"Lexington, June 30~Col. John C. Shields died this morning at his home at Riverdale Rockbridge County, aged eighty-four years. His death was due to infirmities of old age. He was the oldest newspaper man in Virginia, and was one of the founders of the Lynchburg Virginian. He located in Richmond in 1852, and was identified with the control and management of the Richmond Whig, both in business management and staff correspondence throughtout the State. He retired from that paper in 1875 and returned to Rockbridge, but later was associate editor of the Staunton Spectator for many years. During the civil war he entered the Confederate service as first lieutenant of the Richmond Howitzers, and was promoted to major at Manassas. He was promoted and given command of the camp for artillery at Richmond in the fall of 1861. He was finally promoted to the rank of brigadier general before the close of the war, but modestly never assumed the title. He took a lively interest in politics, and was a lifelong Democrat. With ex-Gov. John Letcher as running mate, he was defeated for the Virginia assembly by the readjusters in 1877. Sixty-two years ago he married Miss Martha Hardy, of Lynchburg, and fourteen children were born to them, seven of whom, with their mother, survive him."
"Lexington, June 30~Col. John C. Shields died this morning at his home at Riverdale Rockbridge County, aged eighty-four years. His death was due to infirmities of old age. He was the oldest newspaper man in Virginia, and was one of the founders of the Lynchburg Virginian. He located in Richmond in 1852, and was identified with the control and management of the Richmond Whig, both in business management and staff correspondence throughtout the State. He retired from that paper in 1875 and returned to Rockbridge, but later was associate editor of the Staunton Spectator for many years. During the civil war he entered the Confederate service as first lieutenant of the Richmond Howitzers, and was promoted to major at Manassas. He was promoted and given command of the camp for artillery at Richmond in the fall of 1861. He was finally promoted to the rank of brigadier general before the close of the war, but modestly never assumed the title. He took a lively interest in politics, and was a lifelong Democrat. With ex-Gov. John Letcher as running mate, he was defeated for the Virginia assembly by the readjusters in 1877. Sixty-two years ago he married Miss Martha Hardy, of Lynchburg, and fourteen children were born to them, seven of whom, with their mother, survive him."
Gravesite Details
Short bio of Col. John Camden Shields appears in Robert E. L. Krick's Staff Officers in Gray.
Family Members
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Joseph Shields
1844–1856
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John Hardy Shields
1846–1876
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Col William Thomas Shields
1849–1924
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Abner Terry Shields
1852–1947
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Martha Eveline Shields
1854–1940
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Edward Virginius Shields
1856–1858
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Josephine Shields
1857–1932
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Orville Shields
1859–1940
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Helen Southard Shields
1860–1861
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Frank Palmer Shields
1863–1865
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Elizabeth Verner "Lizzie" Shields
1868–1947
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Carrie Wentworth Shields
1872–1951
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