Shinn Family/Thomas Lewis Shinn

I'd always wondered what happened to little Tommy Shinn. My Dad told me about Tommy and how he lost his mother when he was but three years old and then his father at age thirteen. Dad knew Tommy went to Arkansas to be raised but that is about all. To tell Tommy's story, a little background:

This is actually a mini-history of my Lewis line. My great-grandmother, Mary Emma Lewis, had a brother Thomas - always called Tommy or Brother Tommy by Mary in her diaries. Their father, also a Thomas, had emigrated from Wales about 1825 and was involved in the steel mill business in Wheeling, WV. He was involved in the erection of the first two rolling mills in Wheeling, the old Top Mill and another which stood where the Baltimore & Ohio passenger depot now is. In 1850 Thomas (the elder) was in Cincinnati supervising the moving of a rolling mill to St. Louis. He died while in Cincinnati, leaving the younger Thomas, Mary Emma, two other brothers, and their mother, Emily Tyson, alone. In fact, Mary Emma was not yet born when her father died.

Of the four Lewis children (there were six total, but two died as infants) :

John - never married and died at age 38 of a lung disease. He worked in the mills and lived with his mother and/or siblings all his life.

William B. - began work at the age of seven in the Top mill. Seven Years Old!! He worked at various mills over the years, working his way up until he was manager of the Laughlin Nail Company. He and his wife, Camilla Carpenter, had five children, only two who lived to adulthood, William and Thomas Edward - neither of whom ever married.

Mary Emma - married Lucien Brockunier Martin. They lost two children in infancy and only Luther Philip Martin, my grandfather, lived to adulthood. Mary gets her own blog at some point. Her diaries that have been transcribed can be found here: Mary Emma Lewis Martin Diaries.

Thomas E - Thomas also started in the mills at an early age and did quite well, ending his career as a partner in firm Lewis and Hazlett. As a youngster he worked in the mills by day and went to night school to complete his education. He married Sarah Cotts, who died in 1893. Tommy was heartbroken when she passed on. Thomas & Sarah had two daughters, one who died in infancy. and Ella, born in 1864. Ella made it to adulthood, married and had one son...Thomas Lewis Shinn, who was just three years old when Ella died of complications from a gall bladder operation, a very risky operation in January of 1900. Her father, Thomas, was again heartbroken and according to Mary Emma's diaries felt his life was over. He retired from business and for a few years travelled the world, often sending travel reports, which were published in the Wheeling newspaper. He died in 1906 - From his obituary:

Mr. Lewis early in February joined a party at Chicago on a tour through Mexico. While traveling on this tour he acquired a cold, which developed into grippe, but he continued on the trip, arriving home on April 1. It was on Sunday at noon that he reached home a sick man and went to the City hospital, where Bright's disease developed. Despite the tenderest care of special nurses and two physicians he grew gradually worse until this morning when the end came.

So, the four Lewis children had a total of ten offspring, only four of whom lived to adulthood. This had not jumped out at me until I started looking for Thomas Lewis Shinn. It is not unusual to see infant mortality in those days, I just had not realized this line had so many.

When Ella Lewis Shinn lay on her deathbed she requested her son go to his grandmother's in Russellville, Ark to be raised. Ella had married George William Shinn, a lawyer who was practicing in Chicago at the time of Ella's illness. Little Tommy was born in Chicago in 1897. George William, called Will, was the son of Jacob Lawson Shinn who, with his father and several other Shinn families left North Carolina and migrated to Russellville, Arkansas. Will graduated from Bethany College in West Virginia in 1874 and completed his law degree at the Cincinnati Law School in 1880.

So, after his mother's untimely death, Tommy went to Russellville, Arkansas with Martha Battenfield Shinn. Her husband, Jacob Lawson Shinn, had died in 1899 so she might have appreciated the addition to her household. Although she was 61 years old she was a strong woman and, in fact, lived to be 92 years old. Did Ella have a premonition about her spouse? It is a little puzzling the child was sent to Arkansas with his grandmother and not to Chicago with his father. In the 1900 census Martha is living with her mother, two of her grandchildren from one of her other sons, a housekeeper and little Tommy. If you go to Mary Emma Martin's Diary for 1900 and read January you will find her daily reporting on Ella's death and the visit of the Shin's.

A few year later, in 1903, Will Shinn became ill. His obituary states "The beginning of his illness was caused from sunstroke while returning from church, from which he never fully recovered. This was followed by paralysis, unfitting him for the duties of his profession and resulting in his death, Monday, August 30, 1910." So, in 1903 Will returned to his mother's home in Russellville and the 1910 census we find Martha, Will, Tommy and the same servant/housekeeper.

In 1912 Thomas Lewis Shinn applied for a passport.

Later that year, he was a passenger on a ship called the Nippon Maru, which left Hong Kong on October 29, had a stopover in Yokahama, Japan on November 9th and arrived in San Francisco on November 25, 1912. The article (Chinese Slave Girl Plot Foiled) I found is absolutely the same ship and voyage. The names of the girls are listed on the first page of the ship's manifest as "stowaways". He was only 15 at the time and he is the only Shinn listed. As the list is alphabetical, it's hard to say who he was with. Certainly he wouldn't have been alone, but after going through every page of the manifest I can find no one else his age or from Arkansas. Perhaps he went with a group but had to come home on his own? Have no idea, but this was a very cool "find". What an adventure it must have been.

In 1917, like all adult males during 1917-1918 Tommy filled out a draft registration card.

I found Tommy in the 1920 census, still with his grandmother and the same housekeeper. He is 22 years old and his occupation is listed as "none".

1930 census shows us Martha and her long-standing housekeeper Amanda but no Thomas and so far he has eluded me in the 1930 census. Where in the heck did he go? I do know, from his grandfather's will, that he received $125,000 on his 25th birthday. That amount of money had been put in trust for him on Tommy Lewis' death and the interest and profits were to be paid to Martha Shinn for his upkeep. At age 21 he began receiving the profits and interest and at age 25 the principal came to him. the sum was originally $50,000 but in 1903, I would assume because of the illness of little Tommy's father, the sum was increased to $125,000.

I spent quite some time on ancestry.com, Shinn is not a common name, but no Thomas Lewis Shinn to be found in the 1930 census. At least, not my Thomas Lewis Shinn, second cousin, once removed.

A dead end? Well, no. On a whim, I went to a site called findagrave, put in the relevant information and up popped a screen with just the information I was looking for. Thomas Lewis Shinn, born 1897, died 1933 is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. What an interesting place to be buried, along with a lot of celebrities.

Here's what I put together from using this information and going back into ancestry.com, California has birth and death index information on line which includes birthdates and maiden name of mother.

Thomas Lewis Shinn born 1897, died 1933 age 36

....married Margaret Dolan born in 1902 & died in San Diego in 1974

They had two children:

Thomas Lewis Shinn, Jr. - born in 1923 & died in 1926 at age 3

Roderick L Shinn - born in 1927 & died in 1961 at age 33

Roderick L Shinn married Patricia Ann Whittemore

They had two children:

Roderick L. Shinn, Jr. - born and died in 1949

Stephen Alexander Shinn - born in 1950.

Patricia Ann Whittemore Shinn married a second time to Warren L Dodson 0n 3/28/1962

Her son Stephen Alexander Shinn was adopted and/or took the Dodson name.

Why so many early deaths in this family? I am going to try and get a copy of Thomas Lewis Shinn's death certificate and see if I can find what happened to him. I'll also up my search in the 1930 census but as of now I cannot find Tommy, his wife Margaret and his son Roderick. Did the census miss them somehow? The only mystery I have yet to solve is what Tommy was doing in Los Angeles - I will need the 1930 census for that and/or his death certificate.

After Tommy died in 1933 I found Margaret took little Roderick on a cruise to Hawaii and then another cruise in 1937 from Los Angeles to New York.

All in all, this has been an interesting project. I've learned about the Shinn's of Russellville, Ark., a bit more about the Tyson family and I've put some closure to where poor little motherless Tommy ended up. I wish my father was still alive, he used to wonder about his cousin. It is also clear that with the exception of Stephen Alexander Shinn/Dodson the only decendants in the Lewis line are my Martin family.

Jennie Allen
1865-1962

My Great-Aunt Jennie Allen lived a very long and eventful life. Several other of the Allen family members were long-lived, John D. Allen lived to 95 and Jennie's sister, my grandmother, was 87 when she passed away. The other seven didn't fare as well, but with the advance of medicine today they might also have lived as long. There were five girls and four boys. Of the nine, there were only four grandchildren, which is somewhat odd for the time period. Lillian and Ann never married, Lillian was a nurse and Ann worked at an Insurance Company. Mollie, Jennie, Charles, and Lewis (Babe) married but had no children. My grandmother, Nell, had only my father; John E. had a boy, and a girl and Jude had just one boy.

Jennie was raised in Lancaster, Ohio where her father was a grocer. They undoubtedly spent considerable time at her mother's home in Fultonham, Ohio. John D. Allen had been a Grocer in that town and married Mary Lake, adopted daughter of Enoch B Lake and his wife, Mary.  Mary's biological father was Christopher Retallick Short, and her mother died after giving birth to her daughter on the ship to America.  When Christopher Short arrived in Ohio, the older boy remained with him, but Mary was adopted by the Lakes.  The Lake home eventually came to be owned by the five Allen girls and was maintained by them to be used as they needed.  Ann probably spent the most time there. I "think" I remember her, but the only two sisters I have positive memories of is Nell, who was my grandmother, and her sister, Jennie.

The Allen Home in Fultonham, Ohio 

In 1887 Jennie married Noah Fenton Bowers. He was kind of the boy-next-door,  next door to her grandparents in Fultonham, that is. Noah was from a local farming family, the last Bowers son living at home - however, he did not inherit the Bowers farm (his sister Elizabeth did).  In the 1900 census, Jennie and Noah are renting a farm close by, as a matter of fact, they are house #109 in the Uniontown Precinct (Fultonham). Jennie's adoptive grandfather, Enoch B Lake is close by - house #145. Now, while we are on the subject of the 1900 census, let it be known that the Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Fultonham, James H. Rogers, lives in house #144. Remember that name, we'll come back to it in a minute.

Noah Bowers

I have searched the 1910 Census records for Noah and Jennie and have never been able to find them. I did see that Mr. Bowers died in 1914 and he is buried in the Fultonham Cemetery. Jennie was to live another 48 years after her first husband died.

Jennie Allen

Rev. Rogers and his family, on the other hand, are found in the 1910 Census in Stockton, California, where his occupation is shown as "clergyman."


So, the next step is to move on to the 1920 Census. Now, it was no surprise to me because I already knew, but in 1920 we find Jennie married to James H. Rogers and they are living in Pinole, California. Whoa, how actually did this come about?  Annie Mariah Waddel Rogers died 10/2/1911 and is buried in Stockton, California at the Stockton Rural Cemetery.  While we know Jennie probably knew the Rogers family & may have attended services while Rev Rogers was officiating at the Fultonham ME Church, how did they "get together" after their respective spouses had passed? He was, after all, in California and she in Ohio. I wish I knew, but alas...no one left who might know what transpired.  A romantic story, perhaps.

Rev James H Rogers & Jennie Allen

Because I had been confusing James with his son Dwight, I decided to do a little research on James and his first wife & family.  James was born in Wales and emigrated to America in 1880 at the age of 20. He made his way to Ohio,  within three years of his arrival he was married to Anna Mariah Waddell, daughter of Alexander Waddell. Alexander was a lifelong resident of Raccoon, Gallia County, Ohio, a carpenter by occupation and a pillar of the community. His obituary contains the statement "His house was for many years a home for Methodist preachers, and his hospitality and generosity were known far and near." I would suspect James was one of the Methodist preachers Alexander Waddell took under his wing.  Perhaps it was even arranged before James Rogers got on the boat for America. 


James and Anna moved on to Fultonham and later to Stockton, Ca. There were seven children, two of the names I knew - Avanelle and Dwight. I met them when we visited Aunt Jennie in Berkeley during the 50's and early 60's, but I don't remember them.  


In the1930 census, James and Jennie are living in Los Angeles.  Sometime before my folks visited them in the late 1930's (I wasn't around yet) they had moved to 849 Neilsen St in Berkeley, Ca. This was their last move. James died in 1948 at the age of 87 and Jennie stayed on in the Berkeley home until she passed in 1962 at the age of 96. I remember her house quite well, it had a built-in dinette in the kitchen, which I thought was really "cool" but best of all she had one of the early TV's with a round screen, and I distinctly remember watching Howdy Doody on it. Jennie seemed very, very old to me but I liked her very much. I remember being thrilled by the beautiful flowers in her garden that she maintained well into her 90's.

Jennie Allen, Florence Darling (my Mom), Avanelle Rogers and; Me, in front!!

I wish I could find where Jennie and James are buried, likely in Berkeley, but they don't show up on any of the Find-a-Grave searches.  

An Interesting Deierling Tidbit

I have been contacted by someone who can hopefully shed some light on my Deierling theory concerning the Ohio, Missouri & Wisconsin Deierling families. As I've posted, I've always thought there was a connection and according to this new "cousin" Sandy, who contacted me a week or so ago, Jacob, Phillip and Gottleib may have been brothers. Sandy's aunt told her about the relationship years ago (we are never interested enough when we are young to write things down) and unfortunately the aunt recently passed away. The aunt definitely said the family came to Ohio first before they settled in Missouri and that they were definitely related to the Wisconsin Deierlings. Brothers? Cousins? One of the two I am sure at this point. I am hoping Sandy can find information in her aunt's papers - the name of Jacob's father would help a lot. It it is Phillip I will be thrilled.

German naming conventions are complex but explain the repeating of a name in a family. I suspect the Deierlings in America come from two or more lines, explaining why the name Jacob shows up so often. So, I have to be careful not to jump on the idea the three men mentioned above are brothers - just because I want it to be so. I DO think all the Deierlings ARE related, the name is extremely unusual and is dieing out as many of them, my line and the Wisconsin line have Americanized the name to Darling.

So, we have:

Jacob Philip Deierling b. 1816 in Bavaria, Arrived in America 1853, settled in Missouri, a farmer.

Philip Deierling b. 1822 in Bavaria, Arrived in America before 1855, probably in New Orleans, settled in Wisconsin, a grocer.

Gottleib Deierling b. 1828 in Bavaria, Arrived in America 1853 on the same boat with Jacob, settled in Ohio, drove a stage coach for awhile, later a farmer.

Just to add to the confusion, there is another Deierling in Wisconsin, another Jacob.

Jacob Deierling b. 1817 in Germany, Arrived in America 1849, settled in Wisconsin, was a Barber and the whole family disappears between 1856 and the 1860 census. None of them are in the 1870 Census. I did find his dtr Charlotte in 1880 where she shows as married and in Kentucky. I believe his oldest son Jacob was in the Civil War and died there. I do think this Jacob was related to Phillip (of Wisconsin) as one of Philip's sons was a barber, another a cigar maker and the girls (most of whom didn't marry) worked in hat shops and candy stores - a common theme.

OK, this family disappears but another Jacob of similar age shows up in Ohio in the 1860 Census

Jacob Deierling b. 1820 in Bavaria, Arrived in America before 1851, and I can't believe my eyes, the census says he is a Musician. He and his wife Sarah had 6 children in 10 years before he passed away at the age of 49 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Don't have a clue who these 2 Jacob's are, but must keep them in mind because Sandy's aunt may have said something about being connected to the Wisconsin and Ohio Deierlings, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily Philip and Gottleib.

Well, now that was a ramble. Genealogy is like a puzzle, putting all the pieces in the right place is difficult and takes an enormous amount of time. I'm crossing my fingers that Sandy comes up with something concrete so I can put some of this supposition to rest and register some more relatives correctly.

Note: All these born dates are "about" dates and are usually off by a year or so. I am always amazed at the variety of ages people report on the census - I think some people just have no clue how old they are and every 10 years they just make it up.

Deierling Family Update

Although I've spent considerable time compiling information on the Missouri and Wisconsin Deierling families, I still don't have a concrete piece of evidence (other than instinctual) that these two pockets of Deierlings are connected to my great-grandfather, Gottleib Deierling (Darling).

A couple of interesting tidbits about the Wisconsin family, however.

1. Phillip Deierling's first wife was Barbara Langenbacher. They had two known children, Charles & Heline, born in New Orleans in the 1850's. I found a christening record for a Barbara Langenbacher -

25 May 1823 Evangelisch, Neustadt Haardt, Pfalz, Bayern

2. Barbara and her son, Charles, presumedly die sometime between his birth in 1857 and 1860, where the census records show Phillip with a new wife, Charlotte in Milwaukee, Wi. With them is Helena, his daughter with Barbara Langenbacher and an unknown child by the name of Elizabeth, who is 11 and also born in Bavaria. She is likely another daughter of Phillip and Barbara who was born before they emigrated to the USA. This puts their immigration date somewhere between 1849-1855 (the year Helena was born in New Orleans).

3. Charlotte, Phillip's second wife is much younger than he is. I discover her maiden name was Koehler (Kohler) and that she was also from Bavaria. Upon checking the same database where I found Barbara Lagenbacher, I discovered the following christening record for Charlotte Kohler.

01 May 1842 Evangelisch, Neustadt Haardt, Pfalz, Bayern

OK, and the best thing about that record? Her parents were Karl Kohler & Maria Langenbacher. My gut feeling here is that Phillip's second wife may well have been his first wife's niece.

4. Finally, I found a Karl & Maria Kohler living in Manitowac, Wi in 1880, both aged 70 - which fits. Manitowac is basicly in the same area Phillip and Charlotte lived.

Phillip and Charlotte had 11 children, only two of which married and had children of their own. If my theory pans out, I will do more research.

5. Gottlieb Direling's naturalization papers have been located and are on their way to me. I am not raising my hopes too high, but I'm hoping to find the city he came from. Neustadt Haardt is sounding good to me.

A link to my previous post re: Darling (Deierling) family history

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