey for 30 acres in Antrim Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, to wit: “adjoining his other land which he holds by a Maryland patent”. Therefore, it is highly likely that the Shockeys were living on or cultivating the Maryland land as early as 1760 and Christopher, the subject of this research, would have grown up on this land.
20. ↑ Cris. Shockey to Attorney General for Cumberland County, 19 Jan 1771.” Jasper Yeates Family Papers Correspondence, Pennsylvania State Archives, MG-137-1, Box 1, Item 19. Cf. “Christopher Shockley’s Complaint Concerning Mr. Justice Rannels.” Notes and Queries Historical and Genealogical, Chiefly Relating to Interior of Pennsylvania, edited by William Henry Egle, ser. 3, vol. 2, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1970, pp. 417-18 [images 427-28]. Retrieved from Ancestry.com,
21. ↑ Justice Rannels served on the Grand Jury, not on the jury that sentenced Christopher to death.
22. ↑ Elizabethtown was founded by Jonathan Hager in 1739 and named after his wife, but it became more popular to call it Hagerstown. The council officially changed the name in 1813.
23. ↑ “Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for Elizabeth Town District [Washington County].” Maryland Historical Magazine, vol. 13, no. 3, Sep. 1918, pp. 229-31, 234, 238. PDF Download, retrieved from https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000051/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_51.pdf.
24. ↑ “George Washington to Continental Congress, September 20, 1776.” George Washington Papers, Series 3, Varick Transcripts, 1775-1785, Subseries 3A, Continental Congress, 1775-1783, Letterbook 1 (June 24, 1775 - Sept. 22, 1776), pp. 426-27 [images 427-28]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw3a.001/?sp=427. Transcription retrieved from Founders Online, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-06-02-0276.
25. ↑ “George Washington to Continental Congress, April 12, 1777.” George Washington Papers, Series 3, Varick Transcripts, 1775-1785, Subseries 3A, Continental Congress, 1775-1783, Letterbook 2 (Sept. 24, 1776 - Aug. 30, 1777), p. 228 [image 229 of 439]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw3a.002/?sp=229.
26. ↑ “The Battle of Brandywine.” Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Retrieved from https://www.brandywinebattlefield.org/battle/.
27. ↑ The following are the men of Kearsley's Company who fought at Brandywine with the 6th Virginia and are listed on the September muster roll: Col. Samuel Kearsley, Lieut. Edward Armstrong, Lieut. Gotthold Frederick Enslin, Ensign David Kirkpatrick, Sgt. Michael Ashley, Sgt. William Shaw, Sgt. Thomas Watson, Philip Reamer (Fife), Corp. James Beaty, Corp. Thomas Donnaltson, Corp. William Gilbert, Pvt. Michael Frey, Pvt. Daniel Louchry (baggage guard), Pvt. George Wilcott (may have been in hospital during the battle), Pvt. John Barker, Pvt. Michael McMullin, Pvt. John Linkenmoore, Pvt. George Miller, Pvt. John Burns, Pvt. James Kirk, Pvt. John Wiley, Pvt. Patrick McClaine, Pvt. George Cooke (Under arrest then MIA since Brandywine), Pvt. Nehemiah Welder, Pvt. Peater Reamer (Wounded at Brandywine – in Lancaster hospital at least until 3 Mar 1779), Pvt. Joseph Dodds (Died later at Valley Forge of illness), Pvt. Charles McCarty (Wounded at Brandywine – died or discharged in December 1777), Pvt. Adam Kloese, Pvt. Robert Buchanan, Pvt. Christian (AKA Christopher) Shockey, Pvt. Abraham Loukie, Pvt. William Scott. The following were part of the company but were hospitalized before Brandywine: Pvt. Philip Walts (sick, died 25 Sep), Pvt. James Jonston (sick), Pvt. John Miller (sick), Pvt. Andrew Dixon (sick).
28. ↑ Aaron Burr was the Lt. Colonel under Col. Malcolm. Burr would later serve as Thomas Jefferson’s Vice president from 1801 to 1805. His infamous duel with Alexander Hamilton took place on 11 Jul 1804.
29. ↑ “Continental Army Court Martial, May 21, 1778, Proceedings at York, Pennsylvania.” George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence, p. 3 [image 2 of 6]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw450600/. Transcription retrieved from Founders Online, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-15-02-0197.
30. ↑ Bourns, J Francis, MD. “Unwritten Local History.” The Fulton Democrat [McConnellsburg, PA], 15 Nov. 1895, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/image/302568712/?clipping_id=128282289.
31. ↑ Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. “Republica v Christopher Shockey.” Supreme Court Eastern District Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery Dockets, RG 33, Ser. 127 (1778-1828), p. 42 [image 23 of 388]. Retrieved from Pennsylvania State Archives Power Library, https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/psa/islandora/object/psa%3A1783001.
32. ↑ Letters of Junius, 1772. Reprinted by Robert Heron. The Letters of Junius with Notes and Illustrations, vol. 2, Samuel F. Bradford, 1804, p. 390. Cf. McClellan. Colonial Counterfeiters of the Blue Ridge, 1989, p. 95.
33. ↑ Westmoreland County [Pennsylvania], Will Book, vol. 1, part 1, Christopher Shocky Will, pp. 14-15 [images 308-9 of 660]. Filmed by The Genealogical Society, 1982, retrieved from Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8802/images/005547050_00309.
34. ↑ “Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for Elizabeth Town District [Washington County].” Maryland Historical Magazine, vol. 13, no. 3, Sep. 1918, pp. 238, 247. PDF Download, retrieved from https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000051/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_51.pdf.
35. ↑ xxxx
36. ↑ “Ten Pounds Reward.” Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette; or, the Baltimore General Advertiser, 8 Apr 1777, p. 3.
37. ↑ “Continental Army Court Martial, June 12, 1778, Proceedings at York, Pennsylvania.” George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw450812/. Transcription retrieved from Founders Online, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-15-02-0406.
38. ↑ Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. “Republica v Christopher Shockey.” Supreme Court Eastern District Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery Dockets, RG 33, Ser. 127 (1778-1828), p. 42 [image 23 of 388]. Retrieved from Pennsylvania State Archives Power Library, https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/psa/islandora/object/psa%3A1783001.
39. ↑ Supreme Executive Council, Clemency File. Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790, RG 27, Roll 723, “Petition of Christopher Shockey," [image 896-904 of 1273]. Retrieved from Pennsylvania State Archives Power Library, https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/psa/islandora/object/psa%3A1894131.
40. ↑ Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, vol. 12 (May 21, 1779 - Jul 12, 1781), Theo. Penn, 1853, p. 179. Retrieved from Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/minutessupremee02coungoog/page/178/mode/2up.
41. ↑ Supreme Executive Council, Clemency File. Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790, RG 27, Roll 723, “Petition of Christopher Shockey,"[image 896-901 of 1273].
42. ↑ The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], 23 Nov 1779, p. 3. Retrieved from https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A10CEB9BDCC081400%40GB3NEWS-10E0D6450FB8E700%402371153-10E0D6456D5BFFE0%402?clipid=luzcnetouqjbyezgmjujdmnvslophfmx_wma-gateway011_1690065107963.
43. ↑ The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], 27 Nov 1779, p. 3. Retrieved from https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A10CEB9BDCC081400%40GB3NEWS-10E0D6481EF504B0%402371157-10E0D648680A6D60%402?clipid=jowcdkoblrpfmkyulygexylhhqznbjrb_wma-gateway001_1690065307317.
44. ↑ Carter County, Kentucky Death Records, 1852-1910, Kentucky State Archives, John Shockey, pp. 85-86 [image 895]. Filmed by The Division of Archives and Records, 1980, film #994030, retrieved from Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/550101:1222.
45. ↑ Ousterhout, Anne M. “Controlling the Opposition in Pennsylvania During the American Revolution.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 105, no. 1, Jan 1981, p. 26. Retrieved from JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20091535.
46. ↑ McClellan, John Howard. Colonial Counterfeiters of the Blue Ridge, 1989, pp. 79-82, 91-98.
47. ↑ Cress, Joseph David. “Temple of Fame: The Plight of Christopher Shockey.” Wicked Carlisle: The Dark Side of the Cumberland Valley, The History Press, 2012, pp. 10-15. Retrieved from Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wicked_Carlisle/R4h2CQAAQBAJ?gbpv=1.
48. ↑ Logan, John Michael. “The Shockey Counterfeiting Ring.” The Potomac Street Irregulars, vol. 1, Antietam Historical Society, 2014, pp. 93-104.
49. ↑ “Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for Elizabeth Town District [Washington County].” Maryland Historical Magazine, vol. 13, no. 3, Sep. 1918, p. 230.
50. ↑ The Journal of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, 1763-1768. National Archives (identifier 5821514), 21 Sep. 1765 [image 174 of 404]. Retrieved from https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5821514?objectPage=174. Cf. The Journal of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, transcribed by The Department of State, p. 111 [image 110 of 230]. Retrieved from Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/JournalOfMasonAndDixon.
51. ↑ “Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for Elizabeth Town District [Washington County].” Maryland Historical Magazine, vol. 13, no. 3, Sep. 1918, pp. 230-31.
52. ↑ Ibid., p. 234.
53. ↑ “Continental Army Court Martial, May 21, 1778, Proceedings at York, Pennsylvania.” George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw450600/. Transcription retrieved from Founders Online, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-15-02-0197.
54. ↑ Calendar of the Correspondence of George Washington Commander in Chief of the Continental Army with the Officers, prepared by John C. Fitzpatrick, vol. 1 (June 17, 1775 - October 19, 1778), Government Printing Office, 1915, p. 622. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/books/edition/Calendar_of_the_Correspondence_of_George/cPNM4tUIxCwC.
55. ↑ Shockey, Lt. Col. Donald E. and Thelma I. (Peterson). The Shockey Chronicles, vol. 1, Gateway Press, 1986, pp. 12-15; vol. 2, pp. 1273-75.
56. ↑ Westmoreland County [Pennsylvania], Will Book, vol. 1, part 1, Christopher Shocky Will, pp. 14-15 [images 308-9 of 660]. Filmed by The Genealogical Society, 1982, retrieved from Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8802/images/005547050_00309.
57. ↑ Maryland Land Records, Frederick County, liber M (1768-1770), pp. 530-32, 557-58, 560-61, 561-62, 562-64. Retrieved from Maryland Land Records, https://mdlandrec.net/main/dsp_search.cfm?cid=FR. Cf. Shockey History and Genealogy which hypothesizes that Michael Hoover might have been the husband of their daughter Barbara, while stating that “no actual record of Michael Hoover’s connection with the family is found” (1:13-14). Also cf. Maryland Land Records, Frederick County, liber P (1772-1773), pp. 632, 649-50 in which he conveyed a parcel to Joseph Nichols and Phillip Stambaugh; liber S (1773), pp. 401-4, conveying a parcel to John Hoover; and liber U (1773), 41-44, 46-60, in which he conveyed parcels to Michael Hoover, Jacob, John and Valentine Shockey, and another with Phillip Stambaugh. Some or all of these deeds were duplicates of the 1769 indentures because the originals were only signed by one witness. The main change was that Johann Christopher had remarried and his wife Mary now surrendered her rights instead of Barbara.
58. ↑ Shockey, Ralph N. and Marie F. Shockey History & Genealogy, vol. 1, HBP, 1981, pp. 23. Cf. Maryland Land Records, Frederick County, liber BD 1 (1774-1775), pp. 702-3. Note a similar arrangement was made between Christopher and his son-in-law, Philip Stombaugh in 1769.
59. ↑ “Continental Army Court Martial, June 12, 1778, Proceedings at York, Pennsylvania.” George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw450812/. Transcription retrieved from Founders Online, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-15-02-0406.
60. ↑ In particular, Valerie (Shockey) Clark shares more than 20 DNA connections to the descendants of John King, Jr. (segments spanning 8-29 cM). Darrell Stanley shares more than 24 DNA connections to the descendants of John King, Jr. (7-33 cM). Note these segments have not been triangulated and the connections need to be verified, but once done so, the evidence will be that much more substantial.
61. ↑ Franklin County, Virginia, Marriage Bond Book, 1786-1853, No. 3710, Rasannah Shockley in entry for Jacob Shilling, 1787, p. 87 [image 100 of 608]. Filmed by Genealogical Society of Utah, 1950, film #007578970, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6JBP-NYJZ.
62. ↑ Franklin County [Virginia], Marriage Bonds, 1785-1788, Rosannay Shokky in Shilling to Governor [images 271-274 of 423], 1787. Film #007490223, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9ZG-CCYY.
63. ↑ Montgomery County [Virginia], Marriage Bonds, 1773-1857, Mary Shokey in entry for Jacob Smith [images 954-56 of 986], 1796. Film #0077407943, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91C-T9HW-F. Cf. Montgomery County, Virginia, Marriage Register, 1777-1853, Mary Shokey in entry for Jacob Smith, p. 64 [image 300 of 673], 1796. Filmed by The Genealogical Society of Utah, 1947, film #0075789015, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89XF-FFYS.
64. ↑ 1850 United States Census, Floyd County, Virginia, population schedule, Western District No. 15, p. 768 (penned), dwelling 112, family 112, Rosanna Shilling in household of George Shilling. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8DM-DMH, citing NARA microfilm publication M432, image 16 of 146, FHL film 444933.
65. ↑ Montgomery County [Virginia], Order Book, vol. 9, 1795-1796, Shilling vs Shilling, p. 118 [image 442 of 653]. Filmed by The Genealogical Society of Utah, 1953, film #008151731, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKJ-QQQY-3.
66. ↑ Montgomery County [Virginia], Personal Property Tax Lists, 1787-1812. Filmed by The Genealogical Society, film #1870165, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007856147. Images are listed by year (image # of 891): 1790 (#296); 1791 (#310); 1792 (#354); 1793 (#381); 1794 (#415); 1795 (#439). Notes of interest: In 1791, there was one male “above 16 & under 21” living in Jacob Shilling’s household (b. bet. 1770-75); the last tax for Jacob Shilling was from the 21 Mar 1795 visitation (Rosannah was taxed in May 1796).
67. ↑ Montgomery County [Virginia], Personal Property Tax Lists, 1787-1812. Filmed by The Genealogical Society, film #1870165, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007856147. Personal Property Tax Lists, 1813-1831. Filmed by The Genealogical Society, film #1870166, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007856148. Images for 1787-1812 are listed by year (image # of 891): 1796 (#473); 1797 (#496); 1798 (#43, with retake reels); 1799 (#544); 1800 (#583); 1801 (#609); 1802 (#620); 1803 (#662); 1804 (#689); 1805 (#704); 1806 (#730); 1807 (#758); 1809 (#785); 1810 (#824); 1811 (#851); 1812 (#878). Images for 1813-1831 are listed by year (image # of 872): 1813 (#63); 1814 (#88, probably with George); 1815 (#142); 1816 (#180); 1817 (#219); 1818 (#267); 1819 (#323); 1820 (#374); 1821 (#434); 1822 (#527); 1823 (#561); 1824 (#620); 1825 (#661); 1826 (#694); 1827 (#728); 1828 (#764); 1829 (#784); 1830 (#818). Notes of interest: In 1797, there was one male “above 16” living in Rosannah’s household (b. bet. 1776-81); in 1798 (b. bet. 1777-82); in 1799, there was one male between 16 & 21 (b. bet. 1778-83); in 1800 (b. bet. 1779-84). Jacob Shilling, Jr. first appears on the tax lists in 1809 (#785); George Shilling first appears on the tax lists in 1814 (#88) in what appears to be the same property as Rosannah’s from the previous year; and Daniel Shockey (Rosannah’s grandson as evidenced by Y-DNA tests) appears on the Montgomery tax lists in 1826 (#694).
68. ↑ Floyd County [Virginia], Personal Property Tax Books, 1831-1850. Film #2024537 (#008249437), retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSPG-G3CR-G. Images are listed by year (image # of 533): 1831 (#20); 1832 (#35); 1833 (#52); 1834 (#69).
69. ↑ Montgomery County [Virginia], Chancery Records, case 155 (index no. 1804--014), John Shilling vs Rosanna Shilling. Retrieved from Library of Virginia, https://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=121-1804-014. Note the folder is indexed to 1804, but the actual documents are all from 1801.
70. ↑ Past research and personal documentation. Attempting to relocate the citation.
71. ↑ Montgomery County [Virginia], Deed Book I & J (1824-1827), Shockey &c to Webster, p. 393 [image 536 of 604]. Filmed by The Genealogical Society of Utah, 1953, film #007645570, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P6-T721.
72. ↑ Montgomery County [Virginia], Will Book, vol. 4 (1823-1830), Shilling to Smith, pp. 485-86 [images 276-77 of 811]. Filmed by The Genealogical Society of Utah, 1953, film #007676186, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TC-F3HJ-J. Regarding family connections, Andrew Lewis was Joseph King’s father-in-law, and Henry Shockey married Mary Wiley.
73. ↑ Floyd County [Virginia], Deed Book B (1836-1841), Shilling from Smith, p. 427 [image 467 of 751]. Filmed by The Genealogical Society of Utah, 1953, film #008572237, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C373-N96H-R?i=466&cat=399119.
74. ↑ Floyd County [Virginia], Deed Book D (1844-1847), Shilling from Shilling, pp. 227-28 [images 144-45 of 780]. Filmed by The Genealogical Society of Utah, 1953, film #008572238, retrieved from FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C373-G71Z?i=143&cat=399119.
75. ↑ Shockey, Lt. Col. Donald E. and Thelma I. (Peterson). The Shockey Chronicles, vol. 2, Gateway Press, 1986, p. 1273.
76. ↑ Blair, John Linn and William H. Egle, editors. Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, Battalions and Line. 1775-1783, vol. 1, Lane S. Hart State Printer, 1880, p. 784. Retrieved from Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniainwa01linniala/page/784. If this publication is correct, then they both ended up in Col. Thomas Hartley’s Additional Regiment by the beginning of 1779. However, this was only for a brief period as at least one of them served most of their prior service in Col. Malcolm’s Regiment as detailed above.
77. ↑ Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15, National Archives, W2968, Christian Shockey. Retrieved from Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1995/images/MIUSA1775D_136798-00860, citing NARA microfilm publication M804, image 857 of 1112, roll 2177.
78. ↑ “George Washington to Continental Congress, April 12, 1777.” George Washington Papers, Series 3, Varick Transcripts, 1775-1785, Subseries 3A, Continental Congress, 1775-1783, Letterbook 2 (Sept. 24, 1776 - Aug. 30, 1777), p. 228 [image 229 of 439]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw3a.002/?sp=229.
79. ↑ Muster Roll of Capt. Samuel Kearsleys Company of Independants Annexed to the Sixth Virginia Regmt, 30 Jun 1777, Private Christian Shocky; 1 Aug 1777, Private Christian Shockey. In United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-78Q5 and https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-NQX4, citing NARA microfilm publication M246, film #830,404, image 275 of 725, Roll 103 (Virginia, jacket 165-180).
80. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brandywine
81. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Conway
82. ↑ Muster Roll of Capt. Saml Kearsleys Company, Sep 1777, Private Christian Shoky. In United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL65-VL75, citing NARA microfilm M246, film #830,404, image 636 of 746, Roll 125 (Continental Troops, jacket 126-138). Note Gen. Conway signed below Kearsley’s name on the October and November muster rolls in images 637 and 640.
83. ↑ Muster Roll of Capt. Saml Kearsleys Company (Col. Malcolms Regt), Oct 1777, Private Christian Shockey. In United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-N9Z6, citing NARA microfilm publication M246, film #830,404, image 639 of 746, Roll 125 (Continental Troops, jacket 126-138).
84. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forge
85. ↑ Muster Roll of Capt. Samuel Kearsleys Company in the First Continental Regmt, 6 Jan 1778, Private Christian Shoky; 1 Feb 1778, Private Christian Shoky. In United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL65-F9MX and https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-8769, citing NARA microfilm publication M246, film #830,404, images 645 and 648 of 746, Roll 125 (Continental Troops, jacket 126-138).
86. ↑ Muster Roll of Capt. Saml Kearsleys Company in the Regt of foot Commandd by Coll William Malcom, 20 Mar 1778, Private Christan Shocky. In United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-S2GZ, citing NARA microfilm publication M246, film #830,404, image 651 of 746, Roll 125 (Continental Troops, jacket 126-138).
87. ↑ https://www.loc.gov/item/mgw450600/
88. ↑ “Continental Army Court Martial, May 21, 1778, Proceedings at York, Pennsylvania.” George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence, p. 3 [image 2 of 6]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw450600/. Transcription retrieved from Founders Online, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-15-02-0197.
89. ↑ “Continental Army Court Martial, June 12, 1778, Proceedings at York, Pennsylvania.” George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence, p. 2 [image 2 of 3]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw450812/. Transcription retrieved from Founders Online, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-15-02-0406.
90. ↑ Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution, 1775-1783. Archives of Maryland, vol. 18. Maryland Historical Society, 1900, p. 328. Retrieved from Archives of Maryland Online, https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000018/html/am18--328.html. There is also a “Christian Nokey” on the transcript. If this is actually Christian Shockey, his nephew, then Christopher may have made an attempt to join that unit.
91. ↑ “Continental Army Court Martial, May 21, 1778,” p. 2 [image 2 of 6].
92. ↑ Ibid., pp. 2-3 [image 2 of 6].
93. ↑ Ibid., p. 2 [image 2 of 6].
94. ↑ Ibid., p. 3 [image 2 of 6].
95. ↑ Ibid.
96. ↑ Ibid., p. 5 [image 4 of 6].
97. ↑ Muster Roll of Capt. Samuel Kearsleys Company in Coll William Malcoms Regiment, 20 Mar 1778, Private Christan Shocky; 7 Apr 1778, Private Christian Shockey; 4 May 1778, Private Christan Shocky. In United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-S2GZ, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-V1KJ and https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-2ST7, citing NARA microfilm publication M246, film #830,404, images 651, 654 and 657 of 746, Roll 125 (Continental Troops, jacket 126-138).
98. ↑ https://www.loc.gov/item/mgw450812/
99. ↑ “Continental Army Court Martial, June 12, 1778,” p. 2 [image 2].
100. ↑ Ibid., p. 1.
101. ↑ Ibid.
102. ↑ Ibid., p. 2.
103. ↑ Ibid., pp. 2-3.
104. ↑ Ibid., p. 1.
105. ↑ Ibid., p. 2.
106. ↑ Ibid., p. 3 [image 2 of 3].
107. ↑ Ibid.
108. ↑ http://www.loc.gov/item/mgw450823/
109. ↑ “Thomas Hartley to George Washington, June 13, 1778.” George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence, pp. 1-2. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw450823/.
110. ↑ https://www.loc.gov/item/mgw450832/
111. ↑ “George Washington to Thomas Hartley, June 14, 1778.” George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence, p. 1. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/mgw450832/.
112. ↑ Muster Roll of Captain Samuel Kearsleys Company in First Additional Regiment of Foot, 6 Aug 1778, Private Shockey Christian; 4 Sep 1778, Private Shockey, Christian; 3 Oct 1778, Private Shockey Christian. In United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-XN5H, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL65-54VS and https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-DZL2, citing NARA microfilm publication M246, film #830,404, images 651, 654 and 657 of 746, Roll 125 (Continental Troops, jacket 126-138).
113. ↑ Muster Roll of Captain Samuel Kearsleys Company in First Additional Regt of Foot, 13 Nov 1778, Private Shockey Christan; 9 Dec 1778, Private Shacky Christan; 13 Jan 1779, Private Shocky Christan; 3 Feb 1779, Private Shocky Christan. In United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Record Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Retrieved from FamilySearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-S2RV, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-VH9B, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-26MV and https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-87D4, citing NARA microfilm publication M246, film #830,404, images 651, 654 and 657 of 746, Roll 125 (Continental Troops, jacket 126-138).
114. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hartley
115. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hand
116. ↑ https://pasocietyofthecincinnati.org/gallery_post/lt-col-adam-hubley/
117. ↑ “Proceedings of the Committee of Observation for Elizabeth Town District [Washington County].” Maryland Historical Magazine, vol. 13, no. 3, Sep. 1918, pp. 229-31, 234, 238. PDF Download, retrieved from https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5800/sc5881/000001/000000/000051/pdf/msa_sc_5881_1_51.pdf.
118. ↑ “Ten Pounds Reward.” Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette; or, the Baltimore General Advertiser, 8 Apr 1777, p. 3.
119. ↑ Some sources suggest that he spent the bills on the 23rd, but the court records indicate that he was accused of making the counterfeit money on 23 April and spending them the next day.
120. ↑ Cress, Joseph David. “Temple of Fame: The Plight of Christopher Shockey.” Wicked Carlisle: The Dark Side of the Cumberland Valley, The History Press, 2012, pp. 10-15. Retrieved from Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Wicked_Carlisle/R4h2CQAAQBAJ?gbpv=1.
121. ↑ “Deposition of Mark Milligan, 1779 Sept 10.” Calendar of Maryland Papers: The Red Books, no. 4, part 1, State of Maryland, 1950, p. 146. PDF Download, retrieved from https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000127/000000/000001/unrestricted/msa_sc_5458_51_675.pdf.
122. ↑ Journal and Correspondence of the Council of Maryland, April 1, 1778–October 26, 1779. Archives of Maryland, vol. 21. Edited by William Hand Browne, Maryland Historical Society, 1901, pp. 537-38. Retrieved from Archives of Maryland Online, https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000021/html/am21--537.html.
123. ↑ Bourns, J Francis, MD. “Unwritten Local History.” The Fulton Democrat [McConnellsburg, PA], 15 Nov. 1895, p. 1. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/image/302568712/?clipping_id=128282289.
124. ↑ The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], 23 Nov 1779, p. 3.
125. ↑ Cress, “Temple of Fame: The Plight of Christopher Shockey.” Wicked Carlisle: The Dark Side of the Cumberland Valley, The History Press, 2012, p. 13. Cf. John Michael Logan. “The Shockey Counterfeiting Ring.” The Potomac Street Irregulars, vol. 1, Antietam Historical Society, 2014, p. 97.
126. ↑ McClellan, John Howard. Colonial Counterfeiters of the Blue Ridge, 1989, p. 81.
127. ↑ Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. “Republica v Christopher Shockey.” Supreme Court Eastern District Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery Dockets, RG 33, Ser. 127 (1778-1828), p. 42 [image 23 of 388]. Retrieved from Pennsylvania State Archives Power Library, https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/psa/islandora/object/psa%3A1783001.
128. ↑ Ibid.
129. ↑ Supreme Executive Council, Clemency File. Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments, 1775-1790, RG 27, Roll 723, “Petition of Christopher Shockey," [image 896-904 of 1273]. Retrieved from Pennsylvania State Archives Power Library, https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/psa/islandora/object/psa%3A1894131.
130. ↑ Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, vol. 12 (May 21, 1779 - Jul 12, 1781), Theo. Penn, 1853, p. 179. Retrieved from Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/minutessupremee02coungoog/page/178/mode/2up. The transcript of the record of conviction is in a folder dated 23 November.
131. ↑ The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], 23 Nov 1779, p. 3.
132. ↑ The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser [Philadelphia], 27 Nov 1779, p. 3.
133. ↑ Espy, M. Watt, and Smykla, John Ortiz. Executions in the United States, 1608-2002: The ESPY File. Retrieved from Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08451.v5; and Death Penalty Information Center, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/executions-in-the-u-s-1608-2002-the-espy-file.
134. ↑ The files on executions in America compiled by noted historian M Watt Espy, Jr., are part of the National Death Penalty Archive located at the State University of New York at Albany. The Espy collection, entitled “Executions in America,” documents more than 15,000 executions in the United States dating back to 1608 and colonial Jamestown. Among the unique materials are handwritten ledgers with an alphabetical listing of executed individuals by state and by date from the 1600’s through 1995 and over 1,000 books. This valuable resource was collected through Watt Espy’s personal travel throughout the country and his detailed and extensive labor on the project over many years.
135. ↑ The Boston Gazette, and the Country Journal, 3 Jan 1780, p. 4.
136. ↑ Teeters, Negley K. Scaffold and Chair, A Compilation of Their Use in Pennsylvania 1682-1962, 1963, p. 58.
137. ↑ McClellan, John Howard. Colonial Counterfeiters of the Blue Ridge, 1989, p. 96.

Acknowledgments

• Christopher SHOCKEY Report (v.1.1) by Shockey Genealogy Committee
• Find a Grave Memorial: 262279319
• FamilySearch Profile: L1Y8-2HJ

• [[Christopher Shockey was created by Angelique Chamberlain.
• [[Christopher Shockey was updated by Jeffrey Niles on 15 Dec 2023 using the v.1.1 report on Christopher Shockey written by the Shockey Genealogy Committee.