Meedy White Shields (July 8, 1804 - February 6, 1866) was an American pioneer and politician in the state of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, who was successful in various business ventures and founded the city of
Seymour. He was a nephew of
John Shields of
Lewis and Clark fame, a first cousin to General
John Tipton
John Tipton (August 14, 1786 – April 5, 1839) was from Tennessee and became a farmer in Indiana; an officer in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, and veteran officer of the War of 1812, in which he reached the rank of Brigadier General; and po ...
and a distant cousin of the diarist
Robert Shields.
Early life
Shields was born in what is now
Sevier County, Tennessee
Sevier County ( ) is a county of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 98,380. Its county seat and largest city is Sevierville. Sevier County comprises the Sevierville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...
at Shields Mountain near the site of Fort Shields (a.k.a. Shields Fort) built by his grandfather, Robert. His father James was one of the "Ten Brothers" of the Irish Shields family who had left Tennessee for the
Indiana Territory
The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by a congressional act that President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, ...
.
/sup> One of these Ten Brothers was John Shields who was recruited by Lewis and Clark for their 1804 expedition as a gunsmith and scout.
At the age of 7, Shields moved to Harrison County, Indiana
Harrison County is located in the far southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana along the Ohio River. The county was officially established in 1808. Its county seat is Corydon, the former capital of Indiana.
Harrison County is part of the Lo ...
. In 1816 his father acquired about of land to the north, in Jackson County, Indiana
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 42,376. The county seat is Brownstown.
History
Jackson County was formed in 1816. It was named after General Andrew Jackson.
Jackson County was ...
.
At the age of about 16, he manned flatboat
A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...
s on the Ohio River carrying goods to returning via the Natchez Trace. /sup> He eventually owned several flatboat
A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...
s of his own.
In 1827, he was sued for Malicious Trespass by his neighbor to the north, James Reno, father of the notorious Reno Gang
The Reno Gang, also known as the Reno Brothers Gang and The Jackson Thieves, were a group of criminals that operated in the Midwestern United States during and just after the American Civil War. Though short-lived, the gang carried out the first ...
. This was part of a long-standing feud between the Shields and Reno families. James Reno had settled in Jackson County, Indiana
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 42,376. The county seat is Brownstown.
History
Jackson County was formed in 1816. It was named after General Andrew Jackson.
Jackson County was ...
in 1813, three years prior to James Shields.
Mid life
Shields then joined the Indiana Militia in 1832 to fight in the Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the " British Band", cros ...
and by the fall of that year, acquired the title of Captain. His only brother William, a member of the Indiana Legislature, died in office in 1841 and his father, James, died in 1848. Shields received a sizeable inheritance by this time. He opened a gristmill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...
in nearby Rockford, Jackson County, Indiana
Rockford is an unincorporated community in Redding Township, Jackson County, Indiana.
History
Rockford was named for the "rocky ford" of the East Fork of the White River where easier crossing was permitted by a rock river bottom.
The villag ...
which was the largest commercial center in Jackson County, Indiana
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 42,376. The county seat is Brownstown.
History
Jackson County was formed in 1816. It was named after General Andrew Jackson.
Jackson County was ...
at the time. /sup>
He was on the Board of Directors for the new Ohio and Mississippi Railroad
The Ohio and Mississippi Railway (earlier the Ohio and Mississippi Rail Road), abbreviated O&M, was a railroad operating between Cincinnati, Ohio, and East St. Louis, Illinois, from 1857 to 1893.
The railroad started in 1854 and paralleled the ...
Eastern Division /sup> and successfully persuaded railroad engineer, John Seymour, to bypass Rockford, Jackson County, Indiana
Rockford is an unincorporated community in Redding Township, Jackson County, Indiana.
History
Rockford was named for the "rocky ford" of the East Fork of the White River where easier crossing was permitted by a rock river bottom.
The villag ...
on the White River and cross his land. In Seymour's honor a new town would be built and named Seymour, Indiana
Seymour is a city in Jackson County, Indiana, United States. Its population was 21,569 at the 2020 census.
The city is noted for its location at the intersection of two major north–south and east–west railroads, which cross each other in th ...
.
The new east-west rail line would intersect the established north-south Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad
The Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad (JM&I) was formed in 1866 as a merger between the Indianapolis and Madison Railroad and the Jeffersonville Railroad.
Genealogy
The JM&I predecessors were as follows:
*Jeffersonville, Madison ...
. To assure that both trains would stop, he joined the Indiana Legislature and authored a Bill requiring them to do so for ''safety purposes''. This assured the demise of nearby Rockford, Jackson County, Indiana
Rockford is an unincorporated community in Redding Township, Jackson County, Indiana.
History
Rockford was named for the "rocky ford" of the East Fork of the White River where easier crossing was permitted by a rock river bottom.
The villag ...
.
Later life
Shields sold lots to speculators for the formation of the new town and built a personal fortune valued at over $2 million according to the US Census records of 1860. He died from a stomach ailment in 1866 a wealthy and respected citizen by many, except perhaps by the Reno Gang
The Reno Gang, also known as the Reno Brothers Gang and The Jackson Thieves, were a group of criminals that operated in the Midwestern United States during and just after the American Civil War. Though short-lived, the gang carried out the first ...
who had used the burned-out Ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
of Rockford, Jackson County, Indiana
Rockford is an unincorporated community in Redding Township, Jackson County, Indiana.
History
Rockford was named for the "rocky ford" of the East Fork of the White River where easier crossing was permitted by a rock river bottom.
The villag ...
as their home base. /sup>
Footnotes
/sup
Selected History of the Shields Family
br>
/sup
1886 History of Jackson County, Indiana
br>
/sup
1856 US Railway System
br>
/sup> ''Anarchy in the Heartland'', 2008, by A. David Distler
External links
Brief History of Seymour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Meedy
1804 births
1866 deaths
Indiana Democrats
People from Sevier County, Tennessee
People from Jackson County, Indiana
People from Harrison County, Indiana