John W. Shorb

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John W. Shorb was born in 1830 in Tennessee. He married Sarah A. and their known children were Dorcus J. Shorb, Nancy E. Shorb, John William Shorb, Thomas H. Shorb, Sarah A. Shorb, George W. Shorb, and David Austin Shorb.

As of January 2017 John W. Shorb's parents had not been identified (by the author, David Ladner); no Ancestry.com family trees listed a father and FamilySearch.org did not list a father. But an 1850 census record from Tennessee was found showing a son named John living with a family whose father was John P. Shorb. This son was 21 at the census taking. According to other census records for John W., he should have been 20 in the 1850 census. But the 1850 census was taken late (like November) in many places, so perhaps John's birthday had passed. His birth place is Tennessee, which is consistent with the other two censuses where he is listed. So it is strange that nobody had previously made this connection for John's location in 1850. One possible reason is that the writing of the last name on the 1850 census is not clear. It could have been interpreted as Sharp or something else. Then perhaps a follow-up indexing done more recently corrected it, making it appear in search results. (But this is just a guess.) [update: a public tree (Eme-Gilbert) on Ancestry.com was found that does have this connection.]

Documents

1850 Tennessee Census showing John Shorb.
1860 Georgia census showing John W. Shorb with his wife Sarah A. and their daughter Dorcus J. Shorb.
1880 Boone County Arkansas census showing John W Shorb with his wife Sarah A and their children Nancy E. Shorb, John W. Shorb, Thomas H. Shorb, Sarah A. Shorb, and George W. Shorb.
1870s Georgia Property Tax record showing John W Shorb and Dorcas J. Shorb.