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Our Family
Genealogy Pages
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 1794 - 1871 (77 years)
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| Name |
Charles Shearn |
| Birth |
30 Oct 1794 |
Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, UK  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Baptism |
25 Feb 1795 |
Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, UK |
Address:
St. John the Baptist Church, Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, |
| FindaGrave ID |
19517320 |
| Immigration |
1834 |
Texas, USA |
| Occupation |
6 Oct 1840 |
Harris, Texas, USA |
| Chief Justice |
| Death |
12 Nov 1871 |
Houston, Harris, Texas, USA |
| Burial |
Houston, Harris, Texas, USA |
Address:
Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Harris, Texas, USA |
| Person ID |
I72174 |
Lasbury Family |
| Last Modified |
26 Apr 2024 |
| Father |
Charles Shearn
b. 1769, Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, UK
d. 1821, Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, UK (Age 52 years) |
| Mother |
Susannah Vokes
b. 1772, High Littleton, Somerset, England, UK
d. 1799, High Littleton, Somerset, England, UK (Age 27 years) |
| Marriage |
12 May 1793 |
Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, UK |
Address:
St. John the Baptist Church, Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, |
| Family ID |
F4684 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Wife 1 |
Mary Pode
b. 1789
d. 6 Apr 1842, Houston, Harris, Texas, USA (Age 53 years) |
| Marriage |
7 Feb 1818 |
Bath, Somerset, England, UK |
Address:
St. Michaels Church, Bath, Somerset, England, UK |
| Marriage Witness |
7 Feb 1818 |
| C. Russell & Robert Orchard |
| Children |
| | 1. Mary Elizabeth Shearn
b. 9 Sep 1822, Walcot, Bath, Somerset, England, UK
d. 28 Jan 1870, Houston, Harris, Texas, USA (Age 47 years) |
| | 2. John Shearn
b. 23 Aug 1824, Bath, Somerset, England, UK
d. 1824, Bath, Somerset, England, UK |
| | 3. John Shearn
b. 15 May 1826, Bath, Somerset, England, UK
d. 15 Sep 1888, Houston, Harris, Texas, USA (Age 62 years) |
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| Family ID |
F30036 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
26 Apr 2024 |
| Wife 2 |
Ann Maria Caldwell
b. 1804, England, UK
d. 10 Dec 1886, Houston, Harris, Texas, USA (Age 82 years) |
| Marriage |
17 Apr 1844 |
Lafayette, Upshur, Texas, USA |
| Family ID |
F30037 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
26 Apr 2024 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - 30 Oct 1794 - Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, UK |
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| Baptism - Address:
St. John the Baptist Church, Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, - 25 Feb 1795 - Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England, UK |
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 | Marriage - Address:
St. Michaels Church, Bath, Somerset, England, UK - 7 Feb 1818 - Bath, Somerset, England, UK |
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 | Immigration - 1834 - Texas, USA |
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 | Occupation - Chief Justice - 6 Oct 1840 - Harris, Texas, USA |
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 | Marriage - 17 Apr 1844 - Lafayette, Upshur, Texas, USA |
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 | Death - 12 Nov 1871 - Houston, Harris, Texas, USA |
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| Burial - Address:
Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Harris, Texas, USA - - Houston, Harris, Texas, USA |
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| Notes |
- Charles Shearn born 30 October 1794 and baptised 25 February 1795 St John the Baptist, Midsomer Norton the son of Charles Shearn and Susannah Vokes
Charles Shearn married Mary Pode 7 February 1818 St Michael, Bath. Witnesses C Russell and Robert Orchard.
Charles and Mary, their daughter Mary Elizabeth and their son John emigrated to Texas around 1834
There is strong evidence that Charles Shearn b. 1794, his wife and two kids were on one of these two ships that sailed from Liverpool to New Orleans filled with Irish Colonists in 1834. the ships were named the Prudence and the Heroine
London Gazette. Charles Shearn filed for bankruptcy twice: first in 1826, as a confectioner, and again in 1832 as a soap manufacturer. He may have been staring at debtors prison. either way, things weren't go so well at Camp Shearn. Immigration to TX making sense.
Charles Shearn was experiencing difficult times in 1834. His business in Bath had failed, leaving him in dire straights with a young wife and three children. So, he responded to an advertisement in a Bristol newspaper, seeking young Irish, Catholic men to come to rural Texas. (Troubled by an increasing Protestant population of Texans, Mexico's President Gen. Santa Ana retained envoy's around the world to recruit Roman Catholics to come to Texas to increase his base, and keep these rabble-rousers at bay. They would be given a large tract of land if they vowed their allegiance to Mexico's Santa Anna and the Roman Catholic Church. This particular envoy was short of his quota of 100 recruits, so he advertised in a Bristol newspaper. Charles, a devout Methodist from Somerset, decided it was in his best interest to be Irish and Catholic. He boarded a ship with his wife and 8-year-old son, John, and sailed to the the U.S., leaving two of his children behind.
It didn't take long for his allegiance to Santa Ana to wane, however, as he found himself fraternizing with Texas rebels. He enlisted in Col. Dimmit's regiment, and was a signer of the Goliad Declaration of Independence, which preceded the Texas declaration. On March 27, 1836, he found himself tied up by his hands behind his back, being prepared for execution by the Mexicans in what would become known as the Goliad Massacre. His son John clung to his leg and attracted the attention of Mexican General Urribe, who upon discovering the boy and his father were English, set them free, two of the few survivors of the massacre.
After, supporting the Texas Revolution, Charles went on to become a prominent founding pioneer of Houston, who established the first Methodist Church in Houston and became the first county judge there.
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