CLAN HAMILTON 
TAYLOR FAMILY INDEX

EMAIL SITE AUTHOR

Hamilton Shaw was born in County Down, Ireland, sometime during the 1700's.  He married in Ireland to an unknown daughter of the Clay family.  Hamilton Shaw is listed as a tax-payer and farmer in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1775.  In the 1790 enumeration of Northumberland County and he is credited with 10 children and we have the names of 5 of these children.  They are James, Jane, Susannah, Hannah, and Jonathan.

    Hamilton Shaw b. unknown married ? Clay b. unknown
      James Shaw b. unknown
      Jane Shaw b. unknown
      Susannah Shaw b. unknown
      Hannah Shaw b. 1787
    Jonathan Shaw b. 1785

JONATHAN SHAW

Jonathan Shaw, son of Hamilton Shaw, married Sarah Wolam sometime shortly before 1807.  Sarah Wolam was of German descent - her father Joseph Wolam, a farmer, was born in Germany.  Jonathan Shaw was a freighter in the early years of his life.  Jonathan operated with wagons drawn by teams of 6 horses each and his route ran between Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.

Jonathan and Sarah had 12 children which were born in Elkrun Township of Columbiana County, Ohio.  Two children died in infancy.  The children were:

     1. Mary Shaw b. 1808           7. Joseph Shaw b. unknown
     2. Hamilton Shaw b. 1810       8. Jonathan Shaw, Jr. b. 1822
     3. Ballister Shaw b. unknown   9. Matthew Shaw b. 1825
     4. Elizabeth Shaw b. 1814     10. Sarah Shaw b. 1827
     5. John Shaw b. 1816          11. Hannah Shaw b. 1830
     6. Susan Shaw b. 1818         12. Nancy Shaw b. 1834
 

In September of 1845, Jonathan & Sarah left Columbiana County with 5 children moving west to Orange Township, Hancock County, Ohio.  Three daughters and a son remained behind in Columbiana County.  They were Hamilton Shaw & wife Abigail Turner Shaw with 5 children; Mary Shaw Hullinger & Hiram Hullinger with their 2 boys; Susan Shaw Garrison and Dunham Garrison with their 5 children.  Two sons of Jonathan Shaw headed west either along with Jonathan or afterwards.  John Shaw and wife Jane Montgomery Shaw plus Hamilton Shaw and wife Abegail Turner Shaw.  John & Jane to Orange Township, probably not far from father, Jonathan.  Hamilton and Abigail to near Ada, Ohio, also not far from father.

Jonathan Shaw, upon arriving in Hancock County, purchased 120 acres in Section 19 of Orange Township.  Of this acreage, 90 was purchased from Henry Dally at $1000.  The remainder, 30 acres, was purchased from Charles Fisher for $250.  Besides the farm, Jonathan built and operated a water-powered saw mill.
 

ELIZABETH SHAW

Elizabeth Shaw was born in 1814 in Columbiana County, Pennsylvania.  Elizabeth married Joanathan Hamilton and did not leave with Jonathan Shaw and Sarah in September of 1845 but instead arrived later.  They remained behind with their 4 children.  Elizabeth and Jonathan are the Hamiltons that this branch of the Hamilton family originated.

In the Autumn of 1846, Elizabeth Shaw Hamilton and husband Jonathan Hamilton left Columbiana County and headed west for Hancock County.  They too settled in Orange Township, Section 19, where Jonathan bought 143 acres of hardwood forest land from one Beriah Battles.  It is located on the Allen County line, 3 miles south of Bluffton, Ohio.  The deed to this land was written on sheep-skin and bore the signature of President Andrew Jackson.  The 143 acres of land had to be cleared so John and family resided in a squatters cabin from 1846-1855.  John was a blacksmith by trade and made products for neighbors in exchange for their help in clearing land and in erecting his buildings.  The hardwood was either used for buildings or fences, otherwise it was burned.  Elizabeth Hamilton related that she had assisted in rolling logs into piles for burning.

Elizabeth and Jonathan had 11 children

     1. David Hamilton b. 1835          7. James Hamilton b. 1848
     2. Sarah Jane Hamilton b. 1836     8. Thomas Hamilton b. 1850
     3. Mary Hamilton b. 1840           9. Euphema Hamilton b. 1853
     4. Jonathan Hamilton b. 1842      10. Amanda Hamilton b. 1856
     5. William Hamilton b. unknown    11. John Jefferson Hamilton b. 1860
     6. Margaret Hamilton b. unknown

Elizabeth Shaw Hamilton and John Hamilton were members of the United Brethren Presbyterian Church.  On Sundays the family would attend church services at Cannonsburg, Ohio.  The distance there and back was 16 miles over extremely rough roads in a farm wagon.  While at church they would listen to a 2 hour sermon, then eat lunch which they brought with them, then they listened to another long sermon in the afternoon before returning home.  On the Sundays when it was not possible to attend church, the family engaged in reading the Bible.  The previous was stated by their son, John J. Hamilton.

Elizabeth Hamilton  died at age 78 on October 6, 1892. John Hamilton died at age 69 on August 16, 1877, and both are buried in Thompson Cemetery, 4 1/2 miles southeast of Bluffton, Ohio.
 

The below is on the surname of Shaw and how it relates to this site's author.

1. Hamilton Shaw b.c. 1750
 2. Jonathan Shaw b. 1785
  3. Elizabeth (Shaw) Hamilton b. 1814
   4. David Hamilton b. 1835
    5. Thomas Hamilton b. 7-9-1858
     6. James Franklin Hamilton b. 5-6-1883
      7. Iva Ellen (Hamilton) Taylor b. 2-11-1905 (grandmother)