The Luck of the Irish

My Irish immigrant family brought the Luck of the Irish with them. Maybe 8 year old Mary McGill had a lucky penny in her shoe when she came from Ireland to Canada in the early 1800s. Her life was hard; her husband, Patrick, who was 30 years her senior, worked in the timbers or building the canal. But the records show that at least they had a house, as opposed to the neighbors who lived in wooden shanties. When Mary was widowed, with 3 young children, she was lucky to join a group who made their way west to the United States. In Iowa City, although she was ill, Mary was lucky again, to find a man who would help her write a will, making sure her children were cared for. My Gt Grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, was her youngest child, age 5, when she died. The Shafer family, who fostered Daniel, were childless but raised him as their own and even sent him to the University. The foster father and mother just "happened" to be related to Eva Frost, who was eventually married to Daniel Patrick. There was illness during those years in Iowa, but Daniel was lucky to survive. Sadly, his sister, Bridget, brother, John, John's wife, and one baby died. One of Daniel's nephews remained, and that lucky boy was fostered by Daniel and Eva. Years later, after the family moved to western Iowa, Daniel was lucky enough to see a flyer that told of land opening for homesteads in Oklahoma Territory. In 1889, he made his way to Arkansas City, Kansas, and boarded a train for the new frontier. Daniel, and 3 other pioneers, jumped from the train, and set off west across the prairie. As luck would have it, they came to a place where 4 quarter sections were marked with stakes. Since McGill was the only one who had a large family, he was the lucky one chosen to claim the land with the best source of water. His family, including my grandmother, age 8, came from Iowa by covered wagon to join him on the homestead. And here I am, one of the lucky descendants to come from this family, and lucky to have that story preserved for more than 200 years after little Mary McGill crossed the Atlantic. The picture above is of Daniel P. (seated) and Eva McGill (standing center) and their family on the homestead west of Edmond, Oklahoma. This land is still pasture land and the pond is still there.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #49 theme is "New Horizons".

As our families arrived on the Atlantic Coast, some as early as the 1640s, they must have been anxiously waiting for the view of the new land on the horizon. They were so brave and ready for new experiences. 

Choosing just one of these many early families, I would like to chronicle our Frost family through more than two centuries of seeking "New Horizons."  The immigrant John Frost, our 9th great grandfather, was born 1614 in England. He came first to New York with his father, John, and then to New Haven CT by 1660s.  His son, John, married Mercy Paine there, and was the father of our 7th gt grandfather, Samuel Frost.  (We will find the surname of Paine again in this family line.)  But first, three generations of "Grandpa Samuels" lived in and around New Haven. They would have lived through the struggles of clearing lands and surviving the elements of a new world, including the French and Indian Wars.   Then in 1754, our 4th gt grandfather, Isaac Frost, was born.  His father fought in the Revolutionary War, and they saw the new nation on the horizon.

Soon after the war, a Connecticut investment company made plans to populate the Western Reserve which would include the new city of Cleveland, Ohio.  Isaac and his family would be among the first to make this venture.  In fact, we believe that one of Isaac's sons, Elias, surveyed the plats for the city of Cleveland. Another son, Johnson LymanFrost, our 3rd Gt Grandfather, married Oriana Paine, daughter of Seth Paine (see, I told you that name would show up again). Oriana Paine Frost was the first teacher in the Brecksville, OH area, and her name shows up in streets and institutions. Oriana’s mother, Hannah Nash Paine, descended from a most interesting line including Canada Waite, born in captivity in Canada when her mother was kidnapped by Indians.

Old Isaac, and sons, Elias, and Lyman helped establish the town of Olmstead, OH.  The Frost name is still seen in the area. But even further horizons beckoned, and in 1820, Johnson Lyman and family are found in St. Clair, Michigan. Both Elias and Lyman had studied medicine, and although Lyman was not a doctor, he used his knowledge to assist a doctor there. Then in 1830, he and his family, including our 2 Gt Grandfather; Elias Carlos Frost, have moved further into the frontier to Lacon County Illinois, near Peoria.  As a side note here, while in Lacon County, the Frosts lived about a mile from the Graves family who went west as part of the Donner party.  New horizons were difficult if not impossible to conquer for many in that era.

When the wilds of Iowa opened for settlement, Lyman, whose wife had died in Illinois, took his children, and traveled to Iowa City.  As we look back, it had been 200 years since the first Frost immigrants had arrived in North America, and they had lived in 6 states, always moving westward.  Iowa in the 1840s was a new frontier, with forts and Indian confrontations. Many settlers came with very little furniture and belongings, as they had to travel by wagons pulled by oxen. But Iowa City grew up quickly into an area of businesses, a militia, and academics. The University and debating societies were established by 1847.

It was in Iowa City that our Frosts, Herringtons, Shafers, and McGills came together through marriage. In the 70s, Elias and family, including daughter, Eva, who married Daniel McGill, moved on to the western part of the state. Our grandma, Harriett “Hattie” McGill, and her siblings were born in Audubon County.  According to family lore, farming was difficult due to the weather and the plague of locusts or grasshoppers.  And at one point, the general store in Audubon County, owned by Elias (also called Carlos) was robbed by the "Crooked Creek Gang".

The brother-in-law of Elias (D.P. McGill's foster father), Daniel Shafer, had helped to survey the state line of Nebraska; so Elias and Lucinda, along with the elderly Lyman, moved on to Stuart, Nebraska.  Lyman died there according to the family Bible. His life alone had stretched from Connecticut to Nebraska, and his very interesting personality has been recorded... another story.

After a few years near Keya Paha County, Elias and family moved on west again, to Chadron, Dawes County, Nebraska, around 1888.  The McGills, still in Iowa, headed for the newly opened territory of Oklahoma, with Daniel making the Run of 1889. And Elias also moved his family to Oklahoma, where they lived and died in Perry, Noble County. 

Many descendants and relatives of these Frost families followed their dreams even further west in the U.S.   Their stories include California during the gold rush days and later years, as well as other states. We have so many families who made similar treks, but this is an example of the pioneer spirit…seeking New Horizons.

1840s and 50s in Iowa City, Iowa

The Frosts, Shafers, and Hustons were active in civic affairs wherever they lived. Since the town and county organizations were new, these men got in on the ground floor. Lyman Frost was a Petit Juror, Johnson County Iowa, July 1841.

In 1846, the Board of Commissioners of Iowa County prepared to layout the county seat of Marengo. This was the next county west of Johnson Co. It was said that “Dr. J. Lyman Frost was the first man to attempt to make a survey of the town. He had no compass but thought that he could arrange the squares, blocks and alleys with stakes; he succeeded in making two range but not three. So Cyrus Sanders was called up from Iowa City to complete the job.”

The 1854 Census Iowa City Iowa shows: Luther Paine Frost (L. P.) one adult male, two females, one in militia, one voter. Total 3 in household.

1858 Men in Johnson County eligible for military service. Carlos Frost, and Luther Frost.

By 1850 Johnson Lyman Frost and son Elias Carlos are found living with Daniel and Amelia Shafer in Johnson Co., Iowa. Lyman is a widower, 56 years old and a farmer. Later that year, Carlos married Lucinda Harrington (Oct. 5, 1850). She had come to Iowa from New York. She lived in the Montgomery household of Johnson County before marriage, possibly serving as a nanny to the children. Either her father or mother were born in Rhode Island, but we have not yet found their names.

According to an Audubon County website, Carlos, Lucinda and family moved west to Exira, Audubon Co., IA in 1853, along with Johnson Lyman Frost. Coincidentally, our Griffin and Miller families of West Virginia passed through this same area, living in Exira for a short time following the Civil War. Adonijah Harris (brother in law of William Griffin) and his son, James, are listed in the history of Audubon Co. Iowa as early settlers in Louisville, near Exira.

We learn from the History of Audubon County something about Lyman and his life in Iowa. It is said that J. L. may have been a preacher, doctor, carpenter, postmaster, first to plant an apple orchard in the county, that he was first a Democrat and later a Republican activist. His personality is described in the Biography of Audubon County, Iowa as "contentious" and "mean". He was a staunch Union supporter, and is at least an interesting character. The author of the Audubon County history did not agree with Frost politically…. which could account for part of the negative description that follows tomorrow.

Daniel Shafer and Harriett Amelia Frost

Harriett “Hattie” Amelia Frost, older daughter of Johnson Lyman Frost, married Daniel Adam Shafer on April 8, 1843, Johnson Co., Iowa. By 1850, we find J. Lyman and son, Carlos, 24, living with the Shafer family in Johnson County. J. Lyman is listed as a farmer, age 56. (We will note later that the Shafers are the family that took in our great grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, as a foster child and raised him when his mother died.)

Biography of Daniel Shafer:
Daniel Adam Shafer was born in NorthHampton County, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 23, 1818, son of Adam Shafer and Mary Buskirk, the oldest of eight siblings. The father, Adam, was a school teacher and soldier, having served as First Lieutenant, 176th Regt. Pennsylvania Militia, Company F.

Daniel Shafer is said to have been educated as an attorney and a civil engineer. He migrated to Iowa Territory as one of its earliest settlers about 1840, at about age 22, and lived in Iowa City, Johnson County. A first cousin, Samuel Huston, came from Pennsylvania at about the same time. According to the Shafer - Huston family history, he ran the Nebraska State Line for the U.S. Government and laid out the city of Omaha, Nebraska.

Daniel Shafer and Harriett Amelia Frost were married April 8, 1843, in Johnson County, Iowa. Miss Frost, also called "Hattie", was the daughter of Johnson Lyman Frost and Oriana Paine. She was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, May 19, 1820. Harriett's sister, Celina Calista Frost, married Shafer's cousin, Samuel Huston.

To show how primitive the state was at this time, D.A. Shafer received a bounty [probably $1.00] for one wolf scalp, in the Wolf Harvest of 1845. Ninety-five wolves were killed in that year's county harvest. This from an early history book of Johnson County.

In the 1850 Census of Johnson County, Iowa, Penn Township, the Shafers are farming north of Iowa City. The value of their Real Estate was $1,450. (Average for farmers of the community.) Harriett's father, Lyman J., and brother, Elias Carlos, live with them, as well as a young man, Levi Freeze, and Eliza Huston, the daughter of Harriett's late sister Celina Frost Huston, above. Eliza's father Samuel Huston, had gone to the gold fields of California at that time.

Daniel Shafer is the attorney of record for the will of Mary McGill in April 1856. He was appointed one of the guardians of her three children, along with her older son John S. McGill. The younger children were Bridget Jane, and Patrick D. McGill. The latter is our great grandfather, known as Daniel Patrick McGill. He was raised by Daniel Shafer and wife, Harriett. We do not know the relationship of Mary McGill and the Shafers. She had arrived in Iowa from Canada between 1852 and 1856, with her three children.

In August of 1862, Daniel A. Shafer enlisted in the service as a Lieutenant 1st Class, at the age of 43. He was commissioned in Company E, 28th Iowa Infantry, 10 October 1862, and promoted to Full Captain on February 1, 1863. Resigned 16 Mar 1864. He received a pension as an invalid in 1886, and his second wife, Mary, received pension after his death.

Shafer is listed as a Republican in 1865, and a Democrat in 1872 - History of Johnson Co. Iowa. The family identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The census of 1870, North Liberty Township, Johnson County, Iowa, lists Daniel A. Shafer and wife Harriett, farmers with $12,000 Real Estate and $3,000 Personal Property. Daniel P. McGill, 19, is living with them and attending school, as well as working on the farm. We know he was enrolled at the University of Iowa at about that time. Others in the household are: Daniel S. Wise, Farm Laborer, age 14, Catherine Hack, domestic, age 22, and Catherine Wise, age 2, born Nebraska. The Wise or Weiss family of Johnson county consisted of Daniel Shafer's sister, Julia Shafer Wise, and her husband, Jesse, and children.

Harriett Amelia Frost died April 1, 1871. She is buried in the Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City, Iowa. About nine months later, Daniel married Mary E. Frost, niece of Harriett. Her father was Luther Paine Frost, brother of Harriett; mother was Caroline White. Mary was only 23, at the time of the marriage, while Daniel Shafer was 54. There were no children of this union or that of Harriett and Daniel.

In 1881 Shafer was nominated by Democrats in the election for County Surveyor of Johnson County, Iowa, but he was defeated by Mr. Worden, Republican candidate. Also in that year, D.A. Shafer was an officer of the organization of "Old Settlers" who held dinners and meetings to recall and record the early days of the territory.

He died July 19, 1888 and is buried in Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City, Iowa.

As Daniel A. Shafer was a father figure, who acted as guardian, and mentor who saw to the education of our Gt. grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, our family owes a debt of gratitude to this man and his wife, Harriett.
He was mentioned in Daniel McGill's obituary with pride:

"Mr. McGill's parents died when he was quite young. He was reared to manhood by Captain Shafer in Johnson County, Iowa. He received his higher education at a college in Liberty, Iowa. He spent a number of years surveying and teaching school, both in Iowa and after coming to Oklahoma."