Echoes from the Dismal Swamp

Lewis Conner was born abt. 1649, in Ireland. He was apprenticed to Thomas Noell in Bristol, England 27 Jun 1668 for passage to Virginia. He settled in Nansemond County and married Elizabeth Daines daughter of Sir William Daines. Lewis Conner and Elizabeth Daines had 7 children, Lewis Jr.; Cader; John; James; Ann; and 2 other [...]

Samuel O’Shields, b. 1799, South Carolina. He arrived 15 August 1845 in Lumpkin County, Georgia, which later became Dawson County, Georgia The 1850 Census lists his children: Elizabeth b. 1824 David  b. 1825 Catherine  b. 1828 Hiram  b. 1835 John b. 1844 (This John could have been the son OR grandson of Samuel O’Shields.) It [...]

John OSheal, you can RIP.  I found the document which gives us your approximate date of death, and I now know your wife was not named, Lucretia. (Source: “Final Payment Vouchers Index Military Pensions” 1818-1864.) John Osheal received final payment for his service in the Revolutionary War during the Fourth Quarter of 1844; thus giving [...]

1850 Census, Cass County, Georgia John A. O’Shields b. SC, abt. 1829; wife, Frances Ophelia, b. GA, abt. 1827 (John A. O’Shields married Frances Ophelia Gaines, 16 May 1850, in Cass County, Georgia.) Silas O’Shields, b.1832, SC, (living in home of Alfred C. Day, b. 1813) 1860 Census, Cass County, Georgia Silas O’Shields, b. SC, [...]

I have written several rebuttals to the preposterous claim Sarah O’Shields was the wife of Jethro O’Shields.  These rebuttals can be found on rootsweb and genforum. I wish now to add one more reason Sarah O’Shields named in the Minutes of Friendship Baptist was NOTt the wife of Jethro O’Shields, who was born between 1761-1762.  [...]

David O’Sheal followed in his father, John O’Sheal, and his grandfather, David O’Sheal’s footsteps.  He was an attorney in the Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia, area. David O’Sheal owned properties and lived in Norfolk, Virginia.  He married Catherine Veale, daughter of George Veale, in 1773. The last Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, burned the town [...]

Sometime in 1766, Daniel O’Sheal, his wife, and five children removed from Granville County, North Carolina to St. George Parish, in the colony of Georgia. After hours of research in the Georgia Archives, along with a veteran archivist of twenty-five years experience, we found that Daniel O’Sheal was never granted land in Georgia.  Daniel requested [...]

LORDS PROPRIETORS TO DAVID OSHEAL Aug. 5, 1729. Grant.  440 A. “…according to Our great Deed of grant bearing date the first day of May Anno Domini 1668…”   Land on WS *Ahotskey Ridge* at Timber Branch adj.  Robert Lanier, Edward Howard, Joseph Jones, John Jones, Jun.  Land formerly granted by patent to James Hamelton Aug. [...]

(VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA BOUNDARY LINE, by Mary M. Root, “Backsights” Magazine published by Surveyors Historical Society) Mary M. Root stated: “Two works emerged from Byrd’s diary: The History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina and The Secret History of the Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina. The latter was intended as [...]

1704  “Lewis CONNER, Jr. was granted 90 acres of land in Nansemond County, Virginia, on Loosing Swamp (near John Powell).”  (Powell History, Silas Emmett Lucas, 1961)     This same Lewis CONNER transferred his land to John O’SHEAL, son of David O’SHEAL. Lewis CONNER of Norfolk Co., Va., to Jno. O’SHEAL(son of David).  90 acres on Loosing [...]