Meedy Shields
Meedy White Shields (July 8, 1804 - February 6, 1866) was an early Indiana Pioneer, the founder of Seymour, Indiana, a successful capitalist and Indiana politician. He was a nephew of John Shields of Lewis and Clark fame, a first cousin to General John Tipton and a distant cousin of Robert Shields (diarist).
Shields was born in what is now Sevier County, Tennessee 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.[1] 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. In 1816 his father acquired about 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) of land to the north, in Jackson County, Indiana. At the age of about 16, he manned flatboats on the Ohio River carrying goods to New Orleans returning via the Natchez Trace[2]. He eventually owned several flatboats 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. This was part of a long-standing feud between the Shields and Reno families. James Reno had settled in Jackson County, Indiana in 1813, three years prior to James Shields.
Shields then joined the Indiana Militia in 1832 to fight in the Black Hawk War 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 in nearby Rockford, Jackson County, Indiana which was the largest commercial center in Jackson County, Indiana at the time[2].
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