Family Genealogy - Shields Family Genealogy

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.