Anything definitive I found out about my Shoults ancestors ended in 1850 with Willliam’s father, Jacob. The family was listed on the 1850 Tishomingo census as Jacob Shultz, born circa 1813 in Adair County, Kentucky and his children, William, born 1832 in McNairy County, Tennessee, Rebecca, born 1838 in Tennessee, Louisa, born 1840 in Kentucky; Larkin, born 1843 and Perline, born 1847. Jacob’s first wife died and he married Emily Freeman, age 22, on March 26, 1850 in Tishomingo County. Emily died within five years as on April 12, 1855, Jacob married Mary Ann Brown. What happened to Jacob and William’s brothers and sisters after 1850 isn’t known; plenty of conjecture, but no facts.

It seems that as far as the family tree goes, the branch of my family is broken. There is plenty of information regarding the other Shoults/Shults/Shultz ancestors, but nothing about Jacob, and no one else investigating. Other family histories go back as far as 1740. The family information is that Johan Martin Shults born circa 1740 in Lancaster (now York) Pennsylvania, married Julianna Stentz on July 28, 1761. Johan Martin and Julianna had seven children on of which was David, born circa 1763 in York County, Pennsylvannia. David died circa 1835 in McNairy County, Tennessee. David married a woman named Nancy and they had ten children, one of which was John, born circa 1786 in Sullivan County, Tennessee. John married Elizabeth Robinson on November 3, 1806 in Adair County, Kentucky. John and Elizabth had six children, one of which is Jacob.

So the family tree goes from Martin to David to John to Jacob to William to John C. to John H. to Charles to my generation.

This ended the search for my Shoults family roots. I learned so much great information and had a great time doing it. Of course, I didn’t stop with just the Shoults branch. I went on to Robinson (my great grandmother’s Eliza’s maiden name), the Johnsons (my  Grandma Maggie’s maiden name); the Lacefields (my Grandma Maggie’s mother’s maiden name), Massey (my great, great grandmother Tarsy–William’s wife maiden name) King and Williamson. I found “shirt-tail” cousins still living in Craighead County and even one I’ve visited with on several occasions and others in Las Vegas and Little Rock who I have corresponded with. I traveled to Black Oak and Haywood County, North Carolina in my quest for information, loving the sights I saw along the way. It was a journey I thoroughly enjoyed and one I will revisit from time to time on the off chance that additional information may be posted somewhere out there in internetland.

Return to Shoults Genealogy Index.