Frederick County MD Archives Biographies.....Daniel SHEFFEY, 1770 - 1830
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Alice Warner Brosey http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00015.html#0003503  August 28, 2009, 4:16 pm

Source: Historical Collections of Virginia, by Henry Howe, 1845
Author: Henry Howe

Daniel Sheffey was born at Frederick, Md., in 1770, and was bred a shoemaker, in
his father's shop. His education was inconsiderable; but possessing an ardent
desire for knowledge, he passed his leisure in reading, and became particularly
fond of astronomical and mathematical studies. Arrived at manhood, he travelled
on foot, with his "kit" on his back, to Winchester. From thence he walked
through the valley of Virginia, stopping at various villages on his route, and
earning sufficient money by his trade, to pay his expenses, until he at last
arrived at Abbeville, Wythe county. He was a stranger, friendless and destitute.
"Here he commenced his trade once more. The novelty and originality of his
character, and the flashes of genius which enlivened his conversation, often
compelled his new-tried friends to look on the eccentric youth with wonder."
Becoming popular, he was received into the office of Alexander Smyth, Esq., and
after being admitted to the bar of Wythe County, was employed in the most
important suits. After some years he settled in Staunton, and obtained a
lucrative practice. He often represented Augusta in the House of Delegates, and,
in 1811, was chosen as a member of Congress. "His speech, in favor of a renewal
of the charter of the first bank of the United States, was a masterly
combination of sound judgment and conclusive facts: for three hours profound
silence reigned; and the most experienced statesmen were astonished at this
exhibition of his talents. " He was opposed to the declaration of war in 1812.
On one occasion, he gave John Randolph, whose bitter sarcas few could withstand,
a most severe retort. In commenting upon a speech of Mr. Sheffey's, he said that
"the shoemaker ought to to go beyond his /last/." In an instant Sheffey
retorted, "if that gentleman had /ever been on/ the bench, /he never would have
left it/."

Mr. Sheffey was a plain man; his accent German, his pronunciation not agreeable;
yet the most refined audience always paid him profound attention. He seized upon
the strong points of a case and maintained them with unconquerable zeal. "Like
Patrick Henry, he was the artificer of his own fortune, and like him, in
after-life, lamented that in his early days the lamp of life had shed but a
feeble ray along the path which it was his destiny to travel."[*Kercheval's MSS.
for a 2d edition of his History of the Valley] He died in 1830.

Additional Comments:
From Augusta County Section


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