Joseph SHIELDS
1804 - 1896 (92 years)
WHO WAS WHO in PLUM TOWNSHIP - Titusville Herald, 11 July 1962 by H. W. Strawbridge
Joseph Shields was born in Butler County on Jan. 18, 1804. His father was apparently James Shields who is listed in early census records as a resident of northwestern Butler County. The Shields family came from north of Ireland, family tradition states, but was mostly of Scots descent. Joseph was reared on a farm and received a common school education.
In January, 1827, Joseph was married to Miss Catherine Pizer of Butler County. She was born about 1810. The Pizers are thought to have been of German descent. There is an old story carried down that Catherine's mother heard a noise one night outside their house. She looked and was sure she saw a bear. She grabbed her broom and bravely slammed it on the bear. She then discovered that the "bear" was her old stone churn which she had forgotten was sitting out there. Incidentally the broom wallop broke her churn, too.
Joseph and Catherine lived their first few years of married life in Butler County. Catherine used to go to a nearby creek and scoop up white sand which she used in scrubbing her floors. One time while she was scooping some sand out of the creek, a catamount jumped out of a tree towards her but missed her. It then ran away.
Joseph Shields arrived in Plum Township around 1832 on 250 acres formerly owned by a Roger family of Connecticut. This land was west and northwest of Bradleytown. By 1842 his acreage was down to 125 acres which it remained for years. Descendents claim the old Shields farm is hilly and stoney. The Ralph Karns family presently live on this place.
When Joseph came to Plum he brought besides his family a gun, a horse and a dog. He built a log house near a spring which came out of a hillside. Two of Joseph's brothers came up too and helped him to build his house and get started. One, William, owned land near Bradleytown too, but he never lived on it.
Joseph's wife, Catherine, died in 1857, cause of her death now unknown. In fact no records about her size, characteristics, etc. have been carried down. She and Joseph had the following 13 children: James Shields, 1828; Jacob Shields, 1829; John Shields, 1831; Rebecca Shields, 1833; Catherine A. Shields, 1836; Joseph Shields, Jr., 1838; Samuel S. Shields, 1840; Levi Shields, 1842; Eliza Ellen Shields, 1844; Cynthia A. Shields, 1847; William Wilson Shields, 1848; Judson Shields, 1850; and Bethia Shields, 1852.
Pioneer Joseph Shields was an enthusiastic hunter. He began one winter season with six deer hanging in his woodshed for meat. It is said that the loft over the old smokehouse was filled with old deer antler that he got through the years. He was such an expert shot that he could shoot a grouse taking off, then swing around and shoot another taking on the other side. His great-granddaughter, Mrs. Beatrice Strauss, of Bradleytown has an old powderhorn that was made by Joseph for her father, George Willis Shields, on his 12th birthday in 1875.
Another Bradleytown resident, Leo S. Bumpus, recalls interesting stories about old Joseph. Late one night his two oldest boys, James and Jacob, returned home after telling him they had a coon treed, and wanted him to shoot it. He refused, saying he was going back to sleep. But they said they had to go back because John, then only three or four, and still wearing a dress, was asleep at the foot of the tree where the coon was corned. Reluctantly Joseph went with them and shot the coon.
Bears were common in the Bradleytown region the. One night a bear came down the hill and stole one of Joseph's small pigs. His dog took after it and it went up a tree on the present Frank Jennings place with the dog holding onto its hind quarters. It isn’t remembered whether Joseph shot the bear, but he probably did. One other night Joseph was visiting at the Moses Collins place. While walking back home in the dark he saw a figure in the road, thinking it was a man. It turned out to be a bear reared up on its hind feet. Undoubtedly Joseph made way for the animal.
One person can still remember of once seeing the old pioneer. She is Mrs. Gertrude Jennings of Jackson Township. She states he was a short, rather stocky man with a smooth round face, and white hair. This appears to be accurate according to his photograph. Nearly everybody knew him as "Pap" Shields. His by-word was "Thunder." He and a neighbor, Nickolas Ribb, used to kid each other. More than once Ribb stopped in front of Pap's place in the evening and called him out for a joke. On one occasion after calling, Pap shouted: "Thunder, what do you want?" Ribb asked, "How did buckwheat make its appearance in America?" Pap didn't know. Ribb said, "Three-cornered, like it still is!" Pap retorted, "Oh, thunder!" and went back into the house.
It is said he believed in witchcraft, which was then a common belief. He seemed to have illusions that a certain lady of the area, who was known as a witchwoman, had such power that at nights she would come, convert him into some kind of animal and ride him bareback miles over the neighborhood! Such was the pioneer way and thoughts of life.
The old gent was quite a chess player. He and a neighbor, William Minnigh, played one game all winter. It seems that each time one would meet the other, they would make the move. To show how honest they were, Minnigh made a wrong move and wouldn’t take it back. This caused him to lose the game.
Old Joseph and his wife were charter members of the Sunville Presbyterian Church which was organized June 12, 1839. Joseph was a staunch member until his death. Often Joseph and his family went to the home of John Davison, a neighbor, and both families would go to church at Sunville on Sundays. One Saturday the Shields family caught a large quantity of black suckers at the bridge in Bradleytown. Then they went to the Davisons and worked into the night getting the fish cleaned and salted away before Sunday dawned. They didn’t believe in working on Sundays. The Shields stayed overnight at the Davison home, then all went to church the next day.
A great-great granddaughter, Mrs. Marian McPheters, of Chapmanville has a book entitled, "Confession of Faith," which Joseph bought in Franklin in 1853 for 75 cents. It contains the constitution of the Presbyterian Church, confession of faith, the catechism and directory for the worship of God.
Sometime through the years Joseph built a new frame house which had vertical boards on the exterior. It is the present east part of the Karns house and of course, it has been remodeled through the years. The kitchen part was built by Fred Bumpus in the fall of 1905 for Wilson Shields. An old half-bank barn stood on Joseph's place. The last time Joseph shingled the barn roof he took a draw-shave and made his own shingles off a block of wood and shingled his own structure. The old barn fell down years later.
Joseph had fine health down through the years. The April 24, 1886 news of Bradleytown stated as follows: "Joseph Shields Sr., a resident of the town and among our oldest settlers, is still hearty, and his general health seems to be as good as ever. He is now in his 83rd year, and has resided where he now lives for 53 years." This fine state of condition was not to last long though. Shortly after the first of July he took sick with abdominal trouble and worsened until his death on Thursday, July 22. Services were conducted the next day by Rev. J.L. Robertson, Presbyterian pastor of Sunville, and Rev. O.C. Sherman, Baptist pastor of Chapmanville. The old gentleman was buried in a now unmarked grave in the Sunville Cemetery.
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