The Shaw Family

The Shaw Family of Union, Ohio
Descendants of many early residents of Randolph Township have moved away from this
area and taken much of the history with them. We continue to try to track these individuals
down, but some of them find us!
In pursuing his genealogical roots, Loren Butterbaugh contacted Linda (Shaw) Barsalou
who lives in Springboro. For those who are familiar with local history, the Shaw name should
ring a bell. Shaw Road runs north and south on the west edge of Union, Ohio and is named
after members of the David Shaw family who settled nearby. Linda told Loren she was related
to these Shaw’s and she has shared early family photos and genealogical information with the
society. A brief history of the family is given below. Material was extracted from that provided
by Linda (Shaw) Barsalou and from Beers’, 1882 History of Montgomery County, Ohio.
Solomon Shaw (son of the Rev. William and Susanna Landis Shaw) and his brother-in-
law John Cashner and their families moved to Salem, Randolph Twp., Ohio from Mifflin Twp.,
Pennsylvania in 1849. David, Solomon’s oldest son, had married Sarah Herr (daughter of
Samuel and Frances Long Herr) in 1855. When Solomon moved on to Iowa, David remained in
Randolph Twp. and eventually settled west of Union on 61.5 acres of land in Section 9 which he
farmed. By 1869 he was operating a stone quarry and selling building stone. It is probable that
most of the brick farmhouses built in this area in the 1880s have limestone foundations made of
stones from the Shaw Quarry. In later years, the quarry was filled in and the farm was platted
off. In 1880 David built a grain elevator (with a capacity of 20,000 bushels of grain) and owned
a warehouse in Union. He also operated a sawmill and was reported in Beers as “doing a large
and extensive business.” David died in 1912 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery.