Father: Daniel de la Shumate (~1712-1784)
Mother: Mary Elizabeth Hoffman (1730-)

Spouse:
Birth:
Death:

Children: 
Elizabeth (1775-)
Nimrod (~1776-1861)
Daniel (~1779-)
Mary Elizabeth (1780-1863)
Charlotte (~1782-)

John Shumate is documented in a family history:

The writer estimates he was born circa 1751 in Prince William County, Virginia, and died most likely in 1792. The writer believes he married twice, because his name appears in the 1787 Personal Property Tax List of Fauquier County, Virginia, along with that of his son Nimrod [I]. In all likelihood, he had returned to Fauquier County from Kentucky only for a visit in that year. Moreover, the surviving marriage records of Lincoln County, Kentucky, indicate he married Margaret Snapp in that county on 24 December 1785. Since the 1787 tax list includes both the names of John [V] and his son Nimrod [I], the writer finds it unusual that Nimrod [I] would have been entered in the tax list because he was underage. According to the Bardstown, Kentucky, obituary when he died in 1861, Nimrod was supposedly 87 years old. If true, then he would have been only 13 years old in 1787, having been born in 1774. Assuming that Nimrod was born in 1774 and knowing that his father John [V] married Margaret Snapp in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1785, then John [V] had to have been married previously, probably circa 1773. The name of John [V]'s first wife is unkown.

Probably by 1788 John [V] and Nimrod [I] returned to Kentucky, and perhaps some other members of the Shumate family accompanied them. However, the Personal Property Tax Lists of Nelson County, Kentucky, contain no Shumate entries until 1792 when the names of Nimrod [I] and the widow Margaret begin to appear (See pages H-27 and H-28, Appendix H). As mentioned, John [V] left his will in Nelson County, and it identifies his son Nimrod [I] and his wife Margaret. Also, the wording of the will indicates he had other children, but they are not identified (See page H-36, Appendix H). The writer suspects that John [V] probably married his first wife in Fauquier County, Virginia; he and his family migrated to Kentucky circa 1780; and his first wife died circa 1784 in Kentucky. The first White settlers did not begin to arrive in Nelson County, Kentucky, until about 1778-1780. No doubt, John Shumate [V] and his family were among the first pioneers to Central Kentucky, settling first perhaps in Lincoln and then moving to Nelson County. After the death of her husband John [V], Margaret (Snapp) Shumate married second Richard McKay on 9 December 1794 in Nelson County. (See the Extracts of Marriages, Nelson County, Kentucky, Appendix J). 1

Although there is no direct record of Mary Elizabeth Shumate being a child of John Shumate, there are no other Shumates associted with Nelson Co. KY at this time who could be her parents. Mary Elizabeth Shumate's mother is most likely John Shumate's first wife, and we do not know her name.

1. History of the Shumate Family Kentucky Pioneers by Robert Shean Riley, 2nd ed., Utica, KY: McDowell Publications, 1992. p. 165

See also notes on Mary Elizabeth Shumate.

This page was prepared by Charles Hartley.