SNGF: A Prolific Dad

From Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings:

Your mission for Father's Day, if you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Determine who is one of the most prolific fathers in your genealogy database or in your ancestry. By prolific, I mean the one who fathered the most children.

This is easy. My prolific father is Charles Wesley Shaw, my gr-gr-gr-gr-grandfather. The story even includes some skeletons!

Charles W. Shaw
b. 17 Aug 1794 in [West] Virginia.
d. 31 December 1872 in Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
-m. 1 - Ann Coon Bishop
--Alexander Shaw
b. abt 1817 in Ohio
m. Mary Cathan or Mary Nichols
--John Marion Shaw
b. 2 March 1823 in Muskingum County, Ohio
m. Jerusha Adaline Mershon 2 Jul 1853 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 26 Oct 1908 in Kentucky
--Jonathan Shaw
b. 15 Jun 1827 in Ohio
m. Nancy Elizabeth (Hall) Royse 25 Dec 1858 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 2 Nov 1878 in Scioto County, Ohio
--Charles Shaw
--Reese Shaw
--Osborne Shaw
--Julia Shaw
-m. 2 Anna Wood 12 Nov 1827 in Scioto County, Ohio
---Mary Ann Shaw
b. 11 Nov 1830 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. George B. Mershon 3 Mar 1847 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 18 Sep 1897
---Ella Ann Shaw
b. 15 Jan 1835 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. James McGraw 21 Jun 1855 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 4 Aug 1816 in Washington township, Scioto County, Ohio
---Little Ann Shaw
Died with her mother in childbirth
-m. 3 Elmira Herbert 25 Sep 1841 in Brown County, Ohio
----Hester Ann Shaw
b. 3 May 1844 in Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
m. George H. Freeman 10 Dec 1863 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 30 Jan 1931 in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio
----Jasper Newton Shaw
b. 30 Aug 1846 in Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
m. Harriet M. Hazelbaker 14 Jan 1869 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 2 Nov 1913 in Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
----Melissa Shaw
b. 9 Jul 1847 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. James Nelson Odle
d. 17 Nov 1922 in Buena Vista, Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
----Margaret R. Shaw
b. abt. 1852 in Ohio
----Mahaley Catherine Shaw
b. 9 Feb 1856 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. Andrew Jackson Mershon 21 Oct 1881 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 5 Oct 1938 in Union township, Scioto County, Ohio
----Bella Ann Shaw
b. abt 1858 in Ohio
m. Clay Mershon
----Ursa B. Shaw
b. abt 1859 in Ohio
m. Henry Mershon
d. 19 Nov 1918 in Scioto County, Ohio
----Francis M. Shaw
b. 16 Sep 1861 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. Sarah Piatt 8 Nov 1855 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 24 Nov 1943 in Fayette County, Indiana
----Samuel R. Shaw
b. abt 1865 in Ohio


So now for the dancing skeletons:

Courtesy of Ruth Shaw Book, this family story was written by a daughter of Charles in the late 19th century:
    "Charles Shaw was from the Shenandoah Valley of VA. He and his first wife had a farm and he also drove livestock west, which kept him away from home a lot. He had been told that his wife was stepping out while he was away on drives. One trip a storm came up and he returned after only a short time. There he found his wife and the local preacher. The next morning he left with only some money and his clothes. (He wanted to protect her and their children's standing in the community.)
    "He traveled to the Tennessee hills, stopping at an inn where he met a waitress named Ann. He had to make another drive and told her to wait and that he would come back for her. In Nile Twp he purchased a farm (now the Yeager farm) on Route 125 near the Boy Scout camp. Then he returned for Ann and left her with the local dressmaker (known to Stella Shaw) until they could be married. They had 3 children, Malinda Ann, Elllie Ann, and a third daughter who along with Ann died in childbirth. These daughters all were named Ann after the wife he so loved. He buried them in a grove on the Yeager farm.
    "After some time he began dating Elmira Harbert, daughter of his neighbor. She was very young and he was in his 40's so her father was very opposed to their relationship. Before one date, he tied her by the hands to the rafters of a shed so she couldn't meet Charles. Her brother Reese found her, untied her, and told her to keep her date and marry Charles. After this incident her brother was never seen again. It is believed by local people that her father killed him, as the next day his well was filled in and a new one dug!
   " They were married and had 8 children."

Charles Wesley Shaw had a total of 19 children by 3 different wives.