Elijah Shaw, I

Abt 1782 - 1842  (~ 60 years)

• Name	Elijah Shaw
  Suffix	I
  Born	Abt 1782	Cumberland, New Jersey, United States
  Gender	Male
  Died	26 Dec 1842
  Buried	Hancock, Illinois, United States
  Person ID	I448	Staples-Record
  Last Modified	5 Oct 2015

  
  

  Father	Edmund Shaw
  Mother	Sarah Cornwell
  Married	23 Sept 1774
  Family ID	F496	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Lydia Bowen,   b. Abt 1782, Cumberland, New Jersey, United States ,   d. 17 Nov 1848, Deerfield, Cumberland, New Jersey, United States  (Age ~ 66 years)
  Married	6 Feb 1805	Cumberland, New Jersey, United States
  Children	1. Edmund T. Shaw,   b. 7 Feb 1807, Deerfield, Cumberland, New Jersey, United States ,   d. 2 Jan 1901, Mount Vernon, Jefferson, Illinois, United States  (Age 93 years)   2. Sarah Shaw,   b. 1809, Deerfield, Cumberland, New Jersey, United States   3. Joseph Shaw,   b. 26 Jun 1810, Deerfield, Cumberland, New Jersey, United States ,   d. 2 Jul 1896, Redding, Ringgold, Iowa, United States  (Age 86 years)   4. Dan Bowen Shaw,   b. 1811, Cumberland, New Jersey, United States ,   d. 1879  (Age 68 years)   5. Samuel Shaw,   b. 12 Mar 1815, Deerfield, Cumberland, New Jersey, United States ,   d. 10 Feb 1886, Beardstown, Cass, Illinois, United States  (Age 70 years) + 6. Elijah Shaw, II,   b. 15 Feb 1822, Mechanicsburg, Clermont, Ohio ,   d. 5 May 1901, North Odgen, Weber, Utah, United States  (Age 79 years)   7. Lydia Shaw,   b. 14 Jun 1824, Michanicsburg, Clarmont, Ohio ,   d. 8 Mar 1917, Fremont, Dodge, Nebraska, United States  (Age 92 years)
  Last Modified	22 Sep 2015
  Family ID	F153	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - Abt 1782 - Cumberland, New Jersey, United States Married - 6 Feb 1805 - Cumberland, New Jersey, United States Buried - - Hancock, Illinois, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Documents

  Deed for Dan Bowen from Cumberland County, New Jersey

  
  

  Histories		The Elusive Elijah Shaw
  		Biography of Elijah Shaw I and Lydia Bowen Shaw Taken from the Biography of John Riley Shaw of Pleasant View, Weber County, Utah. Written and compiled by Robert K. Shaw.

  
  

• Notes

  History of Elijah Shaw I Contributed By Kathlyno · 12 June 2013 · "Elijah Shaw was born about 1782, the son of Edmund and Sarah Cornwell Shaw, who were also married in Cumberland County in the Deerfield Presbyterian Church, 23 September 1774. Sarah was the daughter of John Cornwell and his wife Mary. The Shaws were believed to have been of English orgin. The Shaw name was derived from: as the Webster dictionary puts it; A thickly wooded spot in a low place or hollow - a thicket, a low country with a thick short growth of trees and shrubbery. Such a tract has been designated by the inhabitants of Scotland as 'The Shaw'. Hence many have concluded that the name as applied to the race known as the 'Shawa' the world over must have been derived from the fact that they were orginally natives of the low country of Scotland and England. Another claim was that the name came down from one of the sons of MacDuff in 1056-7. Still another claim, The Shaw's of Scotland and England were a branch of the Clan McIntosh, before 1284." New Jersey is a beautiful state. Henry Hudson, the great explorer said, "This is a very good land to fall with, and a pleasant land to see. It is entirely surrounded by water, except for a fifty mile stretch between New York and New Jersey on the northeast side. On the Pennsylvania side, the Delaware River separates them. It is called the little melting pot of the world. It numbers among its' citizens, people of just about every country in the world. It became a state 18 December 1787, shortly after Elijah I's birth. Cumberland county is rather flat and sandy. It's winters are quite mild with very little snowfall. Temperatures rarely go below freezing. The summers are delightful, with temperatures around 70 degrees. Spring comes early and summers stay late. Deerfield is 41.65 square miles and contains 26,656 acres. It has many rich fertile fields and forests. There is much wild life, especially the white tailed dear - thence the name of Deerfield. The Bowens and Shaws were natural farmers. They both owned large farms in Deerfield. The senior Elijah was also, what we term today, a real estate man. He bought and sold much land while living there. Three of Elijah I and Lydia's children were born in Deerfield namely Edmund, born 7 February 1807; Sarah, born about 1809 and Dan Bowen, born about 1811. In the late 1700's the whole of the New England colonies began to feel discontented. They were becoming over crowded and land was becoming very scarce. which sent the prices soaring, until by the 1790's even a moderately good farm sold for from $14.00 to $50.00 an acre. Younger sons, and they were plentiful in the prolific New England families, refused to pay such prices for this not so good land, when they could buy fertile lands in the West for two or three dollars an acre. High taxes were also a contributing factor. Yet these high taxes weren't high enough (and were not always collected) to provide enough revenue for an adequate income for Congress. So Congress adopted a plan to sell Western lands in order to raise the sorely needed revenue. They formed the ordinance of 1785. Under the terms of this ordinance, the land would be surveyed and offered for sale to the highest bidder, in lots of a section (640 acres) or more. The minimum price was fixed at one dollar per acre. Speculators were the only ones who could profit by this, the poor man didn't have a chance. The first section of the upper Ohio territory was the 'Seven Ranges' township, west of the western boundary of Pennsylvania. Next came the Ohio Company who managed to get one and a half million acres for 2/3 of a dollar an acre. Next the Scioto Company was formed. They had an option to buy 3 1/2 million acres and made a down payment of $143,000.00. Another early settlement in the Ohio Country was made by a well to do citizen of New Jersey, John Cleves Symmes, who in 1788 was granted permission to purchase a million acres of land between the Great Miami and Little Miami Rivers. This became known as the Symmes tract or purchase. But Symmes was never able to buy all of the land he had contracted for. He learned that Congress had sold him only a twenty mile wide strip on the east bank of the Great Miami rather than the lands requested. He finally ended up with 248,540 acres. Ohio became the 17th State, 1 March 1803, some years before our families arrived there. In 1804, Congress passed an act, stating that the buyer could buy no less than a quarter section, 160 acres of land. The price was to be raised to two dollars an acre, but the buyer only had to have one-fourth of the purchase price as a down payment, this enabled the poorer class of people a chance to obtain land. 'The man who was ready to begin life over again and to live for a time as his remote ancestors had done, found his opportunity in the West.' Some of the Cornwells, Bowens and Shaws decided to go to this Ohio Territory. The Cornwell brothers, Daniel, his wife Phebe, William and David, uncles of Elijah I were the first to go. When they arrived at Clermont County, Daniel bought 200 acres in 1808. He sold his brother, William, 50 acres in 1811. The other brother, David's land joined onto theirs."Write your story here