Study of Darlington Co

For Study on the Darlington Co. SC family of Shirleys and connections?

I HAVE MOVED THIS STUDY PAGE FROM THE OLD SHIRLEY WEBPAGE TO OUR NEW WEB PAGE. THIS STUDY WAS DONE ABOUT 2004 OR 2005 MAYBE? Things may have changed or we have new ideas now with new info since this was put together, etc. It is an exchange of info and ideas.

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READ QUICKLY OVER THIS AND COME BACK TO STUDY IT. THIS IS LENGTHY!!! GOES INTO VIRGINIA TOO! I HAVE SPENT 2 DAYS ON THIS.

Known locations of residence in the following Census records.

1780

DOBBS CO NC

David

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1800

LENOIR CO. NC

Moses 1765-1784

DARLINGTON CO. SC

David 1765-1784

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1810

LENOIR CO. NC

Moses 1765-1784

Benjamin 1784-1794

STOKES CO.

Kelly 1765-1784

DARLINGTON CO. SC

David b. before 1765

John 1765-1784

Kelly 1784-1794

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1820

I DON'T HAVE THE CENSUS FOR NC

DARLINGTON CO. SC

David ___

Moses b. before 1775

John b. before 1775

Burrell 1794-1804

Jane 1775-1794 (James?)

Prudence b. before 1775

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1830

DARLINGTON CO. SC

Burrell

Eliz.

James

Penny Graves

Prudence

DALLAS CO. AL

John 1790-1800

Moses 1800-1810

PIKE CO. AL

John 1790-1800

Patsey 1770-1780

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1840

DARLINGTON CO. SC

Prudy

Burrell

David

James

Eliz.

PIKE CO. AL

Jacob K.

CRAWFORD CO. MO

Jacob

T.J.

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1850

DARLINGTON CO. SC

Burrell 1797 SC and family

David 1828 SC (wife Nancy)

PIKE CO. AL

James 1795 SC (wife Winifred)

Hamilton David 1820 SC and family

J.K. (James Kelly) 1824 SC (wife Lucinda)

Jacob K. 1811 SC (wife Eunity)

Prudence 1770 SC

CHOCTAW CO. AL

Nancy 1822 AL (living with McCrae's)

Moses 1810 NC (wife Susan)

CARROLL CO. MS

Benjamin (couldn't find, just listed in index)

LAUDERDALE CO. MS

John P. 1828 AL (wife Sarah)

WAYNE CO. MS

Allen 1805 SC (wife Nancy)

CRAWFORD CO. MO

T.J. 1810 NC

SHANNON CO. MO

Lucinda (wife of Jacob)

CALDWELL CO. LA

David 1814 SC (wife Drusilla)

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My great great grandfather is Jacob Shirley b. ca 1812 probably NC. The first information we can find on him is when he appears in Warren County, TN in the early 1830s along with Thomas Jefferson (T. J.) Shirley who we think is his older brother by a few years.

Jacob is married to Sophia (maiden name may be Speer or Lemon) and T. J. marries Mary Simmons 7 Sep 1831 she was b. 25 Nov 1814 in VA. Both families named their first known born son William. Other sons are named Charles, James, Jacob Henry, Thomas, and Edward Nicles.

In 1838 - 1839 both families leave Warren County and move to Crawford County, MO the area is now in Dent County. The 1840 census shows an older woman 65+ living with Jacob's family. When Jacob and T. J. first reached MO they purchased land from the federal government along with a Mary Shirley. I had always assumed that this Mary was T. J.'s wife but George points out that this would be highly unusual and that this Mary maybe be Jacob's mother who would be the older woman living with them.

In the mid 1840s Jacob married second, Lucinda Brooks b. ca 1819 NC (maybe Edgecombe County). They had two children a son, Alexander b. 6 Dec 1847 is my great grandfather.

At the time of the 1850 census Jacob is no where to be found. Lucinda is listed as head of household and is in Shannon County, MO with her two children. Jacob's children by Sophia are living with T. J. Shirley's family still in Crawford County, MO.
As you may know 1850 is the first census that lists birth places. T. J.'s birthplace is listed as NC.

In 1852 T. J. moves to the CA goldfields with all or most of the children of his expanded family. (Could Jacob have gone out in 1849??) T. J. is killed there 13 Nov 1859. Some of the above information regarding T.J.'s family comes from a descendant of his in CA.

That is most of everything that I know. With all of us working toward the same end now maybe we will be able to come up with more. One thing that we should keep in mind is that this common ancestor maybe back further than we are thinking. Thanks to the past work that George has done it appears that we now have a location in NC to continue our hunt.

Regards;
Gary Francis Shirley

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I got back to JOHN PINKNEY SHIRLEY really quick. But proving who is father and mother were has been very difficult. But, I was 99% sure that I was right, but this DNA test really makes it 100% as far as I am concerned.

It seems the parents of John Pinkney Shirley died without leaving a will and I have not been able to find any deeds that name him as a child. As a result, I had to track families and try to learn who was who and who was moving with who. It has been interesting, tedious and time consuming.

We knew that John Pinkney Shirley had a brother named William Washington Shirley based on family tradition. We knew both their ages and that William Washington Shirley was born in Alabama on January 1, 1830. The only Shirley family in th entire state of Alabama with 2 sons under the age of 5 was a JOHN SHIRLEY in Dallas County, Alabama. The name John certainly interested me since it agreed with my John Pinkney Shirley. So, I began to track him and other Shirley names back and forward. Living next to him in 1830 was a Moses Shirley who was the right age to be his brother. I tracked Moses Shirley, his brother, to land just east of where John Pinkney Shirley lived. Once again, a good sign. Moses was in the 1840 census for Washington County, Alabama, but John Shirley was not. There was a HELEN Shirley in Washington County, AL with 2 sons 10-15( the right age for John Pinkney Shirley and William Washington Shirley ). This Helen disappeared in the records.

I was interested in her because John Pinkney Shirley named one of his daughters Susan Ellen Shirley. Susan was the name of his wife's mother and I wondered if Ellen was the name of John Pinkney's mother. I wondered if Helen should have been really Ellen.

By the way, I am an auditor by trade and I really enjoy a puzzle.

Then working backword, I looked for the parents of Moses Shirley and JOHN SHIRLEY. I found a Moses Shirley listed in the 1820 Darlington County, South Carolina census with a large family. I sent off for his estate and got the names of all his children and sure enough it included John and Moses. It also included Nathaniel Shirley, David Shirley, Caty Mozingo, Martha Skinner and Nancy Hearon. John Shirley was the orignal administrator and then Emanuel Hearon took over as administrator. There was also a George Mozingo and a William Mozingo listed as bondsmen.

I then went back to the 1830 Dallas County, Alabama census and I found almost all of these people listed on the same page. Emanuel Hearon, William Mozingo, George Mozingo, Moses Shirley, John Shirley, and a lot of Skinners. It was clear that these were the same people. I traced all of these people as they moved westward to Washington County, Alabama into an area that would later become Choctaw County, Alabama( borders Lauderdale County, Mississippi ). I also found deeds for William Mozingo and Emanuel Hearon noting their wives names were Catherine and Nancy. So this made it 100% sure that we were dealing with the descendants of the Moses Shirley who died in 1826 in Darlington County who had moved to just east of where John Pinkney Shirley lived all of his adult life.

I then had a researcher in South Carolina do a search for a Ellen Shirley or Helen Shirley in Darlington County. Sure enough, we found an 1826/1827 deed where JOHN SHIRLEY was selling his land and his wife's name was ELLY - a derivative of Ellen.

This convinced me. But about a year ago I found a 1846 Lauderdale County, Mississippi census. In it, near families that lived near where John Pinkney Shirley lived, I found an ELLY SHIRLEY - 4 males and 4 females. So this made me 99% sure I had the right parents for John Pinkney Shirley. Living next to ELLY SHIRLEY in the 1846 census was a Miles Turner. Just to tie this closer, William Washington Shirley, Pinkney's brother, named one of his sons Miles Turner Shirley. Just to tie it closer, Pinkney had a sister named Nancy who was apparently named after his aunt Nancy Hearon. William Washington Shirley would have been named after William Washington Mozingo, his uncle by marriage.

Another of my assumptions was that Miles Turner, who lived next to Elly Shirley, married one of the Shirley girls. I assumed that Elly must have died and Miles Turner and his wife, who was named CATHERINE( named after Catherine Mozingo ) probably helped raise William Washington Shirley and the other Shirley children. I have not proved this. But, I did prove to my satisfaction that his wife was a Shirley because we find Shirley children living with Miles Turner and his wife Catherine in a later census. The children belong to a Benjamin Richard Shirley who died in the War Between the States. So, I believe this Benjamin Shirley was a brother to Pinkney also.

Also, one of the older realtives in Lauderdale county told me that Pinkney had a sister named Nancy who married a Griffis and moved to near Chunky, MS. I found an 18 year old Nancy Shirley living in Choctaw County, Alabama just across the state line 2 houses from a married Harrison Griffis. I tracked this Harrison Griffis and found his grave buried next to a wife named Nancy. Right age as the Nancy in the 1850 census. I then got copies of all their children's birth certificates until I found one with the mother's maiden name. Guess what - it was Shirley. So this Nancy Shirley would have been named for Nancy Hearon, her aunt.

The 4 sons listed in the 1846 Lauderdale County, MS census under ELLY SHIRLEY appear to be John Pinkney Shirley, William Washington Shirley, J. B. Shirley, and Benjamin R. Shirley. The 4 females appear to be ELLY, Nancy, Catherine, and 1 more still to identify.

Elly must have died since she has not been found since then. The only mystery about all this is that William Washington Shirley, J.B.Shirley, Benjamin Shirley and the other sister have not been located in the 1850 census. I believe they are there in Lauderdale County, but just not listed.

Also, George Mozingo, who I mentioned earlier was older than the others who moved to Dallas County. He had a daughter who married Moses Shirley - Pinkney's brother. Also, this George Mozingo became guardian for a Eleanor Seagars in 1809. I believe this Eleanor Seagars probably married John Shirley and became ELLY SHIRLEY.

All of the facts that I have put togther prove, in my opinion, that John Pinkney Shirley was a son of John and Elly Shirley and that this John Shirley was a son of the Moses Shirley who died in 1826 in Darlington County, South Carolina.

We also believed that "your" David Shirley was a brother of Moses Shirley because they appear to be about the same age and both were in Darlington County. The match of DNA proves that I came from this line and also proves that my theory was correct and that Moses and David were either brothers or cousins.

I am now 100% certain that I descend from Moses Shirley through JOHN and ELLY Shirley.

Probably more than you want to know,

George Shirley

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My direct ancestors are as follows:

George Norman Shirley, Jr. - me born 1950 Laurel, Mississippi
George Norman Shirley born 1915 Desoto ( Clark County ) Mississippi
William Arthur Shirley born 1883 Lauderdale County, Mississippi
James Norman Shirley born 1858 Lauderdale County, Mississippi
John Pinkney Shirley born 1828 Dallas County, Alabama
John Shirley born 1790-1800 Lenoir County, North Carolina
Moses Shirley born 1765-1774, probably North Carolina - died 1826
in Darlington County, South Carolina
Probably David Shirley 1725-

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Yes, this ties our families back to the Darlington County, S C GROUP and myself back to Moses Shirley who would the brother of David Shirley. Other brothers are believed to be John Shirley and Kelly Shirley.

We know that these Shirleys came from Dobbs, Greene, Lenoir counties in North Carolina. In Dobbs County, NC in 1769 we find a David Shirley and a Michael Shirley. I believe you descend from one of these two people who were probably brothers. I believe my Moses Shirley descends from the David Shirley. I do not know what happened to Michael. Maybe your Jacob descends from him. That is my current thought.

We know we connect somewhere and we know we connect through these Shirleys.

We now need to find out where they came from prior to DOBBS County. Maybe some of the other lines will also tie back to us and help us identify the prior counties/states.

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I am copying a simple descendant chart that shows descendants from a David Shirley, Sr. in North Carolina. He seems to be unproven, but his son, David Shirley who married Prudence Kelly is my father’s great, great, great grandfather. He is a certainty.

My father, Marvin Shirley is 81 years old, in good health and lives only 25 miles from where most of these Shirleys settled early in Darlington. My brother and sisters and I convinced him to participate in the DNA study. We paid and he willingly participated. In early June I went with him to the Savannah Advent Cemetery and was able to see most of these graves. His recall of persons and things that his father (Foy Spayne Shirley, 1882-1972) was amazing. One of the things that my dad, Marvin, shared with me as I undertook this study and research was that “Papa (my grandfather Foy Spayne Shirley) always said that we Shirleys came from Virginia, Kenny.” Now I don’t know how much of that is fact or fiction, but it is any interesting statement, and perhaps remembrance.

Again, I apologize for the brevity of this note. Planes are not patient objects. I would love hearing what your assumptions are and how all of these pieces fit together. Please let me know how I can be of service to you.

Blessings,

Kenneth M. Shirley

Direct Descendants of David Shirley, Sr.

1 David Shirley, Sr. 1725 -

2 David Shirley 1755 - 1810

... +Prudence Kelly 1770 - 1850

. 3 Burrell Shirley 1797 - 1863

..... +Mariah Gatlin 1805 - 1863

... 4 James Elias Kelley Shirley 1836 - 1903

....... +Margaret Mahalia (Duck) Woodham 1839 - 1919

..... 5 James Robert Shirley 1858 - 1936

......... +Margaret McKenzie 1861 - 1930

...... 6 Foy Spayne Shirley 1882 - 1972

.......... +Jessie Moore 1888 - 1976

........ 7 Marvin Joseph Shirley 1922 -

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Dear George and Gary,

Thank you so much for your note back. It really is an astounding thing. Let me give you just a little more information, I can share a great deal more, if you need it. I am Kenneth Marvin Shirley, born 1954, of course to Marvin J. Shirley. My son Benjamin J. Shirley was born in 1983.

I was intrigued to get your information back and have entered it into my database, using Family Tree Maker. That is the only way that I can keep everything straight. After I listed your information, I went ahead and asked Family Tree Maker what our relationship would be. We match exactly as 6^th cousins. If you have a son or a daughter, they would be seventh cousins to my daughter Megan and my son Benjamin. That is really fascinating that after all these generations, there is so close a match. Apparently, you and I are not only perfect matches, but perfect cohorts, matching generation for generation. It seems your side of the family is always four to six years ahead of mine. Now, again, I find that fascinating.

I am curious what you have learned about your ancestor’s Moses family, David Shirley, Sr. and others. Apparently, that is the common link that we share. Do you have any more information, any hints, any ideas? Just curious where all this might have led you. I have only seriously been involved for the last five months in a desire to give my father the fullest family history possible for his 82 birthday in March and my son’s 21 birthday in May. I would love to hear anything more that you might have possibly discovered.

Gary, do you mind if I ask where you fit into this interesting puzzle? Just trying to keep my ducks lined up.

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Let's jump right back to North Carolina.......

Where the earliest record of a Shirley in NC. If you find more... let me know. I am trying to plot this all out.

NEW HANOVER CO. NC

1734 John was here'

1736 James was here and died here in 1737. His wife was Ann.

CURRICK CO. NC

1743 John was here

BLADEN CO. NC

1763 Tax list... Phillip

ANSON CO. NC

1762 William Stubley Shirley was here and by 1768 he was in GA

DOBBS CO. NC

1765 Michael was here

1769 Michael and David was here

GREEN CO. NC

1769-1799 Michael and David were here

I have looked for this Michael. The only early Michaels I can find are:

1830 census of McNairy Co. TN Michael 1760-1770

1840 census of Newberry Co. SC Michael (I have no age listed)

1850 census St. John's Co. FL Micajah (?Michael) 1775 VA

1793 Moses and David are here (Snowhill Twp).

NOTE: 1812 a David was here. He is not the one of Darlington C. SC. Too young.

EDGECOMBE CO. NC

1777 Richard living here (he died in 1823)

NOTE: Richard m. first a daughter of Waller. If you look in Norfolk Co. VA there is mention many times of Waller and Richard Shirley. I need to check and see if it is the father in law or relative. John and Daniel Shirley mentioned too!

MARTIN CO. NC

1779 Thomas on a tax list

WILKES CO NC

1781 Thomas (mentions Aaron Pinson too!) This appears to tie into Abbeville CO SC Shirleys

CRAVEN CO. NC

1786 James and Samuel here

BERTIE CO. NC

1791 Thomas bought land /Halifax Co. NC. He died 1797 wife is Nancy.

GLASGOW CO. NC

1793 Moses on voters list

LENOIR CO NC

1800 census... Moses

PASQUANTANK CO. NC

1800 census... Daniel b.1765-1784

SAMPSON CO. NC

1800 census... Michael

STOKES CO NC

1812 Militia rolls, Kelly

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VIRGINIA

selected counties of interest!

ISLE OF WIGHT CO VA

1727 John and Thomas (also mentions Nicholas Derring and James Sampson)

1755 James in Vestry book

PRINCESS ANNE CO. VA

Daniel Shirley died 1814-15, wife is Mary Ann. Son: DAVID SHIRLEY.

YORK CO VA

Richard Sherley 1674. Appears he died and that he had a daughter, Eliz., m. an Otey.

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AN INTERESTING ITEM IS...

Daniel Shirley 1717 d. 1768 of Northumberland Co. VA m. Elishy RICE and they had the following sons:

1. John 1741 who went to Princess Anne Co. Va

2. James 1745

3. Richard 1748 (Is he the one in Edgecombe Co. NC)

4. Daniel 1754 (did he go to Princess Anne Co. VA too?)

There is also a daughter, Judith and she had to choose a guardian when her father, Daniel, died. She choose Richard Rice. They had 2 children before marriage!

1. Thomas Shirley

2. Ann Shirley who m. ___ Rust.

They had other children who were named RICE. Thomas was given the name Thomas Shirley since he was born before their marriage. WHERE DID HE GO? To NC and to SC?