Source: 20th Century History of Youngstown & Mahoning Co., Ohio and Representative Citizens - Publ. Biographical Publ. Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1907 - Page 436

JAMES DAVIDSON SHIELDS, a leading citizen of Coitsville township, resides on his well-improved farm of 112 acres, located in section 17, besides owning 30 additional acres which are located in the same township, on the Oak road.  Mr. Shields was born in this townships Jan. 24, 1831, a son of John and Sarah (Davison) Shields.
     His paternal grandfather, James Shields, came to Mahoning County from Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and settled on the present farm in 1801.  He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and was nine years old when he accompanied his parents to America.  They settled first in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, at a later date removing to Beaver County, where James' parents died.
     Coming to Mahoning county in 1801 as above noted, James Shields bought 228 acres of land in Coitsville township, which was then covered with its native forest growth.  This he purchased from a land investment company, which gave him a deed, but, like many other early settlers who bought in this way, he found the title to the land clouded and in order to enjoy the improvements he had already put on the place, he was obliged to pay for it a second time.  Other troubles came upon him, as about this time he was drafted for service in the War of 1812, and a severe attack of fever which rendered him unavailable for army service, was all that saved him from the risks and hardships of military service.  Subsequently he cleared up all the land which had cost so him so much, and died in the little log cabin which he had erected when he first settled here.
     John Shields, father of James D. Shields, was born on the above mentioned farm, and assisted his father greatly in its final clearing.  His wife, Sarah, was a daughter of James Davidson, who was born in Ireland and who had settled as a pioneer in Youngstown township.  In 1852, John Shields bought the Davidson farm of his father-in-law, after first seriously investigating the advantages presented to settlers in Iowa.  He continued to carry on agricultural pursuits during the whole of his active life and became a man so highly esteemed for his many sterling qualities that he was elected justice of the peace, serving in that office for many years, and in 1859 he was elected county commissioner.  His death occurred Mar. 6, 1895, he having almost reached the age of 91 years.  His wife passed away in October, 1893, aged 85 years.  They had four children, namely: James Davidson; Anna J., who died aged 33 years; John G., residing on his farm of 90 acres, in Coitsville township; and Ambrose, who resides on the farm his father bought in 1852.
     James Davidson Shields was reared near Coitsville Center and attended the district schools.  As he was the eldest in the family, his services were required on the farm, but as he grew older he gave attention to other interests.  In association with his father, he owned 50 acres of land near Edinburg, Pennsylvania, and work was commenced there in the prospect of finding coal.  The coal was found, but not in paying quantities, owing to the difficulty of mining it.  They opened one mine, however, and in the summer of 1859 shipped coal by boat to Cleveland.  Finding a superior quality of fire-clay, they went into the business of making fire-brick in 1861 and during the first season they made a kiln of 60,000 brick.  James Shields, the father, continued in the business until 1866, when he sold the whole property - the land and the brick-yard plant.
     On Sept. 1, 1862, James D. Shields turned the brick business over entirely to his father and entered the Federal army, as a member of the 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, enlisting at Youngstown, where General Nash and two sergeants had a recruiting office, for three years service.  He was assigned to a Company and quartered at Camp Cleveland, but later went to Youngstown, where the 19th regiment remained until Jan. 1, 1863, when they were ordered to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and became a part of the Fourth army corps of the Western army.  While in camp at this point, four of the twenty members occupying Mr. Shields' tent were prostrated with camp fever, he being the last to succumb and the only one to survive.  For three weeks he was confined to his tent before the physician permitted him to be removed to the hospital at Murfreesboro, and later was sent from there to the convalescent camp, but was subsequently returned to the hospital, where he was assigned for duty, and for two months he served as a nurse for those more unfortunate than himself, at Hospital No. I.
     It was during the progress of the battle of Chickamauga that a surgeon took Mr. Shields with 100 other convalescents to Chattanooga, and he remained at that hospital until it was closed, when he was sent back to Murfreesboro to assist in nursing a train load of poor, wounded soldiers.  He remained there until the following spring, when he went again to Chattanooga.  At this time he made application to be returned to his regiment, but the surgeon decided his health was not good enough for him to endure army exposure.  Being unwilling to break his contract with the Government, he continued to act as nurse, and remained in the army until the close of the war, receiving his honorable discharge at Nashville, Tennessee, May 29, 1865.  Mr. Shields' record proves that a soldier's courage and fidelity does not necessarily mean marching up to the mouth of a cannon.  He had many trying experiences, and there are those still living who doubtless owe their lives to his kind and faithful care.
     Mr. Shields then returned home and resumed the brick business, marrying in the same year, and in the following year closed out his brick interests and bought the farm in Coitsville township, on which he has lived ever since.  He keeps some ten or twelve cows and sells his milk by wholesale.  Since August, 1890,  Mr. Shields has been agent for the Success Manure Spreader, manufactured by Kemp & Burfee, Syracuse, New York, and he has disposed of fully 100 of these valuable agricultural machines throughout Mahoning and Trumbull counties, Ohio, and Lawrence and Mercer counties, Pennsylvania.  In 1855 Mr. Shields introduced the first mowing and reaping machine in Mahoning County and he acted as agent for the same until he became interested in the brick business.  He has always been a man of progressive ideas.
     In December, 1865, Mr. Shields was married to Mary Gilchrist, who died in May, 1903, leaving no children.  She was a daughter of James Gilchrist, a native of Scotland and a carpenter by trade, who came to Coitsville township from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1835, when his daughter Mary was a babe of six months, purchasing the farm on which Mr. Shields has lived since his marriage.  Mr. Gilchrist built the house on the place, a substantial-building, in which he died.  Since the death of his wife, Mr. Shields has rented a part of his residence and the tenant looks after the farm.  Mr. Shields, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, is a member of Tod Post, Grand Army of the Republic, No. 29.  He belongs to the United Presbyterian Church at New Bedford.
Source: 20th Century History of Youngstown & Mahoning Co., Ohio and Representative Citizens - Publ. Biographical Publ. Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1907 - Page 601

JAMES H. SHIELDS, formerly sheriff of Mahoning County and one of the representative citizens and capitalists of Youngstown, was born in Canfield township, Mahoning County, Ohio, Nov. 12, 1840, and is a son of Andrew and Jane (Price) Shields.
     Andrew Shields was born in Boardman township, Mahoning County, Ohio, Oct. 16, 1808, and was a son of Thomas Sheilds, who was a native of Staunton, Virginia.  In 1798, Thomas Shields came to Ohio with a colony of Virginians.  He was a miller by trade, and in 1800 he operated what was known as Baird's mill, on the site now occupied by the old Langerman mill, in Mill Creek park.  Although he worked the above mill he lived in Boardman township, and in 1812-14 was the only man exempt from military duty, on account of his occupation, which was considered one of public necessity.  He lived to be 70 years of age, dying suddenly of apoplexy, while assisting a neighbor to cut wheat in the harvest field.
     Andrew Shields, father of James H., was a twin brother of Archibald Shields and one of a family of five children, in which there was a second pair of twins.  Andrew Shields was reared in Boardman township and became a large stock dealer and farmer, and in early days drove his own stock to Pittsburg.  He was also a member of the firm of Conklin Brothers & Company, large dealers in cattle and drovers, who had business dealings as far east as Albany, New York.  Andrew married Jane Price, who was a daughter of James Price, a pioneer of  Youngstown township, a sketch of whom will be found in this work.  Four children were born of this marriage, namely:  James H., Lois M., deceased, who married O. B. Hopkins, and who is survived by one son, Bert, who lives on the Shields home farm in Boardman township; Louisa M., who married W. S. Anderson, a well-known attorney at Youngstown; and Wallace A., who died aged two and one-half years.  Andrew Shields purchased a farm in Canfield township, on which his son, James H. was born, but the family subsequently returned to Boardman township when the latter was five years old, and there Andrew Shields died June 20, 1880, his widow surviving until June, 1901.
     James H. Shields was reared in Boardman township and secured a good district school education, and in 1859 he taught through that district.  From the time he was 12 years of age until he was 19, he drove cattle during the season, and could make three trips from April to September, to Little Valley, New York.  When 13 years of age he went to Illinois to purchase 200 yead of cattle, riding on horseback and carrying $7,000 in his clothes.  He drove them back to Columbia County, New York, going down the very street in Youngstown on which he now lives, safely reaching Hudson, New York, his destination, after being on the road 87½ days.  He continued to follow the business of a drover for nine years, during the summers, up to the age of 19 as above noted, when he settled down on the farm, but still continued to deal in stock, in which he remains largely interested.  He owns five farms, one of 65 acres in Youngstown township, which he is platting into town lots one of 340 acres in Boardman township which is a combination of three farms; one of 280 acres in Clay County, Kentucky, and one of 200 acres in Portage County, Ohio.
     At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Shields was one of the first to enlist in the first company raised at Youngstown, but he was rejected on account of his previously having accidentally broken both arms.  Although a fine horseman and accustomed to the saddle from childhood, Mr. Shields has had a number of serious accidents at different times while trying to manage vicious animals.  Both arms, one leg, collar bones, and five ribs have been the sufferers on various occasions, but he is still more robust than the average of men, his early out-door life having been very beneficial in building up a fine constitution.
     On Sept. 16, 1863, Mr. Shields was married to Lois M. Starr, who is a daughter of Russell F. Starr, an old resident of Boardman township.  Mr. and Mrs. Shields have had four children, namely: Maud M., who married M. Shively, an attorney residing at Akron; Budd K., who died in 1885, aged 22 years; Mate, a beautiful little girl of eight years, July 9, 1873; and Allora C., who manages his father's farm in Boardman township.  The last mentioned was married (first) to a Miss Kelly, who at death left one daughter, Marian C., and he married (second) a Mrs. Wooley, and they have two children, Howard W. and Nellie.
     In 1883, Mr. Shields removed from the farm to Youngstown and resided for a time on Glenwood street.  In 1882 he embarked in a meat business at No. 17 Phelps street, which he conducted there until 1885, when he moved to the Andrews block, which was ruined by an explosion of gas, Jan. 7, 1886.  He then established himself at No. 129 East Federal street, where he remained until Jan. 1, 1897, when he closed out this business and returned to farming and shipping cattle, but retained his residence at No. 1040 Mahoning avenue, Youngstown.
     For many years Mr. Shields has been a prominent factor in Democratic politics.  He has been a member of the Democratic county committee and has served as chairman and has been active in directing the party's policies on many occasions.  In 1898 he was elected sheriff of Mahoning County and served until 1900, with the greatest efficiency.  His election was remarkable, as Mahoning County has a normal majority on the Republican side.  As a citizen he is well and widely known all through Mahoning County and as a cattleman all over this section of Ohio.  A portrait of this enterprising citizen fittingly completes this sketch.
Source: 20th Century History of Youngstown & Mahoning Co., Ohio and Representative Citizens - Publ. Biographical Publ. Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1907 - Page 655

Source: 20th Century History of Youngstown & Mahoning Co., Ohio and Representative Citizens - Publ. Biographical Publ. Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1907 - Page 745

Source: 20th Century History of Youngstown & Mahoning Co., Ohio and Representative Citizens - Publ. Biographical Publ. Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1907 - Page 687

Source: 20th Century History of Youngstown & Mahoning Co., Ohio and Representative Citizens - Publ. Biographical Publ. Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1907 - Page 679