Family Genealogy - Shields Family Genealogy

Mary Sliman Shields.Matthew Shields and Mary Sliman Shields were Jim's maternal great-grandparents. We know nothing of Matthew or Mary's background, where in Ireland they were born, what ship brought them to this country. We did discover their marriage record in Blair County, Pennsylvania where they were married on 25 Feb 1854. This information may very well have been known by their children but it is not recorded. We have no record of their first child, Mary's, birth. The births of all subsequent children were recorded at the St. James Catholic Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh city directories list Matthew from 1861 through 1890 as a laborer in the Temperanceville and then the Carson Street areas of the city. The 1880 Census is the first one we can positively identify him in. It gives his age as 48 and lists him as a laborer in iron works in the 34th ward of Pittsburgh. After his death in 1890, Mary went to live with her daughter, Mrs. John Gallagher, where she died in 1900.

Matthew and Mary had nine children. You can follow their line of descent in this register report.

I discovered the following information from. I do not know if this is the same family.

Ship's Passenger Information from http://castlegarden.org/
Name and Information
Mathew Shields
Occupation Laborer
Age 20
Sex M
Literacy U
Arrived 8 Apr 1848
Origin Ireland
Port Liverpool
Last Residence
Destination USA
Plan Unknown
Ship Isaac Newton
Passage Unknown
Mary Sliman
Occupation Spinster
Age 16
Sex F
Literacy U
Arrived 16 Nov 1848
Origin Ireland
Port Liverpool
Last Residence U
Destination USA
Plan Unknown
Ship Vandalia
Passage Unknown
Margaret Shields
Occupation Spinster
Age 18
Sex F
Literacy U
Arrived 8 Apr 1848
Origin Ireland
Port Liverpool
Last Residence
Destination USA
Plan Unknown
Ship Isaac Newton
Passage Unknown
Ellen Sliman
Occupation Spinster
Age 20
Sex F
Literacy U
Arrived 16 Nov 1848
Origin Ireland
Port Liverpool
Last Residence U
Destination USA
Plan Unknown
Ship Vandalia
Passage Unknown
J. Slyman
Occupation Mechanic
Age 48
Sex M
Literacy U
Arrived 24 Jul 1847
Origin Great Britain
Port Belfast
Last Residence U
Destination USA
Plan Unknown
Ship Antwerp
Passage Unknown

Also listed are:

M. Slyman - Sex F - Age 12
O. Slyman - Sex F - Age 14
C. Slyman - Sex F - Age 16

NOTE: appears to be a father and three daughters.

 

NOTE: CastleGarden.org offers free access to an extraordinary database of information on 10 million immigrants from 1830 through 1892, the year Ellis Island opened. Over 73 million Americans can trace their ancestors to this early immigration period.