Dan Shiels (2nd Gen) 1719-1807 & Janet (Jessie) Scott

Dan Shiels was born in 1719 and was the second child of Micheal Shiels and Bessie Broun. He was their only son to carry on the family name.

Dan served a seven-year apprenticeship as a stone mason. This trade was very important in those days as nearly everything was built from stone. He would have started as a teenager and worked under a master mason. He would build home, fences and bridges, all out of stone. Here are some examples of what he would build.

Dan went on to secure a position as an agent for Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch, which provided a good salary for the 18th century.

The Buccleuch family controlled massive estates across Scotland, including areas not far from Coulter and Biggar. Being an agent meant:

• You were trusted by elite nobility
• You had responsibility over land, people, and money
• You had upward mobility beyond manual trades

Dan Shiels and Janet (“Jessie”) Scott were married on July 8, 1749, in South Leith, Midlothian, Scotland. Jessie was born on October 20, 1730, in Kirkmichael, Perthshire.

In the 1750 census, Dan was listed as a carter, a person who transports goods by cart drawn by a “beast of burden.” He was also a skilled mechanic and lived to nearly ninety years of age when he died about 1807. Jessie died earlier in 1766.

Dan and Janet had two children:

• James was born in 1750. James married Janet Younger, and they had two children, Robert and Thomas. His details are listed on the next page.
• Elizabeth was born on March 13, 1751, and christened on March 20, 1751, in South Leith, Midlothian.  Elizabeth married John Kay, and they had one child, Isabella Kay, born in 1781. Isabella married Alexander Ramsey in 1811, and they had one daughter, Elizabeth Ramsay, born in 1817. Elizabeth Ramsay married John Hardie in 1841, and they had seven children. No further information is currently known about this line.