James Shields

James Shields (April 13, 1762 – August 13, 1831) was a one-term U.S. Representative from Ohio, serving from 1829 to 1831.

Biography

A descendant of the Ó Siadhail family, Shields was born in Banbridge, County Down, in the Kingdom of Ireland.

He received a good common-school education, entering the University of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1782 and graduated in 1786. He attended medical college for two years, before emigrating to the United States in July 1791 and settled in Frederick County, Virginia, where he taught school. He moved to Butler County, Ohio, in 1801, but then returned to Virginia and became a citizen of the United States in 1804.

Political career He returned to Ohio in 1807 and was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives between 1806 and 1827 and was an elector for Andrew Jackson in 1828. He was elected as a Jacksonian to the 21st United States Congress (March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831).

Death Shields was killed through the accidental overturning of a stagecoach near Venice, Butler County, Ohio, on August 13, 1831. He was interred in Venice Cemetery, Venice, Ohio. He was the uncle of U.S. Senator James Shields.