James Shields (April 13, 1762August 13, 1831) was a one-term U.S. Representative from Ohio, serving from 1829 to 1831.

Biography

A descendant of the

Ó Siadhail Ó Siadhail / uaSiadhail / uaSiadgail is a Gaelic-Irish surname. Overview There were at least three families of this name in Gaelic Ireland. * Ó Siadhail of Ui Maine, now east County Galway. * Ó Siadhail of Uí Failghe, now County Offaly a ...

family, Shields was born in Banbridge,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

in the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...

. He received a good common-school education, entering the University of Glasgow, Scotland in 1782 and graduated in 1786. He attended medical college for two years, before emigrating to the United States in July 1791 and settled in Frederick County, Virginia, where he taught school. He moved to Butler County, Ohio in 1801, but then returned to Virginia and became a citizen of the United States in 1804.

Political career

He returned to Ohio in 1807 and was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives between 1806 and 1827 and was an

elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

for Andrew Jackson in 1828. Taylor 1899, p. 145 He was elected as a Jacksonian to the

21st United States Congress The 21st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1829, ...

(March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831).

Death

Shields was killed through the accidental overturning of a stagecoach near

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, Butler County, Ohio on August 13, 1831. He was interred in Venice Cemetery, Venice, Ohio. He was the uncle of U.S. Senator James Shields.

References

* 1762 births 1831 deaths 18th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish people Alumni of the University of Glasgow Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio 19th-century American politicians Members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Banbridge People from Butler County, Ohio Politicians from County Down Road incident deaths in Ohio 1828 United States presidential electors {{Ohio-Representative-stub