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Shaw Family Lines in South Carolina

IMPORTANT CONTEXT: There is genetic input into each human from each of 2 Parents, each of 4 grandparents, each of 8 great-grandparents, each of 16 2nd-great-grandparents, each of 32 3rd-great-grandparents, each of 64 4th-great-grandparents...and so on, doubling the number each generation further back into the past. A person's FULL genealogy is an amazing complex of diversity in genetic input!!! BUT, the socio-cultural (NOTE) input is much more focused on the input from parents & grandparents and their surrounding culture.

As I got into a family tree (genealogy hobby) in the 1960s, I quickly discovered many apparently different Shaw family lines with similar first names. [back to genealogy portal page] If you are from one of the Shaw lines, below, please let me know so that I can make the connection in the family tree website.

All pre-1800 Shaw families came into S. C. through either the port of Charleston, S. C. or by way of the Wagon Road from Pennsylvania, that road emptying into interior S. C. near present-day Lancaster, S. C. and spilling through just into near Augusta, Georgia. So, without having all family origins documented for sure (as of Thanksgiving 2004), I'm dividing the "backcountry" and port families into Upcountry
(western S. C....probable Wagon Road immigrants) & Lowcountry (eastern & coastal S. C....probable Charleston port entry immigrants) groups. In 1761, colonial South Carolina passed an act to fetch immigrants to help populate interioe S. C. (the "back country") with settlers who might become somewhat of a barrier to Indian invaders targeting Charleston: The Bounty Act. This fetched 100s of Irish from the Belfast area...the act being discontinued in July 1768. See this website for stories of Scots to Northern Ireland & thence to the USA, HERE.

DNA studies in genealogy: My friend, Sharon Styles, sent me a link (Dec. 2017) to a You Tube video on using DNA testing, especially because of its value in mixed-race/ethnicity offspring, out-of-wedlock offspring, the "taking in" of a neighbor birth and raising as your own without official adoption, etc., HERE (there are many other videos on that site about DNA) and on the following website, ISOGG.

Thanks to Clyde "Tom" Shaw for this summary of testing which he has learned through Family Tree DNA:

(1) DNA is inherited genetic material in cellular chromosomes & mitochondria with many millions of elements in a unique pattern for each individual. A very small fraction of DNA can be tested for genealogy purposes.

(2) Autosomal DNA, (atDNA ) is inherited typically half-and-half from each parent. This means that about a quarter of our atDNA was inherited from our grandparents, with about one-eighth from their parents and smaller and smaller fractions from each preceding generation. Two siblings will each have 50% of their DNA from their mother and from their father, but the DNA each sibling inherits can be ver y different. Over a few generations therefore descendants of a couple could appear t o be more closely related, or more distantly related, t han known from reliable records. Indeed, by the third cousin stage, it would be quite normal that the shared atDNA would not give any useful indicator of relationship: it might ‘miss’ cousins, or might ‘suggest’ that quite distant relations were more closely related.

Despite these limitations, atDNA is probably the best way t o identify potential 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins. It is therefore a very good starting point. The Shaw & O’Shea groups do not share sufficient atDNA to even hint at a potential relationship several hundred years ago.

(3) yDNA (y chromosomal DNA) is inherited generally unchanged from our male ancestors. However, changes accumulate over generations. Eventually, the differences can be significant enough to be able to say with great confidence that Mr A and Mr B do not share a male ancestor within many hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. Conversely, where there are r elatively few differences, estimates can be made on the number of generations to a common male ancestor.

Where yDNA similarities are supported by a common surname, and ideally with other clues such as district, family folklore, physical features such as red hair etc, the likelihood of getting reliable indications of relationship improve. However, if the yDNA findi ngs have no other supporting evidence, but there are many similarities, t here is a small chance of a random ‘convergence. However, circumstances such as adoption could also be considered factors.

(4) mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) is inherited from our mother, her mother, etc. Like yDNA it changes slowly; probably more slowly. mtDNA is less useful than the other tests in cultures where the wives generally adoptedtheir husband’s surname.

In my own family, maternal side, we wondered for years if my great-grandfather was a "taken in" baby (but mystery maybe is solved). And, then, there is the famous instance of the child born of white, deceased Sen. Strom Thurmond having an out-of-wedlock, transracial relation (HERE) in racial segregation times that was kept quiet until after Thurmond died (her burial). Many, many things happen in families...since the beginning of time...that are either unknown or kept very quiet!

Many of the below are linked to Find a Grave memorials which often have linkages to many descendants.

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If you think that you may be from one of the below lines, please e-mail me (Ervin Shaw, M. D.) & let me be in touch with you & possibly update your information. In 2003-4, I was contacted by two African American descendants of slaves owned by white Shaw families in S. C. (sharing common connections). The SCIway website has links to all S. C. town websites (here) & a ton of info about S. C., including genealogy. The family tree info from my computer files on many of Shaw individuals WAS posted in my on-line genealogy file website (which I discontinued & took down in 2012.

Also, here are some other lines I've come across & on which I have information (in my computer or vertical files or on the website):

 

Georgia:

  • Jeremiah Shaw, Sr. (1768-1845...buried in the small town of Ludowici, Georgia, in a small private cemetery in the woods), was thought to have been in S. C. (Chester area?; he & brother born in S. C.?; son of a John Shaw?); had a younger brother, Martin (1773-1863); and moved to Georgia. This is the line of Clyde "Tom" Shaw (above) who provided the above info about DNA testing. DNA testing in 2018 defined (see some details near the end of the bio on this memorial, HERE) that the surname was Shea or O'Shea which became immediately "Shaw" as they came into the USA.

North Carolina:

  • Collin Shaw and kin of the Cape Fear, N. C. area Shaw family...[I wonder if there is a connection to this William Shaw]. He was of Shaws from Scotland (Island of Jura) northward above Northern Ireland and settled in Bladen Co., N. C. area; and he helped other family members come over afterward.
          
  • John Shaw (1788-1858) & Nancy Worthy Shaw (1788-1846); grandfather William from England and father James maybe from Main to N. C. To S. C. & John born in N. C. & died in Mississippi.
      
  • John C. Shaw (about 1801-1860) & some descendants to Texas through Louisiana; possibly a grandson of a John Shaw (1730-1788) and wife Mary Donaldson  of N. C. who had a son, Jonas.   
      
  • John Shaw (1774 England-1846 Wake Co., N. C.) & Fanney Martin had children, and one was Calvin High Shaw whose great grandson was Dr. William Henry Shaw of Columbus, Ga. who indicated many relatives in Durham, N. C. area (Dr. Shaw at one time possessed an old family ledger or Bible with names & dates).
      
  • William Shaw, cabinet maker; (b. 1820 in N. C.) (possibly William Francis Shaw or Francis William Shaw) & father supposed to be William Walter Shaw born in Scotland. William's son, James, was a wagon maker. Was in Indiana in 1839, obtaining a land grant in Clark Co., Illinois where he married Sarah Morgan (maiden name, Sharp).
      
  • William Shaw (1754 Onslow Co, N. C.-1827 Wake Co., N. C.) & Mary Wade...by his will, they had no descendants (a number of DAR connections were incorrectly ascribed to him until proven that they had no children). 

Georgia: A number of S. C. Shaw lines went to Georgia.


South Carolina:

Upcountry: 

  • Abbeville & Ninety-six, S. C.: This Old Settlement, Ninety-Six, was the 1st town settlement beginning as a fort in the western South Carolina upcountry & seat of first courthouse & jail just after the Rev. War (present town of Abbeville 2.5 miles north of Old Settlement). The British abandoned and burned Ninety Six in the summer of 1781, but the town was reborn as Cambridge in 1787 & dwindled by 1835 & is actually close to Greenwood. In 1760s there was a 20,500 acre Boonesborough Township in the area at the head of Long Canes Creek and a 22,000 acre Londonborough on Hard Labor Creek. An area underwent name change to Cambridge in 1787 (Cambridge about 0.25 miles from Old Settlement), which dwindled to 1 or 2 stores by 1835. County seat shifted a few miles away to present day Abbeville, a town so named for the French hometown of a founding French Huguenot. In Pendleton District.

    William Creighton Shaw, farmer & Civil War vet.(1841-1931) line.

    William Shaw, Sr., Esq, from Great Britain & "now of Cambridge", mother lives in Maryland, died 1788.
     
    Alexander Shaw arrived in Charleston from County Antrim, Northern Ireland Jan. 1795 & to Pendleton District where he married "Sukey" Susan Hardin. They moved in 1826 to Dallas Co., Alabama.
       
  • Anderson, S. C.

    William Thomas Shaw (1825-1880) line.  

  • Chester District, S. C.
     
    Dr. William Shaw (about 1729-1794), from England to Main, to N. C., to S. C., "Practitioner of Physick" & private in Rev. War.
       
  • Chesterfield, S. C.
     
    Rev. Sgt. Murdock Wesley Shaw (died 1904; 10 children) & "Lodd" Roderick A. Shaw (1813-1903; 9 children) from Scotland.
       
  • Edgefield, S. C.: Established in 1785, it is located just east of the Savannah River & is home to S. C.'s oldest weekly newspaper, The Edgefield Advertiser.
      
  • Greenwood, S. C. (see Ninety Six District, above).
      
  • Greenville, S. C.
      
  • McCormick, S. C.
      
  • Rock Hill (York/ Union District), S. C.:
     
    William Shaw (1757-1842) & Gilbert Shaw (1757-1842) from York, Pa.
       
  • Winnsboro, S. C.
     
    James Warnock Shaw (about 1830-1858), jeweler & maybe from Ireland.

Lowcountry:
 

  • Aiken, S. C.
     
    John Shaw (1738-?) from Ireland (or Scotland?).
     
    Capt. Alexander Shaw (died 1765)
       
  • Beaufort & Port Royal & St. Helena (Prince William parish), S. C.
     
    Alexander Shaw & Capt. Anthony Shaw (1762-1798) brothers of Galloway, Scotland.
     
    William Shaw (about 1738-1769), merchant, bachelor, and his brother,
     
    Charles Shaw (about 1740-after 1783), plantation manager, and went to Florida.
     
    Launch Shaw (about 1704-1761), father of Lachlan Shaw (about 1724-1761)
     
  • Camden, S. C.
     
    George Washington Shaw (1820, Georgia-1860), merchant & "northerner by birth".     

    John Daniel Shaw, Jr.(?-1992) [whose son, Everette, died in WWII].
       
  • Charleston, S. C.
     
    Capt. David Shaw (about 1770-after 1812) a sea-captain & merchant from Scotland (some copies of his letters provided to me by David Stilson of Anthem Arizona in about 2005 may be in the S. C. State Archives of the Carolinianna Library at USC).
     
    Pott Shaw (1750-1790), born in England; married Mary Eliza Burnham; merchant    .
     
    Peter Shaw (about 1700-1744), shopkeeper & Constable of Charles Town.
     
    Richard Shaw (1765-1812 James Island) died of effects of a War of 1812 knee wound.

    Thomas Pott Shaw (1700s-1800s) broker & married Mary P. Adams.
     
    William Shaw (about 1760-?) of Ireland & in Rev. War...his son William B. Shaw (1801-1851) moved to Indiana.
     
    William D. Shaw (1786-1818), Irish merchant, from Athens, N. Y.
     
    Zachariah Shaw (1772-1804) & brother James Shaw (1775-1804) (James a merchant from Maryland).
       
  • Cheraw, S.C. (on the Pee Dee River):
     
    James Calvin Shaw (1893-1978).
       
  • Georgetown, S. C.:
     
    Daniel Shaw, planter, died 1745.          

    Richard Shaw, taylor (born 1700s).

    Thomas Lynch Shaw (1795-1855); 1839 mayor of Georgetown and a staunch Unionist. In 1827, married Nanette Walker, and they had 10 children. 
       
  • Jamestown, S. C.:
     
    James Linniroo Shaw, (1857-1919) had about 11 children.          

  • Kingstree, S. C.
     
    Henry Daves Shaw (1796-1866)...Slave descendant family genealogists, Sharon Styles & Ernest Shaw, have found (after receiving their DNA test results) and are working with their genealogical research and military records for United States Colored Troop, Anthony Shaw (Sharon's paternal ancestor & wife, Sarah...both buried in Long Branch Cem. (with 12 other Shaws)...son of Joe & Betsy Shaw) that it appears some of the African American Shaws that migrated to Marlin, Texas were on the Kingstree plantation of Henry D. Shaw and/or his son Robert Henry Shaw and stepsons William and Sam Tisdale. In Falls County (containing the town of Marlin) Texas, an African American cemetery is Bull Hill Cemetery (with 100+ burials).
     
    Ernest Shaw (Irmo, S. C.) family (descendants of one of Henry Daves Shaw's slaves).
       
  • Lee County, S. C. [Bishopville; St. Charles] (at headwaters of Black River 
     
    William Alexander Shaw     

  • Marion, S. C.
     
    William Shaw (1759-1863)...in Rev. War; sons John D. Shaw & Thomas Shaw. They had many offspring in the Mars Bluff (Florence Co.) & Marion area.
       
  • Sumter Co., S. C.:
     
    John Shaw (1750-1810), Belfast area, Northern Ireland with this link connected to MANY Find a Grave memorials to off-spring migrating to Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas    .
     
    Sadie Allen's (Texas) Shaw     line & Sharon Johnson Styles' (descendants of Carolina Shaw [his son, Henry], a slave of one of John Shaw's offspring...possibly a slave of William Alexander Shaw).     


[Immigration to S. C. story] [my other family tree links]

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(posted 25 November 2004; latest adjustment 11 August 2019)