Greetings all,
My Shirah family connection begins in South Carolina. Recently I have teamed up with Margaret Shirer Cox in order to find out where my Shirer ancestors originated. Margaret lives in SC and is able to get her hands on dead tree data that is unavailable to me via the web.
Recently Margaret has discovered:
http://www.upamerica.org/roots/proceedings.htm
The ships Union, Dragon, and Planters Adventure took about 400 refugees from Gravesend, England on October 7, 1764. The ships Union and Dragon traveled for ten weeks and arrived in Charles Town on December 14th and 16th respectively. The Planters Adventure departed later and arrived on February 12th, 1765.

Here you will find a list of the persons on the ships.
http://www.upamerica.org/roots/rootsappC.html#Feb.%2027,%201...

Listed on the Planters Adventure is a Michael Sherer and a Paul Shawrer. Listed on Dragon is George Sherer aged forty. Catherine Sherer aged 20 arrived on Union and Anna Sherer aged 8 arrived on Dragon.
From this data Margaret looked for records in South Carolina. She found these pieces of information:
1) From A Compilation of the Original Lists of Protestant Immigrants to South Carolina 1763-1773, by Janie Revil, I found that an entry from February 27, 1765. " The following petitions of the German protestants addressed His Honor the Lieutenant Governor setting forth that they were safely arrived in the ship Dragon Captain Hammet and Planters Adventure Captain Lonley from London and humbly prayed to have Warrants of survey for the following tracts in Londonborough Township free of charge were presented and read VIZ" and Michael Sherer was to receive 100 acres.
[b]2)In the Register of St. Philip's Parish, Charles Town or Charleston, SC 1754-1810, there was an entry for the burial of Michael Shirer on March 15, 1767 in the parish[/b]. Guess this is why there were only two children (Adam and Mary) baptized as his children. Wonder how Barbary supported herself and the children.

3) There is another land grant to Paul Shirer in 1768, so hopefully (if he was related as we suspect) he helped out with Michael's widow and children.

4) In the SC Magazine of Ancestral Research, vol 1, p. 150 & 214, on the records for St. Matthews 1818 tax list, Adam Shirah paid his taxes and signed for Paul Shirah.

5) John Adam and Mary Ann Shirer, my ggggranparents, were members of the St. Matthews Lutheran Church. In the Church Records of Saint Matthews Lutheran Church, Orangeburg County, SC and "the Red Church" by Anne Martin Haigler, the marriages recorded during the pastorate of Rev. J. P. Margart include Aaron Shirer to Mary Zeagler on July 24, 1842.
John Adam and Mary Anne later moved to Berkeley County.

Here is the information about Adam Shirer:
( From Shirer Family file at Calhoun County Museum, compiled by Nell P. Reid, attributed to a Bible in possession of C. J. Inabinet)

Adam Shirer born 1773, died August 1825, married Deborah Smith on June 12, 1808. Deborah was born in 1786 and died April 22, 1857.

Children:
1) Sarah Ann born 3/27/1809
2) Charles Paul born 3/6/1810, died 7/17/1866
3) Adam born 11/6/1812
4) Plena Ursula born October 1817, married Caspar Inabinet
5) Aaron Thomas born 2/10/ 1819, died 5/2/1869
6) Eleanor Catherine born 2/9/1824, died 1825
7) Benjamin Franklin born 1/4/1826




So that is as far as we've gotten in regards to SC Shirers. Margaret is going to do some more digging in the archives and see how to reconcile the differences in birth records for Adam Shirer and Michael Shirer's death date. The C.J. Inabinet Bible shows that Adam was born in 1773 and the second record shows that Michael died in 1767. Margaret has found another record about Adam: ,( there is a record of an Adam Shirer, son of Michael and Barbary Shirer, being baptized on November 24, 1762,in the Register of St. Philip's Parish, Charles Town or Charleston, SC, 1754-1810)

So as you can see there are a few discrepancies but we believe the baptism record is more accurate than the Bible record. Sorry if this post is a little unorganized. I just wanted to get all the information in here in case anyone else can use it.
Betty Fox
felicity@foxinnovations.net