John Sheakley and Margaret Jenkins

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Husband John Sheakley ^{1 2 3}

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           Born: 29 Jan 1755 3 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 25 Sep 1816 - Mercer Co, PA 1 3 4
         Buried: 

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         Father: William Sheakley (1720-1810) 5 6
         Mother: Janet [Unk] (      -      )

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       Marriage: 

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Wife Margaret Jenkins ²

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 F Margaret Sheakley ^{1 2}

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           Born: 5 Jun 1780 - Adams Co, PA 4
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888 - Mercer Co, PA
         Buried: 

         Spouse: James Brush, Jr. (      -1840) 7 8
           Marr: Mercer Co, PA

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2 F Ann Sheakley ^{1 4}

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            AKA: Anne Sheakley
           Born: 1 May 1782 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 15 Feb 1842 - Mercer Co, PA
         Buried:  - Mill Creek Cemetery, Utica, Frenchcreek Twp, Venango Co, PA 9

         Spouse: Hugh Moore (cal 1773-1841) 4 7

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3 M William Sheakley ^{1 4}

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           Born: 7 May 1784 - Adams Co, PA 4
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888 - Mercer Co, PA
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Esther Wallace (      -Bef 1888) 4

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4 M Moses Sheakley ^{1 4}

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           Born: Sep 1786 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 1840 - Mercer Co, PA 1 4
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Susanna Limber (      -1884) 4
           Marr: 29 Oct 1818 4

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5 M George Sheakley ^{1 4}

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           Born: 2 Sep 1791 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 1884 - Mercer Co, PA 4
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Mary (Ann?) Wallace (      -1822) 4

         Spouse: Cynthia Culbertson (      -Bef 1888) 4
           Marr: May 1824 - Sheakleyville, Sandy Creek Twp, Mercer Co, PA 10

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6 M Alexander Sheakley ^{1 4}

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           Born: 14 Oct 1793 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 1812-1814 1 4
         Buried: 

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7 F Fannie Sheakley ¹

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            AKA: Frances [Unk],11 Fanny Sheakley 4
           Born: 23 Jan 1796 12
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888 - Mercer Co, PA
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Adam Hill (1784-      ) 4 7
           Marr: 20 Oct 1815 12

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8 M John Sheakley ^{1 4}

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           Born: 8 Apr 1799 4
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1888 - Mercer Co, PA
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Susanna Hays (      -      ) 4

         Spouse: Susan Sellers (      -Bef 1888) 1

         Spouse: Susannah Coulter (      -Bef 1888) 1

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General Notes: Husband - John Sheakley

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HMC 1909, 995 suggests he was born in Ireland. HMC 1909, 561 suggests otherwise.

In 1803 John Sheakley visited Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and purchased from William Byers 400 acres of land, on a part of which the village of Sheakleyville now stands. His purchase contained what the pioneers designated an improvement, consisting of an unfinished log cabin, surrounded by a small clearing. He returned to his home, and in the spring of 1804 sold his farm, lying in Cumberland Township, some three miles north of Gettysburg, and with his family of five sons and three daughters removed to his new purchase in the unbroken forest of Mercer County. The farm he sold in Adams County was subsequently the home of Thaddeus Stevens for twenty-five years, and was also the scene of the first bloodshed in the great battle of Gettysburg July 1, 1863, forty-nine years after his removal therefrom. [HMC 1888, 1102]

One William Byers had title to five hundred acres of land in Sandy Creek Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. The county was organized in 1800, and in 1803 Mr. Byers was appointed its sheriff, then moving to Mercer, the shire town. John Sheakley bought this tract from William Byers in 1803, and removed from Gettysburg, Adams County, to Mercer County, and occupied the land in the summer of 1804. Directly north of a strong spring he erected a commodious hewn log house, which was also near the Indian trail leading from Fort Pitt to Lake Erie. All transportation by this time was by pack-horse only. During the war of 1812 this trail was made a military road by the state, for the purpose of transporting munitions of war and other goods by wagons.
When John Sheakley came to Mercer County in 1804 it was a densely timbered wilderness, but he was well equipped to conquer the privations and hardships of pioneer life in the "backwoods." as this was then called by the eastern people. He had four sons ranging from thirteen to twenty-two years of age, all able and willing to do their share toward making a home in the new country. He also had six negroes, four men and two women, who had been owned by the Sheakley family as slaves. By the act of Gradual Emancipation which had been passed by the Pennsylvania legislature in 1780, some of them were to be free at the age of twenty-eight years, and the older ones kept during life on the place where they had been held as slaves. These negroes were allowed to go and come as it pleased them. Some would go away for a year, but always returned, as they found that it was not easy to live apart from their old masters. With such forceful assistance a large plot of land was soon cleared and put under cultivation; six hundred apple trees were planted and a grist-mill and saw-mill erected. After his death, the original tract of five hundred acres was divided among his four sons. [HMC 1909, 563]

He made a practice of entertaining strangers - from 1807 until the time of his death - and may thus be said to have kept the first tavern in the township.

He and his wife had twelve children.

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General Notes: Wife - Margaret Jenkins

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HMC 1909, 995 suggests she was born in Ireland.

1 Editor, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1102.

2 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 995.

3 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1512.

4 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 562.

5 Editor, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1101.

6 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 561.

7 Editor, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1103.

8 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 994.

9 Venango County Historical Society, Venango County Pennsylvania Cemetery Records and Early Church Histories, Vol. 6, Frenchcreek Township (Franklin, PA: Venango County Historical Society, 1998), Pg 23.

10 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1877), Pg 71.

11 Editor, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1172.

12 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 1044.