Captain John Shelby

A Patriot of the American Revolution for VIRGINIA with the rank of CAPTAIN. DAR Ancestor # A102462

John Shelby was born 10 Jun 1723 in Tregaron, Cardiganshire, Wales. He married Sarah Davis 1750 in Maryland, daughter of David Davis and Catherine Davis. She died after 1787. On May 19, 1750 he received one hundred and fifty acres from his father, probably a wedding gift. He fought in the French and Indian War and reached the rank of lieutenant. After the war he moved to Pennsylvania but in 1773 he sold his farm in Pennsylvania and moved to Sullivan County, Tennessee near Evan Jr.’s farm. He stayed in Sullivan County until at least 1806. The date of his death is unknown. He and Sarah Davis had eight children: John, Isaac, Thomas, Catherine, David, Evan, Louise and Sarah.

John Shelby was born in Wales and emigrated with his parent to the British Colonies of North America in 1735. He married Sarah Davis of Pennsylvania and they made their home at "Black Walnut Point" in Pennsylvania.

1773: they migrated along with his brother Evan, Jr. to South West Virginia

Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Regiment during the French and Indian War

Captain in Virginia Militia during Revolution

His home was south of his brother's home, near the site of Blountville in Sullivan County, TN. This is where he died around 1800.

A Patriot of the American Revolution for VIRGINIA with the rank of CAPTAIN. DAR Ancestor # A102462

John Shelby was born 10 Jun 1723 in Tregaron, Cardiganshire, Wales. He married Sarah Davis 1750 in Maryland, daughter of David Davis and Catherine Davis. She died after 1787. On May 19, 1750 he received one hundred and fifty acres from his father, probably a wedding gift. He fought in the French and Indian War and reached the rank of lieutenant. After the war he moved to Pennsylvania but in 1773 he sold his farm in Pennsylvania and moved to Sullivan County, Tennessee near Evan Jr.’s farm. He stayed in Sullivan County until at least 1806. The date of his death is unknown. He and Sarah Davis had eight children: John, Isaac, Thomas, Catherine, David, Evan, Louise and Sarah.

John Shelby was born in Wales and emigrated with his parent to the British Colonies of North America in 1735. He married Sarah Davis of Pennsylvania and they made their home at "Black Walnut Point" in Pennsylvania.

1773: they migrated along with his brother Evan, Jr. to South West Virginia

Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Regiment during the French and Indian War

Captain in Virginia Militia during Revolution

His home was south of his brother's home, near the site of Blountville in Sullivan County, TN. This is where he died around 1800.

GEDCOM Note

Birth: Oct. 23, 1720 Death: Dec. 4, 1794 Bristol Sullivan County Tennessee, USA

Revolutionary War Militia Officer, Frontiersman. His date of birth is unknown, but he was baptized in October 23, 1720 at Tregaron, Cardiganshire, Wales. He came to America with his parents, Evan and Catherine Morgan Shelby, about 1734, the family first settling in what is now Antrim Township Franklin County, Pennsylvania. In 1739, they moved into Prince George's (later Frederick) County, MD where his father died in July 1751. Evan Jr. continued to reside in Maryland, near the North Mountain, Frederick County, in which locality, now a part of Washington County, he acquired, by deed or patent, nearly 24,000 acres of land. He became interested in the Indian fur trade and was concerned in trading posts at Michilimackinac and Green Bay. During the French and Indian War, he was in General Edward Braddock's campaign in 1755, and laid out part of the road from Fort Frederick to Fort Cumberland. Having served as First Lieutenant in Captain Alexander Beall's company in 1757 to 1768, he was commissioned by Governor Sharpe of Maryland as Captain of a company of rangers, and also held a commission as Captain under the government of Pennsylvania. He was in the advance party of the force under Gen. John Forbes, which took possession of Fort Duquesne in 1758, and crossed the Ohio River with more than half his company of scouts, making a daring reconnaissance of the fort. On November 12, 1758, near Loyalhanna, in a personal encounter, he is said to have slain with his own hand one of the principal Indian chiefs. In the same war, he served later as Major of a detachment of the Virginia regiment. For several years after the conflict he was a justice of the peace. In May 1762, he was chosen one of the managers for Maryland of the Potomac Company. He sustained heavy losses in the Indian trade from the ravages growing out of Pontiac's Conspiracy of 1763, and most of his property in Maryland was subjected to sale for the satisfaction of his debts. Hoping to better his fortune he moved, probably in 1773, to Fincastle County, in Southwest Virginia, which he ha previously visited where he engaged in farming, merchandising, and cattle-raising. He again became a prosperous land-owner and a conspicuous and influential frontier leader. In 1774, he commanded the Fincastle Company in Dunmore's War, and in the battle of Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774, he succeeded near the close of the action to the chief command in consequence of the death or disability of his superior officers. In 1776, he was appointed by Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia a Major in the troops commanded by Colonel William Christian against the Cherokees, and on December 21, he became Colonel of the militia of the newly-created county of Washington, of which he was also a magistrate. In 1777, he was entrusted with the command of sundry garrisons posted on the frontier of Virginia, and in association with Preston and Christian, negotiated a treaty with the Cherokees. By the extension of the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, it was ascertained that his residence lay in the latter state, and in 1781, he was elected a member of its Senate. Five years later, the Carolina Assembly made him Brigadier General of militia of the Washington District of North Carolina, the first officer of that grade on the "Western Waters". In March 1787, as commissioner for North Carolina, he negotiated a temporary truce with Col. John Sevier, governor of the insurgent and short-lived "State of Franklin". In August 1787, he was elected governor of the "State of Franklin", to succeed Sevier but declined the honor. Having resigned his post as Brigadier General on October 29,1787, he withdrew from public life. Evan Shelby was of a rugged, stocky build, somewhat low in stature and stern of countenance. He possessed great muscular strength and unbounded energy and powers of endurance. He was straightforward and at times, rather blunt in speech, absolutely fearless, and always prompt to take the aggressive in any action or enterprise, civil or military, in which he engaged. For a man of his day, he was well educated and noted for his probity and patriotism. He left many descendants, of whom the most celebrated was his son, Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of Kentucky. (bio by: K M)

Family links: Parents: Evan Shelby (1690 - 1751) Catherine Davies Morgan Shelby (1700 - 1754)

Spouse: Letitia Cox Shelby (1727 - 1777)*

Children: Isaac Shelby (1750 - 1826)*

• Calculated relationship

Burial: East Hill Cemetery Bristol Sullivan County Tennessee, USA

Source: RootsWeb. "John Shelby was born 10 Jun 1723 in Tregaron, Cardiganshire, Wales, and died 1794 in North Carolina. He married Sarah Davis 1750 in Maryland, daughter of David Davis and Catherine Davis. She died after 1787. On May 19, 1750 he received one hundred and fifty acres from his father, probably a wedding gift. He fought in the French and Indian War and reached the rank of lieutenant. After the war he moved to Pennsylvania but in 1773 he sold his farm in Pennsylvania and moved to Sullivan County, Tennessee near Evan Jr.’s farm. He stayed in Sullivan County until at least 1806. The date of his death is unknown. He and Sarah Davis had eight children: John, Isaac, Thomas, Catherine, David, Evan, Louise and Sarah."

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Trees Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; @R3@ Database online. Record for Isaac Shelby http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pubmembertrees&h=1946...

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Trees Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; @R3@ Database online. Record for Isaac Shelby http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pubmembertrees&h=1946...

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Trees Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; @R3@ Database online. Record for John Shelby http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pubmembertrees&h=-400...