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1(i).
Obediah
Shirley born Aug 29, 1804. He
died Feb 18, 1889 Honea Path, South Carolina and buried in the
Presbyterian Cemetery. They settled in Honea Path in Anderson
Co. SC.
Obediah and Jennie Shirley
The house Obediah
and Jennie built is still standing and is located one-half mile
west of Honea Path. They along with others from Barkers Creek,
Broadmouth and Big Creek Baptist Church organized the First Baptist
Church of Honea Path during the year 1869 with 19 charter members.
Obediah was one of the first deacons. He was a farmer and a large
landowner and was known to give liberally to the church and to
Christian education. He hauled cotton to Hamburg (now Augusta)
which was the largest market.
Obediah Shirley House
(see full
description and history in the application for the historical
register)
married Jennie
Armstrong
Mar 18, 1824. Jennie Armstrong was the daughter of John
Armstrong and Isabella Bryson.
children:
2(i). Capt.
John Jasper Shirley
born July 18, 1825 at Little River, five miles from Honea Path,
Anderson Co. SC, d. March 9, 1907 (83 yrs of age),
 John
J. Shirley was born on Little River, five miles south of Honea
Path, July 18, 1825, and during his infancy his parents removed
to Honea Path, where he grew up and was long one of the most
conspicuous figures in the town. He built the home where his
son Robert M. was born and where the latter's widow still lives.
John J. Shirley died March 9, 1907, when in his eighty-third
year. Though well advanced in years at the time, he served as
a loyal soldier of the Confederacy in Company E of the Twenty-First
Regiment, under Colonel Keith, and as first lieutenant had command
of the company part of the time. On account of ill health he
was sent home in 1863. He served as the first station agent and
performed the duties of that office for twenty-eight years at
Honea Path. He was also the first postmaster, was a merchant,
and built the Shirley Hotel, which was operated under his management
for over fifty years. In 1855 John J. Shirley married Miss Frances
Mattison. They had three sons, William A., a furniture dealer
and undertaker at Honea Path; Robert Milton; and Dr. John Fletcher
Shirley, of Honea Path. John J. Shirley also had farming interests.
He was a deacon in the Baptist Church. Source: History of
South Carolina Vol 5
John Jasper Shirley Family of Honea Path SC, taken
about 1897
on the back porch of the Shirley Hotel
Back row standing, from left Robert M. Shirley
and wife Sallie Erwin Shirley, babe in arms, Frances Shirley
(Mann); William Augustus Shirley and wife Alice Lever Shirley;
wife Emma Clinkscales Shirley and Dr. John Fletcher Shirley.
Seated Center, from left, Frances Matteson Shirley and John Jasper
Shirley. Children on steps: Back row from left, Malcolm John
Shirley, Helen Shirley (Donald); Second Step, from left, Lucille
Shirley, Vera Shirley (Thompson); bottom step, from left, Hazel
Shirley, Harold Shirley.
(photo courtesy of Kathy Espin of Las Vegas NV)
married
Frances Mattison
on Dec 20, 1855. She was born May 14, 1834 Anderson Co. SC. She
was the daughter of William and Eliza Acker Mattison.
children:
3(i). William
Augustus Shirley
born Oct 29, 1856 d. June 28, 1922
In the Town of Honea Path, where his father was one of the
chief constructive factors in its early building and progress,
William Augustus Shirley has a record of more than thirty-five
years of business service, as a furniture merchant and undertaker
and as one of the community's best esteemed citizens. He was
born at Honea Path October 29, 1856, son of John Jasper and Frances
(Mattison) Shirley, grandson of Obediah and Jane (Armstrong)
Shirley and great-grandson of John and Elizabeth (Fields) Shirley,
natives of Virginia, who came to South Carolina and settled in
Abbeville County. Obediah Shirley was a native of Abbeville County
and settled on a farm near Honea Path, where he lived to the
age of seventy-five. William Augustus Shirley grew up in his
native town, acquired a common school education, and at the age
of eighteen became clerk in a mercantile establishment. He was
a faithful worker for others several years, and then twenty-five
years ago started in the furniture and undertaking business,
and through that has rendered much appreciated service and has
achieved a modest but satisfying success for himself. He has
always been public spirited, is a man of unassuming nature, and
has never sought the honors of politics. He is a member of the
Methodist Church. Mr. Shirley married Miss Alice R. Lever, of
Columbia, South Carolina. They became the parents of eight children
of whom five daughters and two sons are living. Source: History of South Carolina, Vol
3
married Alice
R. Lever
April 15, 1891
children:
4(i). Hazel
Frances Shirley
Jan 24, 1892
4(ii). Lucille
Harriet Shirley
April 29, 1894
4(iii). Helen
Estell Shirley April
19, 1896 m. John Rasor Donnald Dec 30, 1919
4(iv). Hattie
Bertha Shirley
Aug 4, 1898 m. William Thruston Crane Dec __, 1922
4(v). John
Jasper Shirley
June 21, 1900 d. at age 2 1/2 years old
4(vi). William
Walter Shirley
Feb 3, 1903 m. Grace Ray Dec 1929
4(vii). Dorothy
Elizabeth Shirley
Nov 13, 1905 m. Charles Thomas Ingram Dec 1930
4(viii). Leitner
Edward Shirley
Sept 2, 1909 m. Lillian Crumpler
3(ii). Robert
Milton Shirley
born March 14, 1858 Honea Path, SC. He died Jan 29, 1910
 At
age 10 he became a clerk in a local store in Honea Path. This
training prepared him for his future as in 1893 he started a
business on a small scale as a general merchant. He gave up his
mercantile business to organize the Bank of Honea Path. He became
its president and served that institution faithfully and well
for a quarter of a century. He took part in organizing the Honea
Path Mill and served as its vice president. He owned extensive
faming interests. He was active in the establishment of Carnegie
Library and was a member of the town council for years. He was
an elder in the Presbyterian Church and was a member of the Knights
of Pythias.A large part of the business rendered at Honea Path
has been supplied by members of the Shirley family. One of the
most prominent of them was the late Robert Milton Shirley, for
a quarter of a century a banker and from early boyhood an abundant
source of business enterprise to that community. Mr. Shirley
died January 29, 1918, in the house where he was born March 14,
1858. His parents were John Jasper and Frances (Mattison) Shirley.
Robert Milton Shirley grew up in his home town, attended the
public schools, and was not more than ten years of age when his
special genius for business prompted him to become a clerk in
a local store. Thus he had a thorough training in business at
a time when  most
boys are engaged in their books and school routine. In 1883 he
started in business on a small scale as a general merchant. He
gave up his mercantile interests in 1893 to organize the Bank
of Honea Path. He became its president and served that institution
faithfully and well for nearly a quarter of a century. Mr. Shirley
had the character and the ability which made him implicitly trusted
by all who knew him. In every sense he was a leader, in the community,
taking an active part in organizing the Honea Path Cotton Mills
and serving as vice president; was for a long time interested
in the Honea Path Lumber Company and part of the time president;
and owned extensive farming interests. He was active in the establishment
of the Carnegie Library, and was a member of the Town Council
many years. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church and was
a member of the Knights of Pythias. November 13, 1890, he married
Miss Sallie Hill Erwin, a daughter of Malcolm Erwin of Erwin's
Mill in Abbeville County, and his wife, Margaret (McMurtry) Erwin,
who were 1fttives of County Antrim, Ireland. The Erwins are Scotch-Irish.
Mrs. Shirley was born in Abbeville County. She is the mother
of a son and daughter, Malcolm John Shirley and Frances Eileen
Shirley, the latter now Mrs. Clyde Mann. Both children were liberally
educated, the son graduating Bachelor of Science from Davidson
College, in North Carolina in 1915 and taking his law degree
from the University of South Carolina in 1917. The daughter graduated
in 1919 from Chicora College. Source: History of South Carolina
Vol 5
married Sallie
Hill Erwin
Nov 13, 1890
children:
3(i). John
Shirley born
May 26, 1891, died same day
3(ii). Malcom
John Shirley
born Dec 29, 1893. He graduated from Davidson College in 1915
and took his law degree from the University of South Carolina
in 1917. Malcolm John Shirley, who was born December 29,
1893, enlisted in the National army November 26, 1917, and was
called to active duty December 15, 1917. For seven months he
was in the Quartermaster's Training School at Camp Johnston,
Florida, and was sent overseas June 5, 1918. He remained in France
nearly a year, until May 18, 1919. During the war he was stationed
at an intermediate section in supply work. He received his honorable
discharge June 3, 1919.
married Neila
Frances Simpson
3(iii). Frances
Shirley
born Feb 26, 1897, She graduated from Chicoia College. She married
Clyde Mann
3(iii). Dr.
John Fletcher Shirley
born Aug 16, 1861 Honea Path, SC d. Aug 19, 1930
In 1883 John
graduated in medicine from the University of Maryland. He came
back to Honea Path and began his practice. He did post
graduate-work in the New York Graduate Medical School in 1890.
He served as a member of the County and State Medical Societies.
He was a Democrat, a Master Mason and a deacon in the Baptist
church. John Fletcher Sh1rley, M. D. During an active professional
career at Honea Path covering more than thirty-five years Doctor
Shirley has also supplied enterprise, enthusiasm and capital
to some of the city's leading business institutions. He possesses
the public spirit for which this family is notable, and probably
no other family group has done more for the upbuilding and progress
of Honea Path than the Shirleys. Doctor Shirley was born at Honea
Path August 16, 1861, and is a son of John Jasper and Frances
(Mattison) Shirley. The Shirley family was founded in South Carolina
from Virginia by John and Elizabeth (Fields) Shirley, early settlers
in Abbeville County. Their son Obadiah Shirley was born in Abbeville
County, and married Jane Armstrong. He settled on a farm near
Honea Path and reared five sons and three daughters. Four .of
these sons, including the father of Doctor Shirley, were soldiers
in the Confederate army. Doctor Shirley is a brother of the late
R. M. Shirley, the prominent banker of Honea Path. In connection
with a brief sketch of his career on other pages will be found
some record of John Jasper Shirley, who was one of the founders
and the upbuilders of the Town of Honea Path. Doctor Shirley
received a high school training in his native town and in 1883
graduated in medicine from the University of Maryland at Baltimore.
He at once returned home and took up the practice which has continued
with unvarying success and faithfulness to the highest ethics
of his profession. He did post-graduate work in the New York
Post-Graduate Medical School in 1890. He is a member of the County
and State Medical societies, is a democrat in politics, though
without official record, and is a Master Mason and Knight of
Pythias and a deacon in the Baptist Church. Few of the larger
business enterprises of Honea Path have not received some active
support from Doctor Shirley. He is interested 1n both banks and
the Chiquola Cotton Mill. He is vice president of the Cotton
Mill Organization. He also owns a large amount of good farm land,
and has found both profit and recreation in superintending his
country place. His home at Honea Path is one of the handsomest
in Anderson County. In 1890 Doctor Shirley married Miss Emma
Clinkscales, daughter of Fleetwood Clinkscales, an old and prominent
resident of Anderson County. Doctor and Mrs. Shirley have three
children: Harold Clinkscales Shirley; Vera, a graduate of Converse
College and wife of Frank Thompson, of Dillon, South Carolina;
and Lydia, a student in Converse College. Harold Clinkscales
Shirley was graduated from The Citadel at Charleston with the
Bachelor of Science degree in 1913, took the Master of Arts degree
from the University of South Carolina in 1914, and in 1918 was
graduated in medicine from Johns Hopkins University. He also
spent a year as interne in the hospital at Baltimore, and is
now establishing a practice and reputation at Macon, Georgia.
Source: History of South Carolina, Vol 3
married Emma
Jean Clinkscales
April 30, 1889
children:
3(i). Dr Harold
Clinkscales Shirley born
Aug 12, 1891. He received his degree in 1913, took the Master
of Arts degree from the University of South Carolina in 1914
and in 1918 he graduated from John Hopkins. He spent a year as
an intern at Baltimore. He began his practice at Charlotte, North
Carolina as an eye, nose and throat specialist. He died Nov 1949
married Mary
Mayard
(no children)
3(ii). Vera
Eva Shirley
born May 11, 1893 m. Frank Thompson
3(iii). Lydia
Shirley
born Oct 26, 1899 d. June 11, 1975 m. Jack Crowther
2(ii). James
Marion Shirley born
Jan 1, 1828 d. July 20, 1900
James Marion and Nancy Cox Shirley
married Nancy
Cox
children:
3(i). Elizabeth
Savannah Shirley
1853 d. 1899 m. Andrew Thompson Armstrong
3(ii). William
Preston Shirley
June 22, 1855 d. June 22, 1927
married Parrie
Cox
children:
4(i). Eula
Elizabeth Shirley
Sept 16, 1882 m. Austin William Campbell
4(ii). William
Fred Shirley
Dec 11, 1884 m. Maggie J. Kay
4(iii). Annie
Dean Shirley
Feb 17, 1889 d. May 14, 1921 m. James Duckworth Rogers
3(iii). James
Calhoun Shirley
born Oct 20, 1857 d. Sept 11, 1923 Tarrant Co. TX
James Calhoun Shirley and Alice Lavonia Martin
married Alice
Lavonia Martin
children:
4(i). Clarence
Pinkney Shirley
Jan 13, 1885 d. April 17, 1960 m. Ethel Magnolia Cox
4(ii). Dora
Adaline Shirley
Mar 16, 1887 d. Nov 28, 1960 m. Harry Elmer Kline
4(iii). Corrie
Jane Shirley Aug
18, 1889 d. April 30, 1969 m. Glover Cleveland Butler
4(iv). Lula
Alice Shirley
July 17, 1891 d. Jan 25, 1979 m. Thomas Jefferson Doss
4(v). Ethel
Shirley
June 7, 1893 d. May 22, 1977 m. Eden Ross Clay Aug 21, 1914
Parents of
Ruth Clay Burrell who encouraged Betty Shirley, to initiate the
Shirley Association.
Ruth
Burrell
3(iv). Lula
Jane Shirley
June 16, 1870 d. Oct 24, 1943 m. Joseph Milton Cox
3(v). Lucinda
Annie Shirley
Sept 21, 1873 d. Jan 19, 1934 m. John Henry Cox
2(iii). Nathaniel
Amaziah Shirley
born Dec 9, 1830 Honea Path, SC d. March 21, 1899
 
Nathaniel Amaziah Shirley
Lucinda Mandeline Cox
married Lucinda
Mandeline Cox.
She was born July 17, 1849 d. Nov 20, 1881.
children:
3(i). William
Augustus Shirley
Oct 21, 1870 d. Sept 1871
3(ii). Emmie
Elizabeth Shirley
Nov 25, 1875 d. June 17, 1972 m. James Abner Pinson Nov
7, 1895
2(iv). Isabella
E. Shirley
May 5, 1833 d. April 9, 1910 m. John Wesley Bigby
John Wesley Bigby
Isabella E. Shirley Bigby
2(v). Benjamin
Franklin Shirley
Mar 31, 1835 Died young.
2(vi). Archibald
Pinckney Shirley
Aug 3, 1837 d. Sept 7, 1886 . Both are buried at Presbyterian
Church Cemetery at Honea Path, South Carolina.
Archibald Pinckney and Laura Sutherland Shirley
married Laura
Sutherland
born May 30, 1830 d. Jan 22, 1909
children:
3(i). Samuel
Obediah Shirley
June 25, 1870 d. April 11, 1929 m. 1st Ellen Acker Jan 20, 1899,
m. 2nd Mary Harper Acker Dec 27, 1908.
children:
4(i). Archibald
Pinckney Shirley Jan
29, 1902 d. July 1879 Deland, Florida.
4(ii). Joe
Acker Shirley
Aug 28, 1912 m. Mary Dixon
4(iii). Mary
Keith Shirley
May 23, 1913 m. Rev Ellis Oakes
3(ii). James
Harry Shirley Nov
22, 1874 d. Dec 1, 1949 m. Kate Jester
3(iii). Annie
Mattison Shirley
Jan 14, 1878 d. Dec 19, 1922 m. George Ligon Anderson April 10,
1907. Both are buried at Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Honea
Path, South Carolina.
3(iv). Isabelle
Shirley
July 11, 1879 d. Oct 2, 1880
3(v). Dr.
Joe T. Shirley April
2, 1882 d. April 8, 1905 of tuberculosis. (He was a dentist)
2(vii). Martha
Jane Shirley
Apr 4, 1841 Honea Path, SC d. June 27, 1870 m. James Archibald
Bigby
2(viii).
infant Shirley
June 26, 1844
2(ix). Elizabeth
Frances Shirley
Jan 16, 1846 Honea Path, SC d. July 11, 1928 m. Richard
Thomas Kirkpatrick
2(x). William
Marshall Shirley
born Jan 26, 1851 d. Feb 16, 1926
William Marshall Shirley, whose mature years have been spent
as a farmer in Anderson County, is member of a well known and
prominent family in that section of the state. No other family
name has entered more frequently into the historical records
concerning the gftwth and progress of the community around Honea
Path than that of Shirley. Mr. Shirley was born in Anderson County
January 26, 1851. He is the youngest of the ten children of Obediah
and Jane (Armstrong) Shirley. He was the only son of the family
too young to enter the Confederate army. Obediah Shirley was
born on Little River in Abbeville County in 1804, and died on
his farm near Honea Path in 1889. He had spent practically all
his married life on that farm. His parents, John and Elizabeth
(Fields) Shirley, were natives of Virginia and early settlers
in Abbeville County. The wife of Obediah Shirley was a daughter
of John and Isabella (Bryson) Armstrong, the Armstrongs having
also come from Virginia. She died at the age of eighty-seven.
Of her ten children, five sons and three daughters grew to mature
age. These children, constituting a group, many of them heads
of prominent families in South Carolina, were John Jasper, James
Marion, Isabella, who became the wife of John Wesley Bigby, Nathaniel
A., Archibald P., Martha Jane, who became the wife of James Bigby,
Elizabeth, who married Richard T. Kirkpatrick, and William Marshall.
The last named and his sister, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, are the only
survivors of the children. All of them grew up on the home farm
and were trained in the faith of the Baptist Church in which
their parents were active. Mr. Shirley acquired a common school
education and in 1873 married Margaret Major, a daughter of Ephraim
Jenkins and Elizabeth (Long) Major of Anderson County. Some further
particulars regarding this well known Anderson County family
are published elsewhere. After his marriage Mr. Shirley and his
young wife went to live with his parents, and for over twenty-one
years he remained manager of the homestead farm and solicitously
looked after the welfare of his father and mother until they
died. Afterwards he succeeded to the ownership of the old place,
and this farm has furnished him his chief occupation and the
source of his prosperity. Mr. and Mrs. Shirley have three daughters:
Jane, widow of W. C. Sharp; Elizabeth, wife of James R. Austin,
cashier of the Citizens Bank of Honea Path; and May, wife of
E. F. Latimer, of Abbeville County. Mr. Shirley has always been
a stanch democrat, but has not been in politics for the sake
of office. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.
Biography of William Marshall Shirley of Honea Path SC. Source
History of South Carolina, By Yates Snowden, Harry Gardner Cutler;
page 172.
married Margaret
Majors
children:
3(i). Jennie
Maude Shirley
1874 m. William Casper Sharpe
3(ii). Elizabeth
Maline "Bess" Shirley Oct 7, 1876 d. Feb 24, 1956 m. James
Robert Austin (parents of James Robert Austin (Jim) who donated
Obediah Shirleys house in Honea Path to the Shirley Association
for preservation.
3(iii). Mae
Lucinda Shirley
1887 d. 1961 m. Earnest Featherstone Latimer
RESEARCH ON
THE SLAVEHOLDINGS OF OBEDIAH SHIRLEY
1830 Anderson
Co SC Census - Obediah Shirley
female age 10-23
1840 Anderson
Co SC Census - Obediah Shirley
female age 10-23
female age 0-10
female age 0-10
female age 0-10
1850 Anderson
Co SC Census - Obediah Shirley
male age 44 (born about 1806)
male age 25 (born about 1825, likely Barry Armstrong found
in 1870, 1880 census)
male age 15 (born about 1835)
male age 12 (born about 1838)
male age 6 (born about 1844)
male age 4 (born about 1846)
female age 60 (born about 1790)
female age 31 (born about 1819)
female age 16 (born about 1834)
female age 10 (born about 1840)
female age 9 (born about 1841)
female age 2 (born about 1848)
1860 Anderson
Co SC Census - Obediah Shirley
male age 56 (born about 1804)
male age 35 (born about 1825, likely Barry Armstrong found
in 1870, 1880 census)
male age 24 (born about 1836, enumerated as 'blind')
male age 14 (born about 1846
male age 4 (born about 1856)
male age 4 (born about 1856)
female age 70 (born about 1790)
female age 41 (born about 1819)
female age 21 (born about 1839)
In 1885, Barry
Armstong of Honea Path age 61 (b abt 1824) appeared in the Intellegencer
newspaper saying he was suffering from alopecia, said he was
once owned by Obediah Shirley
In 1894 Intellegencer
article, a personal narrative mentioned when he was a boy, a
"negro named Tony", owned by Obediah Shirley who was
killed by lightening
1870 Anderson
Co SC Census - African American Shirleys
Varrenes PO
A Simpson 58
b SC black
Kody 40
Agey 13
M Sherly 45 b SC black domestic servant (b about 1815)
there are
no others
1870 Abbeville
Co SC Census - African American Shirleys
Cokesbury
PO
Mack Shirley age 55 b SC black farm
laborer (born about 1815)
Rachel 27
Dollie 12 (male)
Ann 8
Emma 5
Due West PO
George Sherley age 41 b SC black farmer
(born about 1829)
Lizzie 35
W E C (female) 12
E L (female) 9
C J (female) 4
A M (female) 2
G H (male) 1
there are
no others
1880 Abbeville
Co SC Census - African American Shirleys
Hodges PO
Marcus Shirley age 60 black farm laborer
(born about 1820)
Rachel 37 "concubine"
there are
no others
Name Thomas
Prue Clement
Sex Male
Birth Date 5 Nov 1854
Birthplace Henea Path, South Carolina, United States
Social Program Application Date Jun 1937
Race Black
Father's Name Sanford Gantt
Father's Sex Male
Mother's Name Emeline Shirley
Mother's Sex Female
Event Type Social Program Correspondence
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Obediah Shirley