The seventh child of Darby Shawhan and Sarah Meeks. Never married. Fathered a son, Frederick, out of wedlock with Jane Greenwood -- the register itself corrects an earlier assumption that the two had married ("Jane Greenwood was not David's wife. She had a child by him"); a March 1761 Kent County court record confirms it, fining David, "as a single man," for fornication with Greenwood after "beg[etting] a bastard child" on 7 Dec. 1759. Named, with brother Darby Shawhan, as joint heir of the 110-acre Shad's Hole dwelling plantation in their father's 1735 will, after their mother's life estate. Died 1766 (age 40); brother John administered his estate.
Life events
- 1726Born, Kent Co., Maryland
- Oct 1735Named joint heir (with Darby Jr.) of the 110-acre Shad's Hole plantation in father's will; placed under guardianship in mother's will (two years' schooling specified)
- 7 Dec 1759Charged with fornication with Jane Greenwood (as an unmarried man); fined, per a March 1761 court record
- 1760Son Frederick born, to Jane Greenwood, out of wedlock (implied by the case)
- by 1766David's share of the family's Shad's Hole land had apparently passed to brother Daniel by an undocumented route (see existing note below)
- 1766Died (age 40), Kent County
- 20 Oct 1766 / 11 Nov 1766Estate inventoried (Prerogative Court Inventories 90 p.354 and 99 p.83) — farm goods, tools, and one enslaved man named Pompey listed among the appraised property
- 24 Apr 1767Brother John, as administrator, swore the inventory account
Sources
- History and Genealogy of the Shawhan and Related Families — pp. 15-17
- Eric Shawn Darby Shawhan and Sarah Meeks Historical Considerations — individual biographical detail