Samuel and Elizabeth Shaw
1823-1896
By William Rus Stevens, May 9, 1980
Material comes from a paper "Some Old Homes in Campbell County Kentucky October
1950 on the Genealogy of the Shaw Family" author unknown
Samuel Shaw was born 1 November 1823 in Alexandria Ky. He married Elizabeth Smith 15 July 1852, daughter of Benjamin Smith from England. He was active in civic affairs and was president of the German National Bank of Newport Ky. Samuel, the son of Robert Shaw and Margaret (Peggy) Morin came from a family of 8 children.
His grandfather James Shaw was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1754 and married Anna Jolly in York County Pennsylvania. He was of Quaker origin and served in the Revolution under Gen, Neville at Trenton, Germantown and Brandywine. He moved his family to Mason County in 1790 part of which became Campbell County.
The Shaw family had extensive land holdings in Campbell County. In the 1850s Samuel acquired acreage in the Highland District and in 1859 built his home for his bride on Audubon Place in Ft. Thomas. First the barn was built and the bricks were made on the site for the house by the slaves as were many of these homes throughout the county. It could have been built by James Jolly who built the Court House at Alexandria and many other homes of this character. It is built on the site of the John Stevens home at Persimmon Grove and the George Washington Riley home that stood on Persimmon Grove Pike just south of Alexandria. His brother, James home still stands on Gilbert Ridge in Alexandria but is not as ornate as Samuel's, with the French Style and lacy wrought iron balconies and entrance, containing nine large rooms.
The house contained twenty-seven branched gas light fixtures said to have been removed from The Taylor Mansion at Newport. Colonel Bigstaff acquired the home in later years. He was active in the development of the Highland District and instrumental in having the street car line to Ft. Thomas.
The home is now in the possession of The Christ Church United Church of Christ and when purchased by them was known as the Iverson Home. On the east side of Ft. Thomas Ave across from Christ Church where the Newport National Bank is, stood the L. K. Marty home the son-in-law of Samuel Shaw who married his daughter Hannah. My mother told us, as a girl from the farm she worked for the families of Shaw and Marty.
The Samuel Shaw house, also known as the Iverson Building has qualified as a Kentucky Heritage Home. Frank and Alice Bigstaff bought the home and ground in 1905 and then sold it in 1921 to Earl Hart. In 1942 Kurt Iverson, a former jeweler of Ft. Thomas bought the home. In 1949 Christ Church purchased the home and used it for a Sunday School Annex from 1949-1955. From 1955-1978 the house was used for custodial quarters and offices.
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April 1999 Fort Thomas Sports & Lifestyle Article on the Shaw House
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Children of Samuel Shaw
and Elisabeth Smith
1. Ida Virginia Shaw b-22 June 1853 in Highlands;
d-1 Dec 1915 in Ft Thomas; br-Evergreen m-Chambers G Phister
2. Benjamin R Shaw b-21 Aug 1856 in Newport; d-14 Oct 1905 in Manhattan New
York; br-Evergreen
3. Samuel Shaw b-1856 in Newport
4. Margaret Shaw b-1858 in Newport; m-W P Flanders
5. Hannah "Nannie" Shaw b-10 Nov 1859 in Highlands; d-10 Apr 1935 in Ft Thomas;
br-Evergreen; m-Louis K Marty
6. Alice Shaw b-13 Apr 1862 in Highlands; d-5 Feb 1931 in Ft Thomas; br-Evergreen;
m-C W Adams
7. Eva Mary Shaw b-12 Aug 1873 in Highlands; d-27 Jan 1900 in Ft Thomas; br-Evergreen
8. Maggie Shaw b-1877 in Highlands
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Samuel Shaw was twice elected to the Legislature from Campbell County and served one term as State Senator. He died 27 Feb 1896 in Highland Heights and was buried in Evergreen.