Person:David Shriver (1)

Heisterkamp's Annotated Landis Ferree Tree (as of 30 April 2004)

From Colonial Families in the U.S.A.

David Shriver of Little Pipe Creek, Maryland removed from Conewago, Pennsylvania, circa 1760, and secured a patent for land in Maryland. he was an active partisan during the Revolution and was elected a member of the Convention which adopted and established the Declaration of Rights and the Constitution of the State. He served in the General Assembly as a delegate from Carroll County for more than 30 consecutive years and afterwards in the Senate. By his will he liberated at his death his thirty slaves.

From Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, Vol I - III.

While attending a fair at Lancaster he met Rebecca Ferree, who was attending school there, and later accompanied her to the home of her parents, Abraham and Elizabeth (Elting) Ferree, in the Pequea Valley, and subsequently, May 8, 1761, married her. On his marriage, David Shriver settled on a tract of land purchased for him by his father at Little Pipe Creek, Frederick county, Maryland, where he cleared the land for cultivation, and erected a mill. He became active and prominent in the affairs of the new settlement, filling many honorable positions, and was frequently called up on to arbitrate disputes among his neighbors. He was active in promoting the establishment of schools, and in all matters tending to advance the interests of the community. At the outbreak of the Revolution he was a staunch supporter of the cause of independence and liberty, and was a member of the Committee of Safety; a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Maryland in 1776, and a member of one or the other branches of the State Legislature for thirty years. What was especially rare with one of his nationality, David Shriver was, in a sense, a slave-holder; he inherited through his wife a Negro girl, whose progeny at the time of his death, in 1826, numbered about thirty, all of whom had remained with him and his family, and all of whom were given their freedom by the terms of his will.

From Colonial Families in the U.S.A.

David Shriver was appointed 4th March 1776, a member of the Committee of Observation for Frederick County; and on 5th June, 1776, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in the Frederick County battalion of Colonel Upton Sheridene. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1776, and was for about thirty years a member of one or the other branches of the Maryland Legislature.

From DAR Lineage Books Vol 74, page 66.

He was recommended by officers of the Linganore Battalion of Maryland troops for election as Lieutenant Colonel.

From Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, Volumes I - III, by Frank William Shriver -

David Shriver died January 29, 1826, in his ninety-first year, and was buried in the family burying ground at Little Pipe Creek. The eldest of his father's family, he survived them all. His wife died November 24, 1812, in the seventy-first year of her age and the forty-third of her marriage. She was a remarkable woman of affairs, managing her husband's affairs during his frequent absences from home on public service. A notice of David Shriver, published at the time of his death, says of him in part as follows: "David Shriver departed this life at his residence, Little Pipe Creek, Maryland, (January 29, 1826) in the 91st year of his age. He closed his useful and honorable life in peace with all men and in the cheery hope of blissful immortality. His latter end was the calmness of repose, tranquil and serene.

"Born at a period when the blessings of education were restricted, almost exclusively, to the sons of the affluent, it was the lot of Mr. Shriver, whose parents were humble, to be left to his own unaided power in the acquisition of knowledge. His youth was spent in a sparsely settled country, where the voice of civilized man rarely gladdened the ear. Taught by his parents the bare elements of language; debarred by his situation the bland influences of society, cut off almost entirely from every avenue of knowledge, the attainments of Mr. Shriver in the mechanical arts, in the pure science of mathematics, and in general information, must be considered remarkable.

"About 60 years since he came to this state and procured a patent for the land which he occupied thereafter till his death, and where his grave is now seen. When the troublous period of the Revolution arrived, he was of freedom's active partisans, and was of sufficient consequence in the country to be elected a member of the Convention which adopted and established the Declaration of Rights, and the constitution of the State. More than once he was admonished by imposing warnings that 'King George's Men' had set a price upon his head, and that his property was marked for confiscation, and his family doomed to suffer in Consequence. But amid all the vicissitudes of events his course was unwavering and he continued his exertions as one of the Committee of Safety, until all danger was past.

"For more than thirty successive years, (with but one interruption which his private duties rendered indispensable) he served his fellow citizens in the General Assembly as a delegate from the County, and afterwards in the Senate; until a stroke of palsy, some years since, rendered it necessary that he should vacate his seat.

"As a public character, Mr. Shriver was respected for his faithfulness to his duty, and his discriminating judgment. * * * In private life he was plain and unostentatious. He was highly esteemed by the people of the neighborhood in which he dwelt for his practical friendship, manifested in his intercourse with them. * * *

"He has arranged by his will for the liberation of all his slaves, about thirty in number, the more advanced in age being provided for".

Excerpted from History of the Shriver Family, Wytheville, D.A., St. Clair, Printer, 1869 -

David Shriver, son of Andrew Shriver and Maria his wife, and father of Andrew Shriver, was born in York County Pennsylvania, at a place called Conewago, south of Hanover, about six miles. His parents had been but a few years from Germany, and recently married, when they settled at Conewago--in the woods surrounded by Indians, (on account of his Father's settlement.) David Shriver the first born; grew up with scarcely any education, the opportunity and means being both wanting. The time of his minority was, of course, occupied, in rendering his father assistance in the business in which he was engaged. On arriving of age, he attracted the attention of Andrew Steiger residing in Baltimore, who was an enterprising man, engaged in extensive business. Steiger employed him as store-keeper in a country store which he located not far from the residence of David's father. The want of an education being immediately experienced, he so applied himself to attain what his business required, that, in a short time, he acquired a vary good knowledge of figures, as well as wrote a fair hand, and otherwise improved himself in knowledge and address. At this time, Lancaster had become a considerable town, and it was a custom then, which has been continued to the present period, to hold semi-annual fairs, which drew together vast numbers of people. At one of these fairs, David Shriver first met Rebecca Ferree who had been placed at Lancaster to acquire a knowledge of ornamental needle-work; he undertook to accompany her home, and was received with becoming respect by her father, but with much displeasure and indignity by her mother, she having imbibed high notions in consequence of opulence and distinction enjoyed by her family in New York. Standing well, however, with the daughter and father, he persevered and succeeded in his object. Previous to this, he had settled on a tract of land provided for him by his father, at Little Pipe Creek, Frederick County, Maryland, where he had erected some buildings, and cleared lands. To this place he brought his wife--and thereupon built a mill, which though of little value in after time, was, nevertheless of considerable importance to himself and neighbors at that period, the settlement being in its infancy. Having experienced the want of an education, he sought, at an early period, to have his children taught; and for this purpose, sent his eldest son abroad for some time--there being no school within reach of him. his efforts were unceasing to promote education in his neighborhood, and he so far succeeded as to obtain for his children a good English education: indeed, the neighborhood was much indebted to him for exertions in this respect; and many persons are in the enjoyment of useful knowledge, which but for him, they would not have acquired. Possessing an inquisitive and discriminating mind, he added rapidly to his stock of information. As a self taught mathematician, he made considerable advance, and was instructor to his sons in the art of Surveying--the compass and other instruments used, being of his own manufacture. His mechanical talents were no less remarkable. He was Carpenter, Farmer, Joiner, Cooper, Blacksmith, Silversmith, Comb-maker, Wheelwright, in short everything that was wanting, as well as maker of the tools the occasion called for. He was, moreover, the umpire of the neighborhood, in the settlement, of controversies. Having a great aversion to law suits and litigation., he did much to preserve peace and harmony. His house was the resort of much company, and the place where travelers regularly sought shelter and repose; they were always received with kindness and liberality and treated without reward.

The dispute between the Colonies and Mother Country early attracted his attention, and he became an early and active and devoted Whig. So warm was he in the support of the rights of his country, that his friends were alarmed for his safety, and his Clergymen emphatically warned him to beware --that, the powers placed over him were of God; that, he would be hung for treason; and his family made beggars. He treated the admonition with marked contempt, and persevered, taking an active part in committees of vigilance and public safety and urging his countrymen to vindicate their rights. He was, in consequence, elected member of the Convention of 1776 to frame a Constitution for Maryland, and was afterwards continued (with the exception of a year or two) a member of the other Branches of the Legislature for thirty years, and until the infirmities of age admonished him of the propriety of retirement. He ever abhorred debt as a restraint upon his independence and freedom of action. Of course, his advancement to wealth was slow; but certain; and at his death, without one cent of debt he was worth $70,000. At the time of his marriage, his wife's parents gave him a Negro girl (yet living) from whom sprung a progeny of more than forty in number, thirty of whom remained in his possession at the time of his death; these he liberated by will and in the same instrument divided his estate equally among his children and provided for the enclosure of a burial ground, where his remains, and those of his wife, and some of his children repose.

David Shriver had two brothers and four sisters who all married and are now dead. The names of the brothers were Andrew and Jacob. The former continued to reside on the home plantation and raised a large family. the latter moved to Littlestown, and had one son who died young, and his father shortly after. The names of the sisters are not distinctly known; one married Henry Koontz, another George Koontz, and the third John Kilzmikker, and the fourth Jacob Will. They all lived to an old age, and within a few miles of their father. They all raised large families except the wife of George Koontz, who had but three or four children and died early in life. Although their father began the world in low circumstances, he succeeded so well in the acquisition of property, as to be able to render his children considerable assistance. David Shriver died 29th January, 1826, in the 91st year of his age. He was the oldest of his brothers and sisters, and survived the whole of them.

Internet - The Shriver Family by Paul Burig. - from a Lecture presented before the Wheeling Historical Society & the annual meeting of The Union Mills Homestead Foundation maintained by the Shriver Family

David Shriver, Sr.

David Shriver, Sr., was born in Conewago, Pennsylvania, in 1735 and died in Little Pipe Creek, Maryland, in 1826. According to information from the Daughters of the American Revolution, David, Sr., was a member of the Committee of Safety and also a member of the Convention of 1776, which adopted and established the Declaration of Rights and Constitution of the State of Maryland. He is also listed as having been commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel. No information is given in the document which provided this in formation about the details of these positions.

From History of the Shriver Family and their Connections -1684-1888 - Compiled and Edited by Samuel S. Shriver - Baltimore, 1888

David Shriver, senior, by will, provided, in perpetuity, for a family burial ground on the place, at Little Pipe Creek, where his and his wife's remains are interred, together with those of their sons, Andrew and Jacob, their wives, and other members of the family. The spot is protected. by a substantial inclosure, and is an interesting feature of the old Homestead.

1. ↑ Jessie A. Landis nee Witmer. Ferree - du Bois Family Tree. (1913).
2. ↑ kamp3genealogy@@netscape.net. Heisterkamp, Charles, III, M.D..

   1949 Pine Drive, Lancaster, PA, 17601, ckamp3@@netscape,net, 717-392-0562

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Charles Heisterkamp, III, M.D. Annotated Landis Ferree Tree. (30 April 2004).

   Date of Import: Jul 14, 2004

4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 George Norbury Mackenzie, ed. Colonial Families of the United States of America. (New York. 1907).
5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Books
   Vol 21, page 229.
6. ↑ Union Mills Homestead Internet Site
   The Narrative of Judge Abraham Shriver, 1826.
7. ↑ Estimated date.
8. ↑ The Descendants of Gabriel and Anna Margaretta Schultz.
9. ↑ Notes. (See Notes Section for this information).
10.   Charles Heisterkamp, III, M.D..

    1949 Pine Drive, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, 17601-5529, [email protected]