George W. and Rebecca C. Shimer, about 1900

The Shimer Family in Calhoun by Colvin W. Snider Reproduced from 'The Calhoun Chronicle' October 11th, 1979

A History of the George Washington Shimer Family, Part I

 George Washington Shimer was the great-grandson of a German immigrant, Daniel Shimer, who came to America in 1749 from the Palatinate section of the Rhine Valley. Daniel Shimer, a blacksmith by trade, left Rotterdam with his two brothers, Michael and Frederick, on Sept. 15, 1749, After the S.S. Edinburg put into port at Portsmouth, England, it set sail across the Atlantic for Philadelphia. The ship register carried them under the name spellins as Scheimer. The record of the immigration of the three brothers is recorded on page 287, Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Series, Vol. 17.

 Frederick Shimer settled in Pikeland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he married and raised eleven children. Michael Shimer settled in the same county but in Vincent Township. He had four children and his only son, Adam, was still living in Vincent Township when the 1790 census was taken.

 Daniel Shimer left his brothers in the Philadelphia area and settled in the frontier community of Frederick in the Colony of Maryland. The year before he had left the Palatinate, the proprietor of the Maryland Colony, Lord Baltimore, had advertised in that province for immigrants to come to Maryland. He was trying to establish settlements on what was at that time the frontier.

 Daniel Shimer married and raised five children: Jacob, James, Ezekiel, Susanna and Elizabeth.

 James, the second son of Daniel Shimer and the grandfather of George Shimer, was born about 1750 in either Maryland or Pennsylvania. In 1778, he enlisted in First Company, Fifth Battalion, Northampton County Rangers under Capt. Jacob Dewit. Northampton County, at the time of the American Revolution, included the frontier section of Pennsylvania north of Reading and Harrisburg. He served as a ranger until 1783 when he was discharged. He received "depreciation pay" for his service and the cancelled certificate is on file in the Division of Public Records, State Library at Harrisburg.

 James Shimer married Elizabeth Jones about 1785 and moved to the "frontier section" of Maryland, Allaghany County. Eight children born to this union grew to adulthood. Jacob, the eldest and an uncle of George Shimer, died in 1818 leaving his widow, Margaret Miller Shimer, and ten young children.

 In the fall of 1860, the Shimers had harvested their crops, sold their excess possessions, said goodbye to the Pollens and to Hester Shimer Curry, loaded their goods on an ox drawn wagon and with their one horse took off for White Pine {WVa}. There were seven people in the migrating family: William and Rachael Shimer and their two daughters, Mary and Patcy, George and Rebecca Shimer and their first born, Martha.

 The first year at White Pine was a trying one. On April 2, 1861, the Shimer household increased to eight as their first son, Willis W., was born. However, by Christmas only five would be dwelling in the White Pine cabin. While clearing the land for crops, William misjudged a falling tree and was crushed to death. Next, Martha, just two years of age, died of a childhood disease. She and her grandfather lie side by side in the family cemetery on the farm at White Pine. Then, the events of the times were to separate George from his family for the next three years. The Civil War was under way and George was a part of it.

 Civil War

 George Shimer, almost thirty years old, head of a household with five dependents in the wilderness of Western Virginia, could well have stayed on the farm and missed active service. But that was not the kind of person George Shimer was. In later life he often spoke with pride of the fact he voted for Abraham Lincoln before he left Maryland for White Pine. He opposed slave labor and deplored trhe fact that Virginia had chosen to leave the United States and join the Confederacy. He very much applauded the efforts to set aside the western counties into a new state of West Virginia, loyal to the government that his Grantfather James had fought to establish. It was not surprising that on Nov. 10, 1861, George Shimer went to Smithville and enlisted in Co. C, 11th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. On Dec. 22, he went to Elizabeth and was mustered in as a Private under the regimental commander, Col. John Rathbone.

 Records made at the time of his enlistment show that George was five feet, nine inches tall, was of dark complexion, had blue eyes and dark hair, and was a blacksmith by trade. During the war, he served under Gen. B.F. Kelley in the Railroad Department. His entire three years enlistment was spent between Parkersburg and Cumberland defending the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Since a separate monogram will be devoted to his military career, let it be recorded here that he was discharged on Dec. 24, 1864, at Cumberland, Maryland, as a Sergeant.

 During most of his military career, George was within one or two days walking distance from his home. He frequently came home on leave. He was greatly concerned about the welfare of his family on the farm at White Pine. The two women and the two sisters approaching adulthood did all the farm work.

 A group of Confederate bushwhackers came through and took thier horse and drove off other livestock. Times were indeed hard and ingenuity was needed just to survive. When George came home the day after Christmas, 1864, he found the family intact and a new son had arrived. Elbridge Ellsworth Shimer was born into the household on July 16, 1864.

Note: During the second part of this history more of the Shimer family's life in Calhoun County will be reported.

I will be adding Part II with the next Shimer Family History Page Newsletter around July 2000; Michael B. Shimer.

 Return to the Shimer Family History Page Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 2.