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From:
Subject: Re: Peter Shirer
Date: 1 May 2005 11:12:44 -0600


This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.

Surnames: Shirey, Shirer, Shirar, Scheurer, Sheirer, Shearer
Classification: Query

Message Board URL:

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/pUHBAIB/65.1

Message Board Post:

What a coincidence. I live in Canton and used to live in North Canton which is in Plain township. The "Shirer" spelling is pretty rare and I have found most of the families that used it but the Peter Shirer you speak of is not part of any of them.

I looked at the 1840 census for Plain Township and although it could be mistaken for Shirer looks more like Shiner. The 1860 census for De Kalb Co., IN lists him as Shirey. All other records in De Kalb also list him as Shirey and this is good as I didn't think he would be a Shirer.

Since most of the branches had established a permanent spelling about 1845, don't ask why, this helps in determinig which lines to look at as they too would have used one spelling or another. Shirey happened to be one variation that at least two of the known Scheurer branches used.

A little history of the Scheurers, at least those who had been around since before 1750: They settled in Berks Co., PA and had emigrated from Alsace, France, being Swiss refugees of the Thirty year War. (another long story). The spelling of Scheurer did not last more than a few generations. The main variations that descended from this line was Shirey, Shearer, Shirer, Shirar and Sheirer. Many of the Berks Shireys stayed and migrated away later in the 1800's. Mine moved to Bedford (later Somerset) county, PA in 1789 and one branch moved to Muskingum Co., OH in 1804 and another stayed in Somerset. My line stems from the Muskingum Shirers who also have a branch that goes by Shirar that moved to Indiana. Those that stayed in Somerset and Bedford went by Sheirer and a few generations later also became Shirey.

I can show that some of the Sheirers from that area moved to Akron and some of the Shireys came to Canton but not as early as your Peter Shirey. They came after 1900. I don't find any Peter's in that line that are missing and none born in that time frame so we must look elsewhere.

It's possible he could have come from one of the Berks lines as I really haven't finished researching them as mine left around 1789 and I still haven't found his parents. Another possibility is that he came from a later arrival of Scheurers that also changed their spelling to Shirer or Shirey. One such group did come through North Canton, Ohio on their way to Illinois and Iowa. They did not change the spelling to Shirer from Scheurer until after the turn of the century because of growing anti-german sentiment.

The other possibility is that your Peter Shirey is not related to the Scheurers at all. Shirey is a variation that is shared with an unrelated English line. The same goes for Shearer. I don't research any of them but some are found in proximity to the Swiss lines which further complicates things. The main way of telling them apart is by their faith. The Scheurers were Lutheran and Reformed and most of them remained that way well into the mid 1800's. The earlier you can find some church records the better as when they started marrying into other lines, they also became Methodist, Baptist and others. however if you can find that they are Presbyterian or one of the English faiths then that would be something to consider as to their lineage.

I know this is not a definitive answer for you as it raises more questions than answers. I would look for any church records you can anywhere he lived. I didn't see Peter in the 1870 or 1880 census as the 1880 may have let you know where his parents were born. Any obits of his children might also give some clues.

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