Benjamin G. Shinn

Benjamin Shinn, the sixth child of Joseph and Mary (Budd) Shinn, was born in New Jersey, and was baptized as a minor by Rev. Colin Campbell in 1746. He married, but the family name of his wife is lost. He removed to Hampshire County, Va., in 1772, and from there to Harrison County. In "Border Warfare" Benjamin is described as a scout during the Revolution, and in the Indian wars that followed . He died in intestate in Virginia. Benjamin Shinn born 1731 in New Jersey. There is a record of his baptism in 1746. He married Anne Rees. In 1772 he moved to Hampshire County, Virginia and from there to Harrison County, Va. (now West Virginia) In the "Border Warfare" Benjamin was described as a scout and the same in the revolutionary and Indian wars which followed. He died in 1791. He had four children and we are descended from the first, Isaac. Notes from the book of Charles W. Shinn "Ancestors and descendants of Samuel Shinn" Baptism: 30 MAY 1747 St. Mary's Cathedral, Burlington, NJ Quaker Baptist

Family

Extracted from Shinn, Josiah H. The History of the Shinn Family. The Genealogical and Historical Publishing Company Chicago 1903. < link >

Benjamin Shinn, the sixth child of Joseph and Mary (Budd) Shinn, was born in New Jersey, and was baptized as a minor by Rev. Colin Campbell in 1746. He married, but the family name of his wife is lost. He removed to Hampshire County, Va., in 1772, and from there to Harrison County. In "Border Warfare" Benjamin is described as a scout during the Revolution, and in the Indian wars that followed. He died intestate in Virginia. (Page 120.)

Children of Benjamin and ((???)) Shinn.

• 416. (1) Isaac Shinn, b. New Jersey; m. Agnes Drake, 2/16/1785, in Virginia.
• 417. (2) Samuel Shinn, b. New Jersey; m. Sarah Davidson, 1785, in Virginia.
• 418. (3) Lucretia Shinn, b. Virginia; m. Samuel [Josiah] Davidson, 6/17/1785.
• 419. (4) Amy Shinn, b. Virginia; m. Josiah Davidson, 2/25/1788.

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Note: There were two Josiah Davissons of the same age, living in Harrison County (and for a while, in Kentucky) at the same time, who married Shinn sisters with the similar names of Annie and Amy. The situation was partly resolved by nicknaming them ‘Long Si’ and ‘Short Si’.

Josiah ‘Long Si’ married Lucretia or Annie Shinn in 1785 while the other Josiah married Amy Shinn in 1788. Short Si and Amy are both buried in the Davisson Cemetery in Greenup County. It wouldn’t have helped very much to call them Josiah, son of Andrew, and Josiah, son of Amaziah because their father’s names were also similar.

At least three other Josiah Davissons were also living in the county at the same time. A Josiah Davisson, son of John B. and Rachel Davisson, and his wife Sarah Smith (my gr. aunt) owned 92 acres on Indian Run. On 9 Aug 1858 he sold this tract to Eli Hurst. He also owned 50 acres on Dog Run at the lower end of Salem where he died in 1894.

Notes

http://blankenshipweb.com/a2z/shinn/NJ%20Shinn%20Family.htm

Levi Shinn was the pioneer of the westward movement, so far as the family of Shinn was connected with it. The records do not disclose the place of his marriage, his wife's name, nor his dismissal from any New Jersey meeting of Friends. Neither do the records show when he reached Hopewell nor how long he remained there. Tradition and the records say that he lived for awhile on Apple Pie Ridge, in Frederick County, Va., where others of the family and others from New Jersey had taken residence. In 1778 we find him in Harrison County, Va., blazing with his ax the domain which was to be his under "Tomahawk Right," and near which the town of Shinnston now stands. The accompanying picture shows the log house built by him at this time.

After this he returned to Hopewell for his family. His description of the county so pleased his friends and relatives that many of them determined to move. Some time during the year 1779 Levi, with his family, his brother Clement and his family, his cousin Benjamin and family, viz., Samuel, Isaac, Amy and Lucretia Shinn, and some of the Clarks, Antrims, Earls, Drakes, Herberts and others, set out for Harrison County. Arriving there, they took up such lands as pleased them, and began their improvement. Levi Shinn had already made his selection. Clement located on Middle Creek, about one mile from where Shinnston was afterwards.