John Shively And Wife, Mary Geer, Located In Vinton County, Ohio Records

     Part of the enjoyment of the hobby of genealogy is finding new information on a family that has not been well documented, sharing the information, receiving additional new information from those with whom the information was shared, and then putting the pieces of the information together. One family for which this applies is the family of John Shively, born 1800 in Virginia, and his wife Mary (maiden name Geer), born 1800 in Pennsylvania.

   The census records are a good source of information starting in 1850 because it was requested that all members of the household be listed.  Prior to 1850 the  head of the household was listed with the number of individuals in age groups enumerated.  The family of John Shively and Mary are located in Ohio on the 1850 Vinton County, Jackson Township census.  In the household are John Shively, age 50 born in VA, wife Mary age 50 born in PA, son Isaac age 24 born in OH, daughter Nancy age 17 born OH, and son John age 12 born in OH.  Also located in Jackson Township are the families of George Shively age 29, wife Nancy age 17, and daughter Sarah J age 5 months; David Shively age 26, wife Amy age 26 and son John W age 2 months; James S Bell age 30, wife Catherine age 23, daughter Catherine age 10, son Oliver age 7, and daughter Mary E age one year.   George Shively, David Shively and Catherine Bell are the married children of John and Mary Shively.  Note that James Bell was married prior to Catherine Shively and this was her first marriage.

     As more people moved west new counties were formed from existing counties in some of the states to help reduce the distance people had to travel to get to the courthouses. The families living in these areas might have never  moved but their names begin to appear in a different county. This may be case for the family of John Shively because Vinton County, Ohio was formed in 1850 from several earlier established counties.  One of the counties that gave up land for Vinton County was Hocking County.  On the 1840 Hocking County, Ohio, Jackson Township is the family of John Shively.  If the information found on the 1850 Vinton County census is compared to the 1840 Hocking County census the following can be notated:  1840 lists John Shively, head of household, male age 40-50; there are 2 males ages 15-20 which would be sons George and David; 1 male age 10-15 which would be son Isaac; 1 male age under 5 which would be son John; 1 female age 40-50 which would be wife Mary; 1 female between 10-15 which would be daughter Catherine; and 1 female between 5-10 which would be daughter Nancy.

     Who were the parents of John Shively, born 1800 in Virginia?  Hopefully future research will be able to answer this question.  There are not too many early Shively families in Virginia but the information available on them is limited. One interesting history on this family was found in “Vinton County Ohio History & Families, Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, Kentucky, 1996, pages 128-129”.  In the history mention is made that John Shively was a famous weaver who came from Holland to Columbiana County before 1800.  More research and documentation is suggested before accepting this into your family genealogy.

     Not all of the family of John and Mary stayed in Ohio.  It is known that their daughter Mary married James Bell and records for them can be found in Coles County, Illinois.  John and Mary’s son, David, had descendants that are located in Caldwell County, Missouri.

    The Locust Grove Cemetery in Vinton County lists several of the family members of John and Mary Shively indicating that not all of the family left Ohio. The names of descendants of John Shively and Mary Geer continue to appear on the census records in Vinton County through 1930. The 1930 census records are the last census records that are currently available.