THE SHEARER FAMILY as received from Wilma (Willie) WEISE

THIS IS MY SHEARER FAMILY as received from Wilma (Willie) WEIS

"A Century of Wayne County, Kentucky, 1800 -1900", by Augusta Phillips Johnson, written 1938, published by Standard Print Co., Louisville, Ky, copyright 1939.

On December 13, 1800 the State Legislature of Kentucky passed an act creating a new county to be named Wayne in honor of General Anthony Wayne, Revelutionary hero. The new county was formed from parts of Pulaski and Cumberland counties. This history was written by Augusta Phillips Johnson from bits and pieces of information provided to her through letters, Bible records, newspapers articles and family stories. She initally meant to write a history of her family, but found that the lives and history of many families of that area and time were intertwined, so the book was expanded to include those other families. It is a very interesting book that I hope to some day read in its entirety.

pp. 235 -237: "The SHEARER FAMILY"

" When Cromwell disbanded his famous Ironsides, he settled them on confiscated estates in Northern Ireland. Among them were the Shearers, whom we are unable to trace by name throughtout the first two generations. They were English Puritans and Presbyterians. They preserve their identies ans tradditions to this day, with but little admixture of Scotch-Irish blood on the one hand or Celtic blood on the other. All were at first Presbytererians and Old Line Whigs in this country, and all seemed to need or to care for a stimulant.

Sometime before the Revolutionary War, about 1740, four brothers of this Puritan stock came to America with their families from the County of Armagh and Province of Ulster, Ireland . [NOTE: my KEENAN family was also in Armagh country] Their names were GEORGE, JOHN, WILLIAM I and JAMES. One settled in New York, two in Pennsylvania, and one in South Carolina. The South Carolina branch of the family are traceable throughout North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska, and other branches and their families are found in almost state in the Union. Wherever found they preserve their traditions-personal, social and religious, and their phyical characteristics, gait and features are easily recognized. These Shearers are not to be confounded with the German Lutherans of about the same name- Scherer, Schearer, and Sherer, of whom there are a great number in this country.

One of these brothers was the father of William ShearerII who married in South Carolina, and wasa the father of William Shearer III. This was William Christian SHEARER III, our ancestor, born about 1760, North Carolina, died about 1830, in Wayne County, buried in Bethesda Churchyard.

WILLIAM CHRISTIAN SHEARER III was married twice in North Carolina. First wife, Hannah HOOVER, buried in Ashe County, North Carolina. Her children were Daniel; Jacob; Henry; Sallie; Mary; David. The second wife (from whom J.B. Shearer of Emerson, Nebraska descended) was a German Hessian, name of Sallie WALTERS, Her children were Susan; Jane; Hannah; Soloman; Walter; Margaret; Catherine; William; Hester; Elizabeth and Nancy. This William Christian SHEARER was one of the early settlers of Wayne County; came about 1812. John SHEARER's family in Monticello are decended from Jacob of the first family. The others from Daniel whose wife was Margaret Vickery, their children being ; Violet Roten; Polly Huffaker; Adam N.; Margaret Huffaker; Rebecca Hicks; Caroline Rankin; Sallie Hicks-Marshall, Louisa Simpson; J. Jenkins; Frank; Broyles.

J. Jenkins SHEARER married Zerelda Ingram, daughter of Samuel Ingram and Elizabeth Parmley. Their children were: Lousetta married Shelly Ragan, Emma C. married Thomas J. Rankin. Samuel Married Mollie Huffaker.Menifee married Mary Wray, James.

Samuel was the son of James Ingram. (entered by Winnie)