Elbridge Blish Thompson died in the sinking of the Lusitania. He was educated at Yale University and after his death, his parents provided full scholarships to Yale for two graduates of Shields High School at Seymour, Indiana as a memorial to their son.
John Shahan Shields and Sarah Haggard settled on the Osage Fork River in Missouri in 1837. In 1841, John became the first sheriff and tax collector of Wright County. He was also one of the three members of the first county court in Wright County. A Goodspeed history said he was "very accommodating" and that he would accept spun-thread stockings, livestock, etc. from poor people who did not have the cash with which to pay their taxes. He became the first sheriff of Laclede County, Missouri in 1849. He was a lawyer, judge and justice of the peace in Laclede County for many years. He and Sarah and his father Benjamin are buried in Shields Cemetery in Webster County, Missouri.
"The First Hundred Years," a history of Laclede County says, "Between '35 and '40, settlers from Tennessee and Kentucky were flocking in and taking up squatter's claims along the Gasconade and Osage Fork. Among them were such well known families as . . . John and Arnett Shields.
The 1850 census for Laclede County shows these residents of the John S. Shields household:
John S. Shields, 42, b. Tenn., farmer, land value $1,000
Sarah, 42, b. Tenn. (unable to read or write)
Mary Ann, 18, b. Tenn.
Benjamin F., 12, b. Mo.
John C., 10, b. Mo.
William, 7, b. Mo.
Sarah Ann, 5, b. Mo.
Amanda Jane, 2, b. Mo.
Marriage Notes for John Shahan Shields and Sarah HAGGARD-91535
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Marriage Notes for Jim Barker and Mary Ann SHIELDS-91536
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Benjamin and Eliza Shields homesteaded between Phillipsburg and Conway, eventually adding to their one-room log house a second room, a lean-to kitchen a front porch and a back porch lading to the well house.
Benjamin, known as "Uncle Ben," attended the old academy at Lebanon, Missouri and taught school at Phillipsburg for 33 years, using the McGuffey reader, Ray's arithmetic and the Blue Back speller. He also taught music, using shaped notes. In Benjamin's classroom, students studied aloud. When they were quiet, he knew they were not studying and tapped them with a ruler.
Benjamn was a sergeant in Company N, 13th Missouri Cavalry (Union) during the Civil War, enlisting 20 September 1864 and serving until 13 May 1866. During a skirmish near Lebanon, Benjamin was captured by Confederate soldiers who took his new woolen uniform and good boots and made him wear a tattered Confederate uniform. With his feet wrapped in strips of burlap and his hands tied behind him, he was forced to walk in snow some 30 miles from Lebanon to Hartville. His hands froze and were deformed for the rest of his life.
1860 census record for Laclede County, Missouri show residents of the Benjamin Shields household as Benjamin F. Shields, 23, farmer, born in Missouri, and Eliza M., 18, born in Kentucky.
Residents of the household in 1870 were Benjamin F., 33, b. Missouri; Eliza M., 30; Nancy A., 11; Sarah Marinda, 5, and Madora E., 3. In 1880, residents were Benjamin, 42,; Liza M., 39; Nancy A., 20; Sarah M., 15; Madora E., 12; Andrew J., 8; Samuel R., 6; Thomas A., 6; Peter S., 4, and Eddie W., three months. In 1910, residents were Benjamin Shields, 73; Eliza M., 69; Edward (son), 24; Bessie (daughter), 26, and Willie (grandson), one.
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During Civil War, served in Union Missouri Volunteers. Captured near Lebanon, uniform taken by CSA soldiers because they were in rags. Marched to Hartville and his hands were frozen causing his hands to be crippled the rest of his life.
Marriage Notes for Benjamin Franklin Shields and Eliza Maria MCFARLAND-91539
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