My Trails into the Past

The last post was written about Daniel Shotts and his wife Mary Ann Bishop. Before tackling the Bishop family line, I will write what I know about Daniel’s parents, David Shotts and Mary Wagoner. David Shotts (1760-1825) married Mary Wagoner/Wagner in 1788 or 1891. He died in Ross County around October 1825. His known children were: Catherine Shotts (1795-1833) Jacob Shotts (1796-1883), m. Sarah Toops 1817 in Ross Co. Elizabeth Shotts (1798-1894), m. Ezekiel Timmons Margaret Shotts (1800-1884), m. Jacob G. Bishop 1821 in Ross Co. Hannah Shotts (1801-1884) Mary Shotts (1802-1801) Daniel Shotts (1804-1875), m. Mary Ann Bishop 1831 in Ross Co. Sophia Shotts (1806-1881), m. Amos Bishop 1830 in Ross Co. Jonas Shotts (1809- ), m. Isabel Haynes 1838 in Ross Co. Susanna Shotts (1811-1905), m. Henry Bishop 1856 in Ross Co. My children’s line is through Daniel Shotts & Mary Ann Bishop, through their daughter, Catherine E, who married Amos Gorrell in 1866. Family Histories & C...

Working on the Shotts family for September. The first post was about Catherine Shotts who married Amos Gorrell. Her parents were Daniel Shotts and Mary Ann Bishop. [1] This post will be about what I know about them. According to the Find a Grave memorial, Daniel was born on 23 February 1804 in Augusta County, Virginia. [2] The tombstone photo is very worn is difficult to read. It gives his death date of 9 Oct 1875 and the age at death of 71 years, ? months, and 18 days. However, a reading done perhaps in 1993 gave the age of death as 71 years, 7 months and 16 days. [3] This calculates to a birth of 23 February 1804. [4] Census records are consistent for his birthplace of Virginia; however, they are silent on the county. He was 46 in 1850, [5] 56 in 1860, [6] and 65 in 1870. [7] Perhaps the source for the county came from the book, Ross County, Ohio Early Families, Volume II. The bio for the Shotts-Wagoner family states “all children born in Augusta County, Virginia except S...

An interesting article was published in the Chillicothe (Ohio) Gazette in 1893 that gives a story of an old powder horn owned over the years by three men. [1] One of the owners was Daniel Shotts, my husband’s 3x-great-grandfather. He had received the deer-skin covered powder horn in 1825 from a hermit named Hewitt, who lived many years in a cave. In those early days, hunters used a long-barreled, muzzle-loading rifle. This powder horn was described in the article as made of “cow’s horn” that later was “mended by drawing over it the skin from a deer’s leg, hair out, which has hardened until it is as firm as metal, holding the horn so that it is impossible to move it. The larger end is filled with a smooth wooden stopper with a swivel in it, so that a strap could be passed through it. The small end is stopped by a wooden peg.” After Daniel used it, he gave it to Martin Haynes in 1835. The article went on to say that it was now (in 1893) in the possession of Martin’s grandson, C.M. ...