Preston County, West Virginia Biography of Thomas J. SHAW This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 311-312 THOMAS J. SHAW. This is probably the last history of the State of West Virginia which will include representa- tion of surviving members of the Civil war. All these sur- vivors of the great conflict have passed the age of three score and ten. One of them, a highly honored citizen of Preston County, a retired farmer living in the Village of Denver, is Thomas J. Shaw, whose life as a civilian has been thoroughly worthy of his record as a soldier. He was born in Preston County, Reno District, February 24, 1842. His grandfather, Thomas Shaw, was a native of England, spent many years as a sailor on the high seas, and after leaving the sea he lived near Philadelphia for a time and then came to West Virginia. He died in 1866 and is buried in the Israel Cemetery in Reno District of Preston County. His children were Thomas A., Nicholas C., and Mary, who became the wife of Henson Pointer. Thomas A. Shaw was born in Monongalia County, West Virginia, about 1820, moved from there to Preston County, where he married Rebecca Stillwell, whose father had come from the vicinity of Philadelphia to Morgantown and later settled in Preston County. Thomas A. Shaw for more than half a century was a farmer in the Reno District. He was one of the pioneers there, purchasing land covered with heavy timber, and every acre put in cultivation was the result of arduous work with the axe and other imple- ments required for clearing. He lived there until his death in 1897. He was a republican after that party came into existence, and was a member of the Methodist Church. His wife died several years before him. Their children were: Eliza A., who married Christian Nine and is now living at Terra Alta; Thomas Jackson, Lemuel Clark, whose home is in Colorado; Mary Elizabeth and Rebecca Jane, twins, the former of whom died as the wife of Jacob Miller, while the latter is living in Reno District, the wife of James Braham; Mrs. Virginia Ford, of Reno District; Columbia, who first married Aaron Hardesty, then Mr. Bucklew, and finally Lloyd Bolyard, and is now living as a widow near Fellowsville in Preston County; Melissa, Mrs. Alexander Shahan, living not far from Fellowsville. Thomas J. Shaw spent his youth in what might be termed a backwoods district. As soon as he was old enough he handled the axe and other tools, assisting his father to clear away the timber and brush from their acreage on the headwaters of the Sandy. He is a product, so far as his education is concerned, of one of the typical schools of that generation. The community provided only an old log shack as a schoolhouse, its furnishings being split logs for benches, greased paper windows, a fireplace, the fuel for which had to be chopped by the older boys. In this rude temple of learning he studied a spelling book, learned a little writing and figuring, and he considered it a good record if he was permitted to attend school four days out of the week. He had barely completed his experience in this school- house when the cloud of Civil war arose, and in 1863, when he was twenty-one, he volunteered for the defense of the flag in Company E of the Fifteenth West Virginia Infantry, under Captain Paul and Colonel Morris. He drilled with this company on Wheeling Island, went to Sir John's Run in Morgan County, then to the Big Kanawha, and from there the command was ordered to Lynchburg. He caught his first view of Confederate forces and engaged in his first battle at Cloyd Mountain. He also fought at Lynch- burg, Cedar Creek, Winchester, Hatchers Run, and in front of Richmond his division took the three Confederate forts of Harris, Gregg and Hill. Later his regiment was on a forced march to Appomattox, and his command came in contact with the enemy and had a skirmish before the final surrender. Thomas Shaw was in sight of the place where the negotiations for the surrender of Lee's army took place, and for a long time he owned a portion of a tree from McClain's orchard, the tree under which the terms of capitulation were written. After the surrender his regiment was sent to Wheeling, mustered out in June, 1865, and Mr. Shaw came out of the army with a record of active participation in thirteen different battles. His company went into service with 117 men, only 33 were mustered out, and he was one of the three who escaped wounds. As soon as his discharge was in his hand Mr. Shaw hur- ried home to help on the farm, finding the harvest ready, and he aided in putting it away. For a time he worked at the sawmill of Martin L. Shaffer, later cut timber, worked as a carpenter on several houses, and for some twenty years he put up a strenuous fight to win existence from an old farm on Brushy Ridge, where all the land had to be cleared before any crops could be raised. This was the strenuous period of his existence, as he recalls it, since he worked from 4 in the morning until 8 at night, regardless of weather conditions. His grit and persistence while there laid the foundation of something like pros- perity, and after he sold the coal under his land he estab- lished himself at Denver on a little farm; and here, too, the exertion of clearing had to be put forth before culti- vation could be practiced. Then for some years followed a successive program of crops, grain and stock, with sub- sequent purchases of more land from time to time, until the evening of life found him prepared with an ample competence and now, with the companionship of the wife of his youth, he is enjoying the comforts of a good resi- dence at Denver, and they look back over the past without regret and to the future without concern. Thomas J. Shaw voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1864, while he was in the army. He has cast a vote at every suc- cessive national election, always in the same party faith. He has served as a. trustee of the Methodist congregations at Denver and at Nazareth. In Taylor County, near Grafton, Mr. Shaw married, on December 7, 1865, Miss Rosanna Rosier. She was born in Taylor County, daughter of John and Narcissus (Hull) Rosier. Her father was a native of Germany, was brought to the United States at the age of ten years, spent his active career as a farmer, and he and his wife are buried in the Knottsville graveyard. Their children were: Edgar Rosier, who served as a Union soldier and is living at Grafton; Sarah Ann, who died at Webster, West Virginia, wife of Balden Funk; Lemuel, also a Union soldier, who died in Taylor County; Mrs. Shaw, whose birth occurred April 10, 1844; Caroline, wife of Reuben Dillon, living near Knottsville; Sanford, of Grafton; Miss Hattie, liv- ing near Grafton; Amanda, who died unmarried; Jacob, a farmer at the old homestead in Grafton; and Belle, Mrs. Mart Thomas, of Fairmont. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, who celebrated their golden wed- ding anniversary half a dozen years since, have one son, and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The son, Charles Franklin Shaw, was born at Austen, Pres- ton County, September 19, 1866, and is a successful mer- chant at Clarksburg. He married Cora Taylor, and their children are: Lula, Nellie Rose, Charles F., Jr., Carl J., and Ruby. The daughter Lula is the wife of Ned Edwards, and they have five children, named Catherine, Edward, Thomas, Susan and Lncile. Nellie Shaw married Roy Repard, and her children are Cloyd, Walter and Luella Jean. The grandson of Thomas J. Shaw, Carl J. Shaw, is married and has a daughter, Bettie.