Edward McShane (1751-1796) had no son named David

 

Edward McShane (1751-1796) had no son named David

Jean M. Hoffman, CG

 The family of Edward McShane appears in two articles written in the 1970s by Emmett Moore Waits. The same children are listed, each list including a David McShane born in 1783 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and married 3 May 1849 in Harrison County, Kentucky, to Sarah Cook. [1] The later article adds David’s death on 1 November 1856 in Harrison County, Kentucky.[2] Family trees online and a DAR application include this David McShane as one of the children of Edward McShane.[3] The problem is that David is probably a misreading of the name Daniel and not an additional child.

 Among Waits’s references is a McShane genealogy by Electa Ball Spangler.[4] That paper lists the children of Edward McShane based on his six heirs named in a deed on 4 October 1796 in Bourbon County, Kentucky.[5] They were Sarah, Mary, Daniel, Francis, John and Elizabeth McShain. There is no David in that list. Daniel McShane was born in May 1781 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.[6] At the age of 17 he bought from Edward’s estate sale, reported in March 1799, a saddle, a mare, and a bed. Purchases were made by his younger brother, Francis, of an old gun and some clothing. John Waits, husband of Mary McShane,[7] made household and livestock purchases. John was the estate administrator.  Many purchases were made by Sarah McShane and a book went to Robert McShane, apparently Edward’s brother.[8] The youngest children, Elizabeth and John, made no purchases. No David McShane made a purchase.[9]

 Daniel McShane married Nancy Talbott, daughter of Henry Talbott, 23 July 1820 in Harrison County, Kentucky.[10] Daniel is a head of household in the U.S. census for 1820, 1830, and 1840 in Harrison County, Kentucky.[11] No David McShane is in those census records.[12] Daniel married again 3 May 1849. The marriage bond names the bride as Sarah Cook while the marriage return calls her Elizabeth Cook.[13] Daniel’s apparent wife in the 1850 U.S. census is named Sarah and Jno. F. Cook, age 19, is her son from a previous marriage.[14] Sarah (Griffith) Cook[15] was married to Daniel, not David McShane.

 Daniel McShane died on 1 November 1856. The death was recorded in a Harrison County death register. The online copies are of variable readability, but Daniel can be made out as the name. The remainder of the entry is clear on the date of death, his birthplace in New Jersey, and his parents as Edward and Catharine McShane.[16] He was buried in the Indian Creek Churchyard where his gravestone clearly reads “Daniel” with birth month and year and full date of death.[17] This is not the death of David but indexing of the death register at FamilySearch is in the name David in the year 1855. It is not subject to edit there. The same record at Ancestry is indexed under the name Addie H. McShane in 1856. At least there the name Daniel has been added as a correction.[18]

 

David McShane, child of Edward, did not exist. The name must be a confusion of the very similar cursive look of David and Daniel. The marriage to Sarah Cook and death date are those of Daniel. The origin of David’s birth year is not documented in the Waits articles.

 More research is needed to next address the identity of heir Sarah McShane.

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[1] Emmett M. Waits, “Colonial Families of the Americas, Ancestry of The Rev. Emmett Moore Waits,” Colonial Genealogist Vol. 4, no. 1 (Summer 1971): 23.

[2] Emmett M. Waits, “The Family of Francis McShane,” The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey Vol. 48, no. 2 (May 1973): 55-57.

[3] Membership application, Kathryn McShane Kunkel Coleman, National no. 760465, on Edward McShane (1751–1796, New Jersey), date of application 28 February 1992; National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Office of the Registrar General, Washington, D.C. And, a search of Ancestry Family Trees (https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/42/ : viewed 4 August 2023) for “David McShane, born 1783, New Jersey, died in Kentucky, parents Edward McShane and Catherine Dunham” provided 140 member trees.

[4] Electa Ball Spangler, McShane Genealogy, photocopy of 22-page typescript (created by 1967) with 2 pages added by Dixon A. Barr from 1982, p. 7; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/28050/).

[5] Bourbon County, Kentucky, Deed Book D:137-39, Richard and Mary Young to heirs of Edward McShain, 100 acres on waters of Indian Creek, 4 October 1796, recorded April 1797; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKW-2S5X-Y?i=73&cat=431279 ), digital film 008141370, images 74-75.

[6] Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22985246), memorial 22985246, Daniel McShane (1781–1856), Indian Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky; gravestone photo by Sharon Benefiel Palmer. And, “Kentucky Deaths and Burials, 1843-1970,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89K5-WHQW?i=426), digital film 004003314, image 427, Harrison County Deaths, Daniel McShane, 1856 (mis-identified as David McShane in 1855), birthplace New Jersey, names parents.

[7] “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5ZH-HTK ), digital film 004542764, image 25, Bourbon County Marriage Register 1:37, returns of Benj. Colen, John Waits and Mary McShaine, Sept. 1798. And, “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5Z4-Z2F ), digital film 004542750, image 476, Bourbon County marriage bonds, John Waits and Richard Taylor, bride Mary McSheane, 24 September 1798.

[8] Waits, “The Family of Francis McShane,” 58.

[9] “Kentucky Probate Records, 1727-1990,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GP3X-2R3?i=202&cc=1875188&cat=279820), digital film 004818818, images 203-04, Bourbon County Will Book B:33-35 Edward McShain estate inventory and sale.

[10] “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5Z6-99C), digital film 004542911, image 357, Harrison County Marriage returns (loose papers), Daniel McShane and Nancy Talbott, 1820.

[11] 1820 U.S. census, Harrison County, Kentucky, population schedule, Marysville, p. 206, line 34, Daniel McShane; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLR-LKX); NARA M33, roll 23. Plus, 1830 U.S. census, Harrison County, Kentucky, Eastern Division, p. 174, line 20, Daniel McShane; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHGP-783); NARA M19, roll 37. And, 1840 U.S. census, Harrison County, Kentucky, p. 150, line 29, Daniel McShane; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRK-KFS); NARA M704, roll 113.

[12] Searches at Ancestry.com for David McShane living in Kentucky in the 1840 and 1850 census return no results.

[13] “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9S7-92JQ?i=162&cc=1804888), digital film 004260728, image 163, Harrison County Marriage Returns, p. 1, Daniel McShane and Elizabeth Cook, 1849. And, “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5Z8-D8Q), digital film 004542906, image 1018, Harrison County marriage bonds, Daniel McShane and John W. Kimbrough, bride Sarah Cook, 3 May 1849.

[14] 1850 U.S. census, Harrison County, Kentucky, population schedule, District 1, Harrison, Kentucky, USA, sheet 70A, dwelling/family 281, Danl. McShane household; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/17192073:8054); NARA M432, roll 203.

[15] Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111525821) memorial page for Sarah (Griffith) McShane (1798–1871), Memorial ID 111525821, citing Griffith Cemetery, Hooktown, Nicholas County, Kentucky; gravestone photo by Mark Bugajski.

[16] “Kentucky Deaths and Burials, 1843-1970,” Harrison County Deaths, Daniel McShane, 1856 (mis-identified as David McShane in 1855).

[17] Find a Grave, memorial 22985246, Daniel McShane (1781–1856), Indian Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

[18] “Kentucky Deaths and Burials, 1843-1970,” FamilySearch, Harrison County Deaths, Daniel McShane, 1856 (mis-identified as David McShane in 1855). And, “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852-1965,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1697855:1222), image 525, Harrison County Deaths, Daniel McShane entry, 1856 (mis-indexed as Addie H. McShane).

 All online images reviewed on 3 August 2023.