Surname	Shook
Given Name	Josiah Webster
Gender	Male
Born	~1808 in Haywood County, North Carolina
Died	05-NOV-1889 in Falls County, Texas
Buried	Shiloh Cemetery, Troy, Bell County, Texas
Father	Abraham SHOOK (03-FEB-1764 NC - MAR-1832 NC)
Mother	Martha PATSY (1774 NC - ~1832 NC)

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Family Line

Josiah Webster Shook-> Abraham Shook (f)-> Johannes Georg "Hans" Schuck, der Junger (gf)-> Johannes Georg Schuck, der Elder (g-gf)-> Wilhem Ludwig Schuck (2g-gf)-> Hans Peter Schuck (3g-gf)-> Daniel Schuck (4g-gf).

Birth

The date of Josiah's birth is unknown. There are two census records (1850 and 1860) giving an estimated birth date of around 1808 and one census record (1880) with an estimated birth date of around 1820. The first two census records are consistent. The third census record is not. First, Amanda is recorded as being born in Mississippi (versus Texas). Second, the decade interval is not 20 years (1880 - 1860). In the 1850 census, Josiah is 42 years old. In the 1860 census, he is 52 years old (10 years). In the 1880 census, though, Josiah is 68 years old (rather than 72). So his age is off by 4 or 5 years. Amanda's age is also short about 5 years.

Given Name

Josiah is recorded as Josias, Josiah, and J. W. in the census records. In Theodrick's death certificate, Josiah (father) is recorded as Joseph Shook (also the name one of Theodrick's sons).

Marriage

30-NOV-1844 in Harris County, Texas (Josiah W. Shook and Amanda Elizabeth Morris, both of H. Co., 30 November 1844 by Silas Hendren, J.P.) to Amanda Elizabeth "Caroline" MORRIS (10-JUN-1821 TX - 26-JUL-1915 TX).

Children

Josiah and Amanda had fourteen children. Amanda apparently told an enumerator in 1900 that she had 14 births, and 6 yet living. To date, only the 13 children below have been identified. In 1915, Amanda's obituary cites 5 living children.

• Rebecca Elizabeth "Sis" SHOOK (~1845 TX - bef. 1915)
• Napoleon SHOOK (~1846 TX - bef. 1915)
• Clarissa Amanda "Clara" SHOOK (~1849 TX - 27-MAY-1924 TX)
• Saphronia Carolyn SHOOK (19-MAY-1851 TX - 13-MAY-1936 TX)
• C SHOOK; born: 1854 (I believe this is Theodrick)
• Theodrick SHOOK (08-OCT-1853 TX - 05-OCT-1935 TX)
• Hyrum Kingston SHOOK (17-NOV-1855 - 22-AUG-1885)
• Mary Ann SHOOK (~1856 - ?)
• Margret Emily "Maggie" SHOOK (17-AUG-1867 - 25-AUG-1955)
• Pickney SHOOK; born: 1869 in Harris County, Texas
• Peter Silas SHOOK (23-MAR-1870 - 09-MAR-1954)
• William Riley SHOOK (16-MAR-1874 - 20-MAY-1960)
• Ada SHOOK; 1875 in Harris County, Texas

History

Touch points:

• 1839 - Emigration to the Republic of Texas (between 01-OCT-1837 and 04-APR-1839)
• 1839 - Received a 3rd Class land grant from the Republic of Texas on 04-APR-1839
• 1844 - Texas Census, 1820-1890, Harris County, No Township (Database: TX Tax List Index, 1840-1849)
• 1846 - Republic of Texas: Poll Lists for 1846
• 1850 - United States Census, Harris County, No Township
• 1860 - United States Census, Harris County, Precinct 10
• 1880 - United States Census, Harris County, Precinct 4
• 1886 - Sold his Harris County property to Humble Oil
• 1886 - Migrates to Falls County, Texas sometime between 1886 and 1889
• 1889 - Dies on 05-NOV-1889 in Falls County, Texas

Story

According to a family legend, Josaih Shook came to Texas with his mother and his brother Robert but there is no substantiating evidence that his mother ever came to Texas.

In the 1850 census, a Christian Rumble from Germany was living with the family.

In 1886, Josiah sold 7200 acres of land in the Humble oil field to Judge Masterson at sixty-five cents per acre. His wife did not sign the deed as it was all the land they had at that time. Papers regarding this sale may be in the Judge Harris Masterson Collection held at Rice University's Fondren Libray's Woodson Research Center.

There was a Josiah Shook listed as the postmaster of Bastrop County, no date given, uncertain if there is any relation.

There is no marker on his grave; according to Beatrice Carmichael, the gravesite is to the left of the gate as you enter the old cemetery.

Notes

Abraham Shook's will connects Abraham with Josiah, and there does not seem to be any other Josiahs. So the circumstantial data is quite compelling.

Josiah was likely the cousin of Jefferson and Nathan Shook. Interestingly, either Jefferson or Nathan (I forget which) "may" have started Methodism in Dallas. Hence, strong ties to Southern Methodist University (SMU).