52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020, Week 27 -- Solo

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“How about someone on a line where you feel like you're the only one researching them? (I have a couple of those!)” --Amy Johnson Crow

I know exactly how you feel, Amy. Welcome to my SHEHORN family. Unaided, unaccompanied, unassisted I search. I fly solo because I haven’t encountered another researcher since the mid-1980s who knows anything about this family. 

My confidence that I’ve found “my” Shehorn family is fairly low, because there are so many unknowns. Here’s what I know as fact: Me < My Mother < My Grandfather (Ralph Wayne Jones) < My Great-Grandfather (John Henry Jones, Jr.). These first four generations I know exist, as I have the primary source evidence. :)

Then the record gets a little sketchy when the Shehorn name is introduced. John Henry Jones, Jr.’s mother may have been Mary Eleanor Shehorn (b. 1835-d. ~1908). Mary’s father may have been William Shehorn (b. ~1802-d. 1846).

The only “evidence” I have connecting John Henry Jones, Jr. to his mother is (1) a letter dated 1984 from another family researcher that names her as “Mary Shehorn,” and (2) a photograph of a non-contemporary headstone in a Mississippi cemetery where other family members are buried that says she is the “wife of John H. Jones.”

I don’t even know when/where the name William Shehorn appeared, as I wasn’t very good at keeping notes when I first started doing genealogy research. (More than likely, it was from the same letter that named Mary Shehorn.)

I was able to find some possible matches in the US Census using the Soundex code for Shehorn (S665) which led me to entries indexed as Shuhorn, Shihon, and Shuhem which, in turn, led me to a few Shehorn listings.


The 1840 US Census[1] (above) finds a “Wm Shuhorn” in Lafayette Co., Mississippi:

Wm Shuhorn
Home in 1840: Lafayette Co., Mississippi
Free White Persons, Males, Under 5: 1
Free White Persons, Males, 20 thru 29: 1
Free White Persons, Males, 30 thru 39: 1
Free White Persons, Females, Under 5: 1
Free White Persons, Females, 20 thru 29: 1
Slaves, Females, 10 thru 23: 1
Persons Employed in Agriculture: 2
Free White Persons, Under 20: 2
Free White Persons, 20 thru 49: 3
Total Free White Persons: 5
Total Slaves: 1
Total All Persons, Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 6


The 1850 US Census[2] (above) doesn’t find any William Shehorn, but it does find a “Mrs Margaret Shehorn” as head of household in Lafayette Co., Mississippi:

Mrs Margaret Shehorn, 40yo, $350 value of real estate owned
John Shehorn, 18yo male
Mary, 16yo female
Eliza J., 14yo female
Martha, 10yo female
Sarah, 9yo female
Robt, 6yo male

To my eye, the number and ages of the children who would have been alive from 1840 to 1850 don’t add up. But the place (Lafayette Co., Mississippi) is correct for what I do know about the location of the family in subsequent generations.


The 1880 US Census[3] (above) also lists a “Margret Sheehorn” (indexed as Margret Shuhem), a 73-year-old widow living in Lafayette Co., Mississippi with her daughter Martha (36 years old) and granddaughter Alice. Margaret/Margret and Martha’s given ages are within tolerance from the 1850 to 1880 census.

(If this is the correct Shehorn family, then who is the 2-year-old Mayhew orphan living with the family? A mystery for another day, that’s who!) 

Assuming this is the same family across the 1840, 1850 and 1880 censuses, what happened to William between 1840 and 1850? Divorce was unusual, so perhaps he died?


I can locate a compiled military service record for a “William Sheehorn” for service as a private in the 1st Mississippi Infantry during the Mexican War.[4] This William died "ordinary" on 10 Oct 1946 in Serralvo, Mexico and would certainly explain why he isn’t listed in the 1850 census.

I also located a $3.50 monthly pension for a Pvt. William Shehorn given to his wife Margaret Shehorn, which commenced on 12 Oct 1856. 

So -- Shehorn, Sheehorn, Shehorne, Shuhem, Shuhorn or Shihon -- I’m not completely confident I have the correct family. If anyone out there can confirm or disprove any or all of the above, please get in touch!

Footnotes
[1] 1840 United States Federal Census (Census Place: Lafayette, Mississippi; Roll: 215; Page: 174; Family History Library Film: 0014841) [Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.]

[2] 1850 United States Federal Census (Census Place: Lafayette, Mississippi; Roll: M432_375; Page: 249A; Image: 54) [Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.]

[3] 1880 United States Federal Census (Census Place: Lafayette, Mississippi; Roll: 652; Family History Film: 1254652; Page: 231C; Enumeration District: 077) [Ancestry.com The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.]

[4] U.S., Compiled Military Service Records for American Volunteer Soldiers, Mexican War, 1845-1848 for William Sheehorn [Ancestry.com. U.S., Compiled Military Service Records for American Volunteer Soldiers, Mexican War, 1845-1848 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.]

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