Johann Bernard Schelhase Shelhorse^{[1, 2]}

1755 - 1838  (83 years)

• Name	Johann Bernard Schelhase Shelhorse  [3, 4, 5]
  Birth	24 Jan 1755	Werra-Meißner-Kreis, Hessen, Germany
  Gender	Male
  Arrival	1775	, , , USA   [6]
  Name	John Barnett Shelhorse
  Residence	1820	, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA   [7]
  Residence	1830	, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA   [8]
  Residence	Abt 1837	, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA   [9]
  Probate	21 Aug 1837	, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA   [9]
  Death	18 Jul 1838	Whittles, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA
  Person ID	I12891	Master
  Last Modified	20 Oct 2022

  
  

  Father	Johann Jacob Schellhase,   b. 13 Sep 1712, Reichensachsen, Werra-Meissner-Kreis, Hessen, Germany d. 24 Sep 1785, Reichensachsen, Werra-Meissner-Kreis, Hessen, Germany (Age 73 years)
  Mother	Maria Elisabeth Pfeil,   b. 29 Sep 1720, Reichensachsen, Werra-Meissner-Kreis, Hessen, Germany d. 30 Sep 1770, Aue, Werra-Meissner-Kreis, Hessen, Germany (Age 50 years)
  Family ID	F3613	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary Polly Hoofman,   b. 1769, , Culpeper, Virginia, USA d. 18 Jul 1837, , Pickens, Georgia, USA (Age 68 years)
  Marriage	1784	, , Pennsylvania, USA
  Children	1. Elizabeth Shelhorse,   b. 4 Feb 1784, , , Maryland, USA d. 27 Oct 1851, , Pike, Missouri, USA (Age 67 years)   2. Sally Shelhorse,   b. 1787, , , Virginia, USA + 3. Jacob Shelhorse,   b. 14 Nov 1789, , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA d. 12 May 1846, Whittles, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA (Age 56 years)   4. Nancy Shelhorse,   b. 20 Nov 1794, Gretna, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA d. 3 Jan 1877, , Pike, Missouri, USA (Age 82 years)   5. Mary Polly Shelhorse,   b. 1795, , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA d. 1841, , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA (Age 46 years)   6. William Shelhorse,   b. 1800, , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA d. 5 Dec 1844, , Pike, Missouri, USA (Age 44 years) + 7. Jane Shelhorse,   b. 2 Dec 1803, Gretna, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA d. 27 Oct 1868, , Pike, Missouri, USA (Age 64 years) + 8. Susan Shelhorse,   b. 1806, Gretna, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA d. 29 Nov 1830, , Pike, Missouri, USA (Age 24 years) + 9. Henry Flemming Shelhorse,   b. 4 Sep 1808, Gretna, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA d. 8 Nov 1882, Fairmont, Gordon, Georgia, USA (Age 74 years)
  Family ID	F3609	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	18 Oct 2022

  
  

• Event Map		Arrival - 1775 - , , , USA Marriage - 1784 - , , Pennsylvania, USA Residence - 1820 - , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA Residence - 1830 - , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA Residence - Abt 1837 - , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA Probate - 21 Aug 1837 - , Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA Death - 18 Jul 1838 - Whittles, Pittsylvania, Virginia, USA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Documents

  Bernard Shelhorse Birth Record

  
  

• Notes

  John Barnet Shelhorse was born in Aue, Germany on January 24, 1755. His name was Johann Barnet Schelhase. In Germany it is written both ways - Schelhase and Schelhasen. Johann and two brothers, Peter and Martin, came to America in 1776 as Hessian soldiers, German mercenaries who were employed by Britain in the Revolutionary War against the Colonials. Their unit was with Cornwallis at Yorktown for his surrender in 1781. Martin was killed in the final battle, but Johann and Peter were among those who were sent first to Winchester, Virginia for 6-12 months, then finally to Frederick prison in Maryland. After the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, ending the war, the Hessian troops were ordered to walk to New York, then to be transported back to Germany. Many Hessians deserted during this time, choosing to stay in America. This is what Johann and Peter did. Johann Schelhase changed his name to John Shelhorse, married Mary Hoofman and settled in Pittsylvania County Virginia near Gretna. I am not sure where Peter went...I'm thinking South Carolina. John Schelhausen is better known as Barnett Shelhorse. In A HISTORY OF PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VIRGINIA by Maud Carter Clement he is mentioned as John Schelhausen, Schelhausen is the plural of Schelhase in German. Barnett's full name was John Barnett Shelhorse which orginally had been Johann Bernhard Schelhase. Barnett's father was named Jacob (Johann Jacob Schelhase) and his mother was named Elizabeth (Maria Elizabeth Schelhase) which is where the names of Barnett's first son and daughter come from. Jacob (b. 11/14/1789 d. 5/12/1846) first married Mary (Polly) Woodson on August 5, 1812. She passed away on July 21, 1813 and he later married Marry Hanes (b.12/12/1800 d.1/1/1856) on September 24, 1817. They had ten children. Martha Jane was their second child. The Virginia Shelhorse's of today are descended from Jacob Shelhorse. Will of BARNET SHELHORSE, Written July 18 1837, proved Aug 21 1837. Names wife, Mary, daughters Elizabeth, Sally, Nancy, Catherine, Jane and Susan. To William Yates, "who married my daughter Polly", son Jacob, son William, son Henry. Ex: sons Jacob and Henry. Witnesses: Richard Jones, William Thomas and William A. Anthony. John Barnett Shelhorse was born Johann Bernhard Schelhase on the 24th of January 1755 near the village of Aue, Germany. He was the son of Johann Jacob Schelhase (b. August 22, 1721 d. June 25, 1797) and Maria Elizabeth (Korlin) Schelhase (b. 1720 d. August 31, 1770). Barnett arrived at New York on August 12, 1776 as part of Company 2 of the ErbPrinz Regiment Hessen-Kassel. With Barnett were his brothers Peter and Martin. They were among the first Hessians to serve in the American Revolution. Their regiment fought in the battles of Brooklyn, White Plains, and were stationed in New York from 1777 until 1781. In March of 1781 they were sent by sea to Portsmouth, Virginia. They were with Cornwallis at Yorktown when he surrendered in October of 1781. Martin was killed at that battle and Barnett and Peter were first sent to Winchester, Virginia where they were held for 6-12 months before being sent to Frederick Prison in Maryland. After the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, ending the War for Independence, the Hessian prisoners were ordered to walk to New York to be transported back to Europe. Both Barnett and Peter decided not to return and slipped away. They were reported to have deserted in May of 1783. He married Mary Hoofman (b. 1760's d. 1850's) in Pennsylvania about 1784 and by 1791 had moved to northern Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Tradition also says that Barnett received a land grant for his services in the American Revolution which consisted of all the land a man could plow around in a day. Barnett and Mary raised a large family, three boys and seven girls. 1) Elizabeth 2) Sarah (Sally) 3) Mary (Polly) 4) Jacob 5) William Ansel 6) Catherine 7) Nancy 8) Jane 9) Henry Fleming 10) Susan Elizabeth married James Moore on January 7, 1803. Sarah, called "Sally", married William Johnson on August 13, 1810 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Mary, called "Polly", was married to William Thomas Yeates by the Reverend Joseph Hatchett in Pittsylvania County on December 3, 1812. William and Polly had one son, Thomas Yeates, who was born in 1824 in Pittsylvania County and died on May 7, 1909 in Lynchburg, Virginia. Jacob (b. November 14, 1789 d. May 12, 1846) married Mary "Polly" Watson Woodson on August 5, 1812. She died on July 21, 1813 and he later married Mary Haynes on September 24, 1817. They had ten children. The present day Virginia Shelhorse's are descended from Jacob. William Ansel Shelhorse (b. 1815) went to Missouri where he married Elizabeth Griffith (b. 1815) on January 20, 1835 in Pike County. They had five children before William died about 1844. Catherine (b. August 21, 1801) was married to John Haynes (b. January 22, 1799) by the Reverend Griffith Dickenson on January 8, 1822. John and Catherine moved from Virginia to Jennings County, Indiana sometime between 1823 and 1827. They had eight children: 1) Mary Ann V. born October 20, 1822. 2) Susannah M. born February 10, 1823. 3) Barnett S. born October 15, 1827. 4) John E. born April 3, 1830. 5) Elizabeth J. born January 12, 1835. 6) Martha E. born September 1, 1837. 7) Sarah E. born February 25, 1840. 8) George V. born August 12, 1842. George lived in Tipton County, Indiana. Jane (b. 1804) was married to Daniel Motley, Jr. by the Reverend Ira Ellis on November 27, 1823. They later moved to Pike County, Missouri. Nancy also went to Missouri where she married Levi Moore and raised a family. Susan was married to Crispin Payne by the Reverend Crispin Dickinson on December 2, 1830. Barnett and Mary's ninth child was Henry Fleming Shelhorse who was born on September 4, 1808. The Georgia Shelhorse's are descended from Henry. Barnett is buried in Pittsylvania County, Virginia on the farm owned by H. Odell Owen. John Barnet Shelhorse was born in Aue, Germany on January 24, 1755. His name was Johann Barnet Schelhase. In Germany it is written both ways - Schelhase and Schelhasen. Johann and two brothers, Peter and Martin, came to America in 1776 as Hessian soldiers, German mercenaries who were employed by Britain in the Revolutionary War against the Colonials. Their unit was with Cornwallis at Yorktown for his surrender in 1781. Martin was killed in the final battle, but Johann and Peter were among those who were sent first to Winchester, Virginia for 6-12 months, then finally to Frederick prison in Maryland. After the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, ending the war, the Hessian troops were ordered to walk to New York, then to be transported back to Germany. Many Hessians deserted during this time, choosing to stay in America. This is what Johann and Peter did. Johann Schelhase changed his name to John Shelhorse, married Mary Hoofman and settled in Pittsylvania County Virginia near Gretna. I am not sure where Peter went...I'm thinking South Carolina. BARNETT SHELHORSE (c. 1753 to 1837) The origins of the Shelhorse family are shrouded with mystery, but a story exists in all branches of the family that the original ancestor came to the United States during the Revolutionary War as a Hessian soldier. The Hessians were Germans who had been hired by the British to fight their rebellious Colonists. It is known the Hessians fought in Pennsylvania and it is assumed our ancestor served there. We are first able to definitely pick him up in court records a number of years after the Revolutionary War. His name was Barnett Schelhausen, and by 1790 had married and moved with his wife and beginning family to northern Pittsylvania County, Virginia. In Pittsylvania County, he Americanized his name to Shelhorse. (With the spelling and pronunciation that we use to this day). Barnett and his wife Mary spent the rest of their lives in Pittsylvania County, farming, and raising a large family.There were ten children, seven girls, and three boys. By the early 1800s, the United States was expanding with the addition of the new lands to the west, and several of Barnett's children chose to leave Virginia and follow the southern and westward routes. One son, William, and two daughters Nancy and Jane, moved to Missouri where they married and raised families. Another son, Henry Fleming Shelhorse, went with his young wife, Elizabeth, to northern Georgia. The third son of Barnett Shelhorse, Jacob, chose to remain in Pittsylvaina County and continue farming as his father had. JACOB SHELHORSE (1789 to 1846) In 1812, the year that the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain began, Jacob Shelhorse here in Pittsylvania County was probably not particularly interested in the war because he, a young man of 23 had just married, his sweetheart Polly Woodson, who was only 15 years old at the time. A year later, tragedy struck young Jacob's family. Polly died. It was five years before Jacob remarried, by the time he had reached the mature age of 28. His new bride Mary Haynes was 17. In this marriage Jacob found a happy life, raising a large family and farming the land of Pittssylvania County, as his father had. Jacob had ten children, five boys and five girls. Jacob's children were not struck with the wanderlust of the west and most remained during their lives in Pittsylvania County continuing as farmers. Interestingly, two of Jacob's sons chose to marry sisters. William Henry Shelhorse and James Moody Shelhorse (brothers) married Cecilia A. Crider and Susan C. Crider (sisters) respectively. William Henry Shelhorse (1824 to 1893) Ironically Jacob's eldest son, William Henry Shelhorse, repeated his father's tragic marriage pattern. William Henry married in 1851. His new bride, Parthenia Hall, died within two years of their marriage, leaving William with an infant daughter, who also died two years later. William, like his father, picked up the pieces of a broken life and remarried in 1857. His second bridem Cecilia Adeline Crider, bore his five children, and they lived a long life together, disturbed only by the Civil War.r When the Civil War began in 1861, William Henry and Cecilia had just begun to raise their family. Young George Washington Shelhorse was 4, Mary Elizabeth 3, and William Henry Jr. was only and infant. Nevertheless, William saw it as his duty to leave his family and enlist with his 4 brothers in the Confederate Army. They joined Company I (known as the Gatham Greys) of the 53rd Virginia Infantry Regiment. William was immediately discharged, being over age. But toward the end of the war, when soldiers were desperately needed, he rejoined his unit and was captured in fighting as Five Forks (near Petersburg). He was sent to Point Lookout Military Prison, Maryland and remained there until the war ended in 1865. His release slip provides the earliest physical description that we have of any of the Shelhorse men. He was described as 6 feet 1 inches tall, with hazel eyes, grey hair, and a dark complexion. (At that time William would have been 41 years old.) Cecilia and the children survived the Civil War, and after William's return two more sons were born. Chesley Martin Shelhorse and Lee White Shelhorse. Brief History of the Shelhorse Family 1753 Pittslyvania, Virginia, USA Johann Bernard Shelhorse (Schellhase) http://wvancestry.com/ReferenceMaterial/Files/Hession_Soldiers_who_remained_in_America_after_the_Revolutionary_War.pdf JOHANNES SCHWALM HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, INC. BULLETIN BOARD These are men who remained in North America and who have been positively identified as Hessian ancestors by today's researchers. While certainties of their histories and genealogies are not yet established, the evidence suggests strong connections. Schellhass, Bernhard Hesse-Cassel; Aue; Private; Erbprinz Reg., Co. 2; HETRINA Vol. III; Captured at Yorktown and deserted in May 1783 at Frederick, MD; Married Mary Hoofman and later settled in Pittsylvania, County, VA. (Brother of Peter) No to be confused with the Johannes Schellhass who deserted near Savannah in 1782. That one married Isabella Mitchler and settled in NC. Schellhase, Peter Hesse-Cassel; Bischhausen; Private; Erbprinz Reg., Co. 5; HETRINA Vol. III; Captured at Yorktown and deserted in May 1783 at Frederick, MD; Brother of Bernhard. (History and genealogy needed)

  
  

• Sources

  [S761] Yates Publishing, Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry Family Tree. [S370] Smith, Clifford Neal, British and German Deserters, Dischargees, and POW's Who May Have Remained in Canada and the USA, 1774-1783. Part One and Two, (McNeal, Arizona : Westland Publications, c1988), 973 W2sco. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FLHG-BritishGermanDeserters&h=15387&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt [S370] Smith, Clifford Neal, British and German Deserters, Dischargees, and POW's Who May Have Remained in Canada and the USA, 1774-1783. Part One and Two, (McNeal, Arizona : Westland Publications, c1988), 973 W2sco. [S1234] Ancestry.com, 1820 United States Federal Census, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Year: 1820; Census Place: , Pittsylvania, Virginia; Roll: M33_140; Page: ; Image: . Residence date: 1820Residence place: Pittsylvania, Virginia, United States [S252] Ancestry.com, 1830 United States Federal Census, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.), Year: 1830; Census Place: , Pittsylvania, Virginia; Roll: ; Page: . Residence date: 1830Residence place: Pittsylvania, Virginia, United States [S747] Ancestry.com, U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc), Place: North America; Year: 1775; Page Number: 304. [S1234] Ancestry.com, 1820 United States Federal Census, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Pittsylvania, Virginia; Page: 76; NARA Roll: M33_140; Image: 143. [S252] Ancestry.com, 1830 United States Federal Census, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.), Year: 1830; Census Place: Pittsylvania, Virginia; Series: M19; Roll: 201; Page: 356; Family History Library Film: 0029680. [S859] Ancestry.com, Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.).