Son of Robert Shields and Nancy Stockton Shields.

Born in the Virginia colony area. Lived in his youth at Shields Fort in Tennessee, which his father built and the family group settled. One of the ten Shields Smoky Mountain sons of Robert Shields.

Married Margaret Wilson in Tennessee. (1789)

Married Amanda Logan 1813 in Indiana.

Died at Walnut Ridge, Washington County, Indiana.

Grave has not been located yet.

Parents

Robert Shields 1749 – 1802

Nancy Mary Stockton 1745 – 1805

Siblings

Jennett Shields 1762 – 1827

Thomas Shields 1763 – 1797

Richard Stockton Shields 1764 – 1825

David Shields 1766 – 1815

John Shields 1769 – 1809

James Shields 1770 – 1847

Robert Shields 1772 – 1835

Joseph Shields 1773 – 1847

Benjamin Shields 1775 – 1819

Ezeziel Shields 1777 – 1778 Col

Jesse Shields 1782 – 1848

Spouse & Children

Margaret Wilson 1770 – 1845

Robert Shields 1790 – 1826

Samuel Shields 1791 – 1840

William Jr. Shields 1792 – 1886

James Shields 1794 – 1875

Elizabeth Shields 1796 – 1832

Nancy Agnes Shields 1798 – 1875

Rhonda Shields 1802 –

Rebecca Shields 1805 – 1806

Jeannette Shields 1809 –

Jesse Shields 1820 – 1900

Amanda Logan, died 1824

Sarah Jane, born June 5, 1818

Jesse, born September 20, 1820, died November 28, 1900

Ezekiel Logan Shields, born May 20, 1822, died November 6, 1878

John, who died in infancy

Third wife, name unknown, no known children.

Trigger warning: biographies are taken verbatim from family history books with uncensored original language.

NOTE: the date given for William's death in the book is three years later than the Find a Grave date.

WILLIAM SHIELDS, one of the "Ten Brothers," son of Robert and Nancy Stockton Shields, was born near Harrisonburg, Va., July 4, 1768. In 1784 he migrated with the family, settling in what is now Sevier County, Tenn., then the unorganized frontier claimed by North Carolina and known as the Western Wilderness. With his father and four of his brothers, he preceded the rest of the family on foot from the Watauga Settlement, by mountain paths impassable to pack-animals, to the new location on Middle Creek, about seven miles south of the present city of Sevierville, Tennessee.

In his prime William was a little under six foot tall, lithe and strong. He had deep-set blue eyes, raven-black hair which he wore rather long in mountaineer style, and a heavy, full black beard trimmed to about an inch long.

He was feared by the Indians. He did not make a practice of hunting down savages and had no such deep-rooted hatred for them as did his nephew, John Tipton, but he did not hesitate, on occasion, to proceed against them. They gave him a wide berth, for he was known all up and down the mountains of East Tennessee as a terror to the redskins. He was a man of highest courage and keenest vision, with a quickness of hearing and skill in woodcraft exceptional even among pioneer dwellers in the forest. It is said that in this respect he exceeded the savage on his own ground. He could walk through the dry leaves of the forest without making audible sound or perceptible trail. He could track an Indian at night and find his way about unerringly with neither moon nor stars to guide him. He was especially adept at imitating birds, beasts, and other sounds of the forest. He could distinguish a hostile Seminole, Cherokee, or friendly Chickasaw as far as he could see him. In his understanding of the Indian character he excelled all his brothers except John; in physical strength he was excelled only by David. He had no special aptitude for business; in fact, none of the Shields brothers had, except James and Robert. He was a hard worker, neither better nor worse off than the average of his neighbors. He was especially devoted to home life and his family.

His first wife was Margaret, daughter of SAMUEL WILSON. They were married in 1789.* William and Margaret lived in Shields Fort about ten years, then, as their family increased, and danger from Indians lessened, they moved into their own cabin near by. They had nine children, the first born in 1790, the last in 1808, all in Sevier County, Tennessee: Robert, William, James, Elizabeth, Nancy Agnes, Samuel, Rhoda, Rebecca, and Janet. (The line of descent followed in this book is through William's second wife.)

Several stories of William's thrilling experiences and narrow escapes have come down to us. While still living in the Fort in Tennessee, he cleared some land and started an orchard about a mile away. Once he and Margaret went to gather peaches, taking Robert, the baby, along. The orchard was fenced and on entering the enclosure they discovered Indian signs and presently saw some hostile Cherokees, taking fruit. They hastily withdrew, not knowing how many Indians there were, but knowing that, if discovered, they could not reach the Fort. As they entered a plum thicket to hide and watch, Margaret stumbled over a vine and fell with the baby in her arms. There was a moment of awful suspense, but quickly giving the baby the breast, she quieted it. William held the dog with one hand and in the other held a hunting knife poised to kill it instantly if it barked. Fortunately, the dog had not discovered the Indians. Soon seven Cherokees crept from the enclosure and went their way. "Hah!" said William, jokingly, "if I had known there were only seven, I could have killed five and the other two would have run; and we could have gathered the peaches."

Every settler had a dog, sometimes several of them, and never ventured into the forest without one. To the watchful sagacity of his dogs William more than once owed his life. These dogs hated Indians, and would scent them as they scented deer and bear; having struck an Indian's trail, they would not be quieted till their warnings were heeded. The savages feared dogs and would flee from them as from human enemies. A pack of dogs would sometimes tree or even kill an Indian. Once William was grubbing stumps some distance from the Fort, when his two dogs growled and bristled. Glancing about, he saw a hostile Cherokee who had crept within range and was sighting to shoot. William dropped behind a stump just in time, and urged the dogs to attack. As they leaped forward, the Indian fired, but missed them. Dropping his gun, he ran, with the dogs after him, and finally climbed a tree out of their reach. Attracted by the disturbance, several more dogs came from the Fort and circled around the tree, baying. William left the Indian treed for a night and most of two days, then had a talk with him. Depriving him of everything but his clothes, he finally turned the savage loose in the woods, threatening that the dogs would eat him alive if he ever returned. Thereafter no Cherokee ever approached the Shields clearing.

William and several of his brothers, with their families, migrated to Indiana in 1800, which was then as wild and unsettled as Tennessee had been a quarter century earlier. There were only 911 votes cast in the entire Territory of Indiana in 1808. That year a ferry was established across the Ohio near the present town of Mauckport and the Shields families crossed there. William helped his brother James build a Fort on the present location of Seymour, then went to Logan County, Ohio, for a year. Returning to Indiana, he settled at Madison, where he started an orchard. Margaret died at Madison in 1813.

After the War of 1812 William's son, Colonel James Shields (a military title gained during the War) entered the land now known as the J. D. McCammon farm, near Brewersville, Ind., and William lived there a while, the Madison farm being operated by some of his children. Then he built a cabin near Logan's Fort on Walnut Ridge, Washington County, Ind., where he lived with his daughter Nancy Agnes, who married James Elliott there Dec, 7, 1815. There William married his second wife, AMANDA LOGAN, at Logan's Fort, Sep. 10, 1817.

AMANDA LOGAN, a daughter of William, has already been mentioned as the second wife of WILLIAM SHIELDS. Shields was a near neighbor of the Logans on Walnut Ridge; his first wife and Amanda's mother were sisters. Amanda and William Shields were married Sep. 10, 1817, and made their home on Walnut Ridge. There was bitter opposition on the part of William's first family to this marriage; Amanda was a first cousin of William's children, but there was no "blood" relationship between her and William; he was about 25 years older than she; his small property entered into the situation. They had four children: Sarah Jane, born June 5, 1818, married James George in 1835; Jesse, born Sep. 20, 1820, became a prominent businessman in Rochester, Ind., and a member of the Indiana Legislature; EZEKIEL LOGAN SHIELDS, through whose line of descent this history runs; and John, who died in infancy. Amanda died in 1824, William in 1826.

* Lewis Clark Shields of Nashville relates a story handed down by his grandfather, Richard Shields: Sam Wilson, a farmer, politician and Baptist preacher, a man of quick temper and sharp tongue, officiated at the wedding of his daughter Margaret and William Shields. As the ceremony was about to begin, somebody remarked, with the intention of being overheard, that William had been sleeping with "Sally" for ten years. The McMahans had a slave, Susan, and as was hoped, the preacher confused the names and jumped to conclusions. He flew into a furious rage, halted the proceedings and created a great disturbance for several minutes, until it was explained that "Sally" was William's long-rifle.

From "Three Kansas Pioneer Families: Stalker-Shields-Martin" by John A. Shields, privately published in a limited edition of 200 copies, May, 1949.

After the death of his second wife, in 1824, William, having three small children on his hands, his first wife's children having established themselves in homes of their own, married again. This time he married a young woman; we do not know who she was, where she came from, or where she went after his death about two years later. As is frequently the case, a young step-mother, especially if she happens to be the wife of an old man—and William was approaching the age of sixty—does not get along well in her new role. We are told that she was jealous of William's children, and tried to alienate their father from them, but without success. At one time she insisted on preparing William's meals and serving them to him herself, making the children eat apart from herself and their father, but he did not like this arrangement and insisted on eating with his children. Matters finally reached a point where the children were sent away to live with relatives. William lived only a short time after this, having died about 1826. He is presumably buried somewhere a few miles north of Salem, Indiana.

From "The Shields Family" by John A. Shields, privately published December, 1917, reprinted March 1, 2017.