Short Family Roots
The History and Genealogy of Thomas
and Ann Short and their Descendants
(Including Shortt, Shorte,
etc.)
Dedicated to the
Memory of our
Honored Pioneer Ancestors
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), the
scientist, inventor, printer, diplomat, postmaster, author and vaccine inoculation
advocate wrote:
"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest" & "Being ignorant is
not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn"
Ben was also an avid amateur genealogist & family historian. His wisdom applies
to successful research and, more importantly, a successful life.
Created 2001
Hosted by Dave Woody
(A link to the
Short database and pedigree is located at the end of the historical section.)
Thomas & William Short
in Old Rappahannock & Essex Counties, Virginia
In the mid
1600s, Thomas and William Short were among the early residents of Lancaster and
Old Rappahannock Counties, Virginia. I could not determine how these two men
were related, but William seems to have died or removed after April 29, 1658
when he was noted in court documents for the last time. Josephine Short
Lynch has done considerable research on the Shorts of 17th century
Virginia. She writes that a William Shorte was claimed by John Kempe as a
headright in James City on October 24, 1639. To encourage settlement of America, the
English government provided parcels of land to individuals who "transported"
immigrants from Europe. Masters of ships were often the recipients of these
grants, but almost anyone that paid for the immigrant's passage was eligible. These rewards
were termed "headrights". Josephine also states that “This
William Shorte was undoubtedly the William Shorte found in Gloucester and
Lancaster Counties later. He was the progenitor of the Shorte family found
later on the Rappahannock River.” Josephine concluded that this William Shorte was not part of her line, so she did not include any of his descendants
in her book. Although I am not sure about the William Shorte in 1639 James City,
I agree with Josephine that the Rappahannock Short's were not part of her line. William Short seems to have been successful in Lancaster since, on
September 1, 1657, he and William Lippeate were awarded 400 acres on
Fleets Bay, between the mouths of Haddawaies and Corotoman Creeks. This award was "for the transportation of eight persons"
to Virginia (headrights).
Court records show that Thomas Short was
born in 1642 and between 1666 and 1673 he married Ann Nott Landman, widow of William.
By July 2, 1685, Thomas Short had died and Ann was married again to William Hasle. The rigors of the
times dictated that many early settlers were married three or four times.
Indeed, it was not uncommon for a widow to remarry before the estate of her
late husband was completely settled.
The records of Old Rappahannock,
Lancaster, Westmoreland and Essex Counties
indicate that Thomas and Ann Nott Landman Short may have had three sons that
survived to adulthood: Thomas Jr., William
and Samuel. On January 1, 1689, Thomas Short sold 1000 acres that were
originally "granted by patent to Michaell Hugill and Thomas Short, my father".
Abundant other references to Thomas Jr. are found in the records but, although
William and Samuel seem to be contemporaries of Thomas Jr., they are mentioned
only infrequently. The statutes of
primogeniture were probably the reason for their relative absence in the court records. Most of the
surviving records deal with land transactions and it is quite obvious
that Thomas Jr. inherited the bulk of his father's holdings.
The October 7, 1693
Westmorland County will of William Shores
strongly suggests that William was the son of Ann Nott Short, the only known
wife of the elder Thomas Short. Also, on August 11, 1699, William and his brother
Thomas Short participated in the probate of the will of Susanna Davis. The Westmorland records also show that William
and Mary Short owned land there in 1703 and that William died before June 10,
1712, leaving only one known son, William Jr., who died in 1721 at age
twenty-one. I have not found any primary evidence of any other male descendants
of these two men.
However, no direct
evidence at all has been discovered that points to the parents or siblings of
Samuel Short. Between 1704
and 1708, Samuel married Sarah
Catlett Taliaferro Sallis (her 3rd marriage) and their son Samuel
Short is mentioned as a half-brother in the 1725 will of Samuel Sallis Jr., the son
of Sarah and her second husband, Samuel Sallis. Previously, this Samuel Sallis
Jr. witnessed a deed involving Thomas Short Jr. and Charles Brown Jr. in 1723.
Although the first Samuel Short may have had other children, none have ever been
proven or even suggested by circumstantial evidence. However, in 1753, a Samuel Short received a Northern Neck land grant in the branches of
Hawksbill Creek in the Shenandoah Valley of then Frederick Co., Virginia. Strong circumstantial
evidence found in the counties of Spotsylvania, Orange and Frederick leads me to believe this Samuel was the son of Samuel and Sarah Catlett
Taliaferro Sallis Short. Samuel Jr. was married to Ann Price and, as new Virginia counties were formed, their
children and descendants lived in the counties of Frederick,
Rockingham, Shenandoah and Page. About the same time that Samuel Jr.
obtained his land grant, a William Short forfeited a land warrant nearby. I have not discovered any mention of this William Short in later
records; however, some twenty years later, Samuel Short III, the only lawful heir of Samuel
Short Jr., transferred this exact land to a neighbor.
yDNA results indicate that
a descendant
of John Short (1756-1836), the assumed son of Samuel
Short Jr. discussed directly above, is not genetically related to the
descendants of Thomas Short Jr., discussed in the opening paragraph.
Samuel Jr. and Thomas Jr. lived in Essex
County, Virginia at the same time and Thomas Jr. was familiar with
Samuel Sallis, the half-brother of Samuel Short, so it is difficult to
see how they were not part of the same family, even if they were not genetically
related. There are several other
alternatives to this situation. Since the Short surname was common in Virginia,
the assumptions that Samuel Short Jr. of Essex County was the same person as the
Samuel Short of that married Ann Price and/or that John Short was the son of
Samuel Short Jr. could be incorrect. Also, there could have been a non-paternity
event in either of the lines. Future yDNA results may provide a
more complete answer; however, we may never know the circumstances of this
situation.
So, it is quite
likely that William Short of early Lancaster County was the father of Thomas Short Sr., but either could have been the
immigrant Short that established a new home in the American colonies. Old
Rappahannock County was located on the south side of the Rappahannock River, a
major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay and was formed from part of Lancaster
County in 1656. This area is in the heart of the Virginia peninsular region and
is bounded on the south by
the York River. The rivers played
a vital role in the local economy which was highly dependent on the
cultivation, sale and exportation of tobacco. English ships regularly visited
riverside docks bringing supplies to the settlers and then sailed on to other
ports laden with tobacco. Indeed, the importance this plant was so great and
coin of the realm was so scarce that tobacco was the “currency”
used in many land transactions. A typical sale would involve several thousand
pounds of tobacco. In an effort aimed at stabilizing the price of tobacco, the
colonial government enacted laws regulating the culture, production and sale of
this product. The success of these laws is questionable, since many
entries in old court record books deal with the prosecution of offenders and the penalties imposed on
those plantation owners found guilty of violations.
In the late 17th
century, as it is today, most of the area that was Old Rappahannock was rural
and sparsely populated. To encourage immigration, the English government used
inventive methods aimed at potential settlers from countries other than the
British Isles. With government assistance, Robert Beverley, a prominent land
promoter of the time, established the settlement of Beverley Park and advertised it as a
home for Huguenot refugees from France. In 1692, Essex County was carved out of
Old Rappahannock and the village of Tappahannock was selected as the county
seat. Fortunately, for the family researcher, this area was mostly spared the
courthouse and record destruction that accompanied the American Revolution, the
War of 1812 and the Civil War.
As
far as I know, the first Thomas did not leave a will, but the
will of Thomas Short Jr. has survived. In
this 1740 document, Thomas Jr. names his wife Catherine and his children William
Short, John Short, Ann Golden, Eliza Short, Catherine Short, Sarah Short and
Susannah Short. His estate was probated at Tappahannock in late 1744.
Another son, Thomas Short III, most likely predeceased his father.
On March 12,
1750, William, the son of Thomas Jr., and his wife Elizabeth conveyed to
William Bates land that Elizabeth had inherited from her mother, Elizabeth Pell Bendry Virget
and on February 19,
1753, William Short and his then wife Barbara, conveyed land
to Sarah Brooke with an indenture. Barbara relinquished her dower rights.
Shortly after that transaction, on June 19, 1753, Young Short, son of William,
witnessed a power-of-attorney in Essex County.
On September
15, 1752, John Short, the other living son of Thomas Jr., and his sister Sarah entered
into an indenture that left Sarah with the land that John had received upon the
death of their father. John’s wife Dinah
relinquished her dower rights. Some researchers have
claimed Winfred Randall of King George County as another wife of this John;
however, until recently, we have not been able to confirm this connection. We
are grateful to Marie W. McMahan for sending us a packet of research material
compiled by Gladys S. Cramer, Marie B. Fellers, George H. King and Josephine S.
Lynch. The primary records referenced in this research include the 1771 Essex
County probate proceedings associated with the death of John Short's mother,
Catherine, the widow of the abovementioned Thomas Short Jr. In this record, John
Short of Pittsylvania County is described as her eldest son and heir at law.
Also included in the packet are King George County court documents showing that
John Short married Winifred Randall before September 4, 1758, lived in King
George for several years, then moved to Pittsylvania before October 13, 1769.
Apparently, the home of John and Winifred Short was in that part of Pittsylvania
that became Henry County in 1777 and then Franklin County in 1786 as several of
their daughters were married in Franklin.
Three sons of John and Winifred
Randall Short have been posited: John Randall Short, Thomas Randall Short and William Short.
We have found some primary
evidence to support these assumptions. Most persuasive are the 1787-1800
Franklin County tax records which seem to place these three men in Franklin at
various times during this period. In addition, John Short and John Randolph Short
were witnesses in the same court proceeding. Later, John Short & John R. Short were recorded in the
1791-1807 Fauquier County tax records and in 1800 he was recorded as John
Randall Short. The descendants of this John Randall Short
have been very
well
researched and documented
and recent yDNA tests have proven that this line indeed
descends from the abovementioned Shorts of Old Rappahannock. This is a major
breakthrough for this line and demonstrates the power of yDNA testing when
combined with traditional research based on primary records. Later circumstantial evidence
from Smith County Tennessee, Calloway County, Kentucky and Wayne County,
Missouri indicates that the William
Short and Thomas R. Short
found in these locations are the same individuals that were found in Franklin
County, Virginia. That two of William's children were named John R. Short and
Winifred Short is the most persuasive evidence. Both William and Thomas R. Short
seem to have moved to Smith County, Tennessee around 1800. William soon moved on
to Calloway County, Kentucky and some of Thomas' children moved to Wayne
County, Missouri. One of these children was Washington Short, who
stated that his father was born in Virginia; however, we have not found any
primary evidence showing that the middle name of Thomas was Randall or Randolph.
The motivation for the moves to Kentucky and Missouri seems clear: Kentucky
state land grants in the Jackson Purchase and federal land grants in Missouri. It would
be very helpful if male descendants of William and Thomas R. Short joined the
Short DNA Project.
The geographical association
of the three Short men in Franklin County now seems even more important;
however, the tax records pose an additional conundrum. In addition to the three
Short men mentioned above, a Thomas Short Sr. was twice recorded. This Thomas
Short Sr. is a complete mystery, but he could have been the father of Thomas R.
Short and/or, less likely, William Short. Since the John Short that married Winifred Randall
had at
least one
nephew named Thomas Short, we do have a possible identity for this Thomas Short
Sr.; however, we do not have any evidence at all to support such an assumption.
A few comments about Randall vs
Randolph: Middle names were seldom used in early America, so we have very few
examples to compare and, to our knowledge, we have no images of signatures
written by the man/men in question. We do have a few examples that are images of
documents that were written by clerks, enumerators, etc; however, most of these
are transcriptions of other documents. Obviously, Randall and Randolph sound
alike and even look alike when written in the often unclear script of the 18th
century and transcribed by bored clerks. Virtually any alphabetically arranged
record has been transcribed at least once. In addition, the surname Randolph was
quite common and very socially and politically prominent in Virginia. So, until
we can see an image of a signature, we are inclined to place little emphasis on
claims of either name.
Captain John Smith’s “List of first settlers at
Jamestown Island, Virginia, in 1607” offers a very intriguing
possibility. John Short, Gentleman, is among those noted by Smith;
however, the fate of this Short is unknown. His death was not recorded, so he
probably survived the incredible early hardships of the colony. He may have
removed to England, Bermuda or another part of Virginia. Captain Smith mapped
and recorded his extensive exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and many of the
place names he originated are in use today. Smith’s account of his
Rappahannock River (then Toppahanock River) voyage proves that the early settlers
were well aware of this area and its potential for tobacco cultivation. One of the Captain’s more colorful geographic descriptors was Stingray
Point, at the mouth of the Rappahannock. As related in
The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles....,
the Captain suffered a very serious wound
here while
fishing in 1608.
However, I have not found any evidence at
all to link this John Short, Gentleman, to any of the 17th century Shorts found
in various Virginia locations.
Thomas, William & Young Short in
Manakin Town, Virginia
Beginning in the early sixteen hundreds, many Huguenots fled religious persecution in France and immigrated to other countries, most notably England, the Netherlands and America. One of the most well known Huguenot enclaves in America was established in 1700 in east-central Virginia. At the site of a deserted Monacan Indian village on the south side of the James River about twenty miles west of present day Richmond, the English government set aside thousands of acres as a Huguenot refuge. This site soon became known as Manakin Town and was located in a part of Henrico County that later became Chesterfield and Powhatan Counties in 1749. Although Shortt/Short may not seem to be a French name, the 1933 edition of The Huguenot, the journal of the Huguenot Society, includes the surname Shorte in a “List of Manakintown Settlers”. However, the Short/Shortt/Shorte surname is not included in any of the extant passenger lists of the four primary ships that brought the largest influx of Huguenots to Virginia in 1700. By 1750, the French heritage of Manakin Town was in decline and many of the descendants of the original settlers were no longer literate in French. Many descendants had moved on and the center of the declining French culture had contracted and was located in Powhatan County.
In 1765, William Short, the son of Thomas Short Jr., executed a will in Chesterfield County. In this document, he named his wife Barbary, grandson Grief and sons John, Samuel, Young ( left will) and Thomas (left Bible record). Another son of William, William Jr., died in 1763, leaving a will.
William’s eldest son, Young, married Marie Bilbo, the granddaughter of Jacques Bilbo, a French Huguenot and a founder of Manakin Town. Edmond, a son of Young Short, married Susannah Bilbo, a great granddaughter of the same Jacques. Several of William’s other sons married descendants of the original settlers of Manakin Town.
Archibald Short was a son of Young and Marie Bilbo Short. As his Pension Declaration of August 15, 1832 and Richmond Whig death
notice of October 27, 1840 detail, he was a veteran of the American Revolution and served about two years
in the Virginia Militia. He is recognized by the DAR as a Revolutionary War
Patriot. On November 20, 1787, along with other veterans and concerned citizens of
Chesterfield County, Archibald
signed a petition asking for a “Decliration of rights that says that (no)
man or Lott of men shall have separate Emoluments 
(or) pervilages from the Comunity,
and to the Law for establishing Religious freedom among us, wich
says no man shall be obliged to support any minister or attend any place of wors(hip) whatsoever”. An exact image of this petition, as well as 422
other “Early
Virginia Religious Petitions” may be viewed at the Library of
Congress web site. As part of the Virginia census of June 1, 1840,
Revolutionary War veterans were enumerated and Archibald Short, age 79, was
recorded as living with his daughter Mary Ann and her husband Dutoy Bass in
Powhatan County.The youngest son of of Young and Marie Bilbo Short was Young William Short. Young William
moved to Oglethorpe, Georgia about 1807 and raised a large family there. Before
he left Chesterfield, he sold several tracts of land that he had acquired from
his father's estate and other transactions. This property was in the branches of
Falling Creek about one mile south of the James River and about twelve miles
west of Richmond. Three of these properties were
purchased by Samuel Woody in 1805 and 1806. One of these tracts included an inn
named Short's Tavern. Both Young William and his brother, Archibald, were
holders of Chesterfield County Ordinary (Tavern) licenses. Samuel Woody was a
almost surely a descendant of the Woodys that had settled in southeastern
Hanover County in the late 17th century. To see more of the history and
genealogy of these Woodys, visit
The Woody Family of Old Virginia.In October of 1801, Reuben, another son of Young and Marie Short made a Deed of Gift of land to the Baptist Society of the Spring Creek Church. This church was founded July 25, 1790 as Cox's Meeting House. The name was changed to Spring Creek Church in 1792 and again to Bethlehem Church in 1855. The Bethlehem Church moved to a new location in 1893, but some members continued to meet at the old site which was known as Spring Creek Baptist Mission. The name of this branch was changed again in 1900 and is now known as Central Baptist Church.
Since the descendants of Thomas Short of Old Rappahannock County lived in Manakin Town and had a very close association with proven Huguenot descendants, it is a possibility that Thomas was a very early Huguenot immigrant. Although the main contingent of Huguenots did not settle in America until 1700, many of the refugees arrived much earlier as families or small groups on ships that were not part of the larger migration. Although they were few in number, some of these very early immigrants first settled in and around Beverley Park in Old Rappahannock County.
Short Records in The Douglas Register
The Douglas Register, a personal record of Reverend William Douglas' forty-five year ministry, is one of the few documents that survived in Virginia's "Black Hole" of genealogy. Most of the records of Henrico and derivative counties were destroyed by invading armies in several wars.
Reverend Douglas married some of the children
of William, son of Thomas Short Jr.:
• Young Short and Mary Bilbo, “in
Manikin town”, Feb 3, 1756,
• Thomas Short and Ann Payne,
“both of Maneken town”, Jan 10, 1762,
• John Short and Olive Sasseen, “both of Maneken town”, Sep 18, 1766.
In addition, Reverend
Douglas baptized several of the children of the above marriages:
• Young Short & Mary Bilbo;
• a daughter named Elizabeth, born Mar 7, 1764, baptized Apr 15, 1764,
• a daughter named Mary, baptized Sep 14, 1766,
• a son named Reuben, born Jan 10, 1769, baptized Mar 4,
1769.
•
Thomas Short & Ann Payne;• a daughter named Judith, born Feb 5, 1765, baptized May 19, 1765.
• John Short & Olive Sassine;
• a son named William, born Feb 29, 1768, baptized May 15, 1768
Some of these marriages and baptisms took place in Manakin Town/King William Parish in Powhatan County. Although Reverend Douglas was the pastor of Dover Church in St. James Northam Parish, Goochland County for 27 years, he also ministered in the Anglican church of Manakin Town for 19 years. However, I cannot find one Short in The Vestry Book of King William Parish which covers the period of 1707 to 1750. Also, a 1744 list of King William Parish residents, compiled by Reverend Douglas, does not include a Short.
Archibald Short - DAR Revolutionary War Patriot
Recently, a descendant of
Archibald Short (1758-c.1845), was admitted to the DAR through Archibald's son Obediah and grandson Wellington. The
membership application process is difficult and time consuming, but this effort
overcame the most difficult documentation obstacle and paves the way for others
in his line. It will take some time before this event is published by the DAR
but, if you are an interested descendant, please contact me.
Short/Shortt Research
Considerations
Because very few early Virginia church records have survived, the study of most early immigrants is based on the evaluation and subjective interpretation of the wills, deeds, court orders and Bible records associated with those individuals. I have examined many of the published abstracts of the documents relating to the Shorts and have compared my interpretations with the work of other family historians. Although my findings are in basic agreement with the work of several other researchers, we do differ on some important points. I am very confident that Thomas Short had a son Thomas and that Thomas Jr. had sons John, William and Thomas. As mentioned above, the first Thomas Short also had a son named William who died at a relatively young age, leaving a son who died at twenty-one. The first Thomas Short may have had another son named Samuel, but that possibility has not been proven. Undocumented lineages that claim both William and Samuel as ancestors abound on the web. While these assertions may be true, I have not seen any supporting evidence for the claims nor has any evidence been offered. I welcome any information concerning any of these individuals, no matter how trivial it may seem.
Although a very few families use or have used the Shortt spelling (most notably, the Floyd County, Virginia branch), I have used Short in the Database to ease the search process; however, I will also include Shortt as primary, if requested to do so.
Any corrections/additions/comments that apply to Thomas Short and his descendants will be greatly appreciated.
Bibliography
Barbour, Philip L., editor. The Complete Works of Captain John Smith,
(1580-1631). The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill & London, 1986
Bethlehem Baptist
Church - History
Essex County Virginia and the Town
of Tappahannock
Douglas, William. The Douglas Register, transcribed & edited by W. Mac Jones,
Genealogy Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1977
Elterich, Allison Wehr. The Diligence and Disappearance of Manakintowne’s
Huguenots, The Reprint Co., Spartanburg, SC, 2000
Lind, Delores M. The Descendants of
William Short Across America, October 1998, Revised; October, 2000
Lynch, Josephine Short. Short, An Early Virginia Family, Whittet &
Shepperson, Richmond, VA, 1970
Fife, Robert H. The Vestry Book of King William Parish, Virginia, English translation published by the Virginia Historical Society, 1905-1906. Reprint
published by the Manakin
Episcopal Church, Midlothian, VA, 1966
Shackelford, George Green. Jefferson's
Adoptive Son; The Life of William Short 1759-1848, University Press of
Kentucky, 1993
The
Huguenot, The Huguenot Society, Vallejo, CA, 1931, 1933, 1941, 1943
The Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin
in the Colony of Virginia
The Library of Virginia,
Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and Surveys
These links will take you to
Short lineages:
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More Short lineages
(Please send me your Short link)
Wellington H. Short Descendants
Descendants of Young William Short
Short Images
(Please send me your Short descendant photos)
Images of Descendants of Young & Mary Bilbo Short of Chesterfield Co., Virginia
Short yDNA Projects
Recent yDNA submissions and comparisons have yielded some very interesting results. If you are interested in your heritage, the benefits of yDNA testing offer intriguing possibilities. To view an explanation of these benefits, along with the results obtained so far, please browse the Short DNA Project.
I urge male Shorts to join the project and submit a 37 marker test. This project deserves your support.
Informative Viewing
Virtual Jamestown
Old Virginia Maps & Charts
Virginia Places.
Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet
(Interpreting Colonial Records of Virginia & North Carolina)
The focus of my research has been on the descendants of Thomas Short of Old Rappahannock, Virginia. I invite other researchers to share information and images pertaining to this family line. I will gladly acknowledge your contributions and/or provide links to your online data. Most of the genealogy of Thomas Short and his early descendants has been derived from my independent research. Nearly all the work on the descendants of Calton and Elizabeth Shelton Short is my own. However, I do make use of the work of other researchers and family historians and, except where the data pertains to my direct line, I do not always attempt to verify the findings of others. In creating Short Family Roots and the associated online database, one of my objectives was to provide a comprehensive, documented resource for those doing research on the descendants of Thomas Short. Hopefully, this approach will provide a base that other researchers of this line will enhance with their contributions. For much of this information displayed at this website, I am indebted to the following individuals, institutions and organizations:
Lela C. Adams, Sandra Estes Allen, Bertha Shortt Anderson, Louise Anderson, Lydia Smith Anderson, Janet Green Ariciu, Stanley W. Arnold, Mark D. Aubrey, Jeannette Holand Austin, Raymond H. Banks, Donald Barker, Karen Baker, Brenda Barrett, Robert B. Basham, Barbara C. Baughan, Marlin Beaty, Cricket Bell, Gretchen Bellman, Philip J. Bertrand, Michael M. Black, James Warner Blankenship, Rae Borgarding, John Edward Bouscher, Daniel Bowling, Diane Bowman, Ann Brown, F. S. Brown, Joyce Browning, Peggy Buescher, Elaine Bullock, Vera Burnham, Todd Burton, Lloyd Campbell, Lyman Chalkley, Karen Clifford, Joyce V. Compton, Charles L. Cook, Barry R. Cooper, Donna Stewart Coultas, Gladys Short Cramer, Barbara Jean Crumpton, Dana Harper Davey, Autumn Davis, Yvonne Davis, Mike Day, Angela R DiBlasi, Jordan R. Dodd, John Frederick Dorman, Larry Douglas, Lindsey O. Duvall, Patricia N. Edwards, James G. Elgin, Katherine B. Elliott, Elizabeth Prather Ellsberry, Andrew J. Estes, Maurice T. Evans, Glen Farmer, Michael Farren, Marie Ruth Bagley Fellers, Bob Felton, Joy Fisher, Beverley Fleet, William M. Foley, Shirley Foster, Timothy Foy, Sandra Franklin, Melvin L. Frazee, Beth Fridley, Dorothy Ford Fulfeck, Bessie W. Gahn, Wally Garchow, LaDawn Garland, Sherrina Garner, Ann Allen Geoghegan, Amelia C. Gilreath, Ken Gissy, Kenneth Alexander Goodwin, Gertrude Entz Gray, Alton Greeson, William Hadskey, Bill Hamm, William E. Harrold, Phillip Hatcher, Patricia Heath, Douglas R. Henry, Rosemary Hollingsworth, Jan Hornick, Tom Hoot, Laurie McDaniels Howland, Barbara Wine Hudson, J. Hughes, G. Wayne Humphery, Annette Hunt, Nancy Leeg Jankowski, Mark E. Johnson, David R. Jones, Peggy Shomo Joyner, K. M. Keith, William Compton Kerr, T. William Kethley, George Harrison King, James Paul Kinney, Catherine Lindsay Knorr, Shannon Marie Kupfer, Kathy Kuzas, Bonnie Lacey, Larry D. Laird, Dennis Lance, Demeris Lee, L. Lewis, Robert L. Lewis, Susanna Lingross, Bruce W. Locke, Jana Long, Elizabeth Lundgren, Josephine Short Lynch, Penni Lynch, Charles MacCawthon, John Massey, Timothy Mathis, Catherine S. McConnell, Wes McDaniel, Marie Wormington McMahan, Paul Mears, Cathryn Millburn, Susan Mills, Pam Fisher-Moreno, Richard L. Moser, Dorothy Murry, Dreama Neely-Reip, Rena Nemecek, John Bailey Nicklin, Sherrie Osburn, Marilyn Owen, John Parrott, Sherry Peek, Phillip Peters, Betty A. Pilson, O. E. Pilson, Marguerite B. Priode, John W. Pritchett, Lavonne Fisher-Radloff, Brenda H. Reed, Barbara A. Reininger, Doris Robbins, Patty Robinson, Dave Robison, Jimmy Rosamond, Nancy Rosamond, Pat Ross, Tom Sattler, Fredric Z. Saunders, Floyd Scott, Ernie Shanks, David Gordon Sharpe, Melissa Shindlebower, John A. Short, Ken Short, Selma Kay Short, Tom M. Short, Richard Alexander DeLafayette Shortt, Carol Shrader, Ken Shultenburg, Don Simmons, Martha Ann Dillon Simon, Tracie Simon, Richard Slatten, Janet Smith, Steve L. Smoot, Ruth & Sam Sparacio, Jimmie Martin Steele, Lyndell Storey, Bill Stout, Bobby Street, Jean Strickland, Harry M. Strickler, Ann Scott Swain, Meloney Taylor, Wyndell Taylor, Virginia Thomson, Jean Cragun Tomaugh, Joan Turpin, Molly Urguhart, Bill Utterback,Eddie Vaden, Robert W. Vernon, Dawna Vicars, Tina Vickery, John Vogt, Raymond. W. Watkins, Rebecca L. Watson, John W. Wayland, Nancy Wedemeyer, Benjamin B. Weisiger, Carey Seagraves Werlein, Elinos Alton Whitlock, Eva Eubank Wilkerson, Bill Wilkins, Kathleen Booth Williams, Laura Willis, Amos DeRussia Wood, Louise McCaffrey Woody, Tammie Wooldridge, Jeff Young, Jo Anna Youngblood, the staff of the New Bern - Craven Co. Library Genealogy Desk, New Bern, North Carolina, the staff of the Ft. Myers – Lee County Library, Ft. Myers, Florida, the staff of the LDS Family History Centers in Port Charlotte, Florida and Knoxville, Tennessee, the staff of the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Knoxville, Tennessee, the staff of the Knox County Public Library System, Knoxville, Tennessee and the staff of the Library of Virginia Interlibrary Loan Desk, Richmond, Virginia. Any omissions are unintentional.
I am especially grateful to the transcribers of old documents. This is a very difficult task and every serious researcher should try their hand at transcription. Copies of original census records are a good place to start. Most of the authors of the transcriptions that I have used are included in the above list.
Click here to email
the author with your comments, additions & corrections.
(Click on Image to enlarge Short & Shortt Distributions)
(1990 Short Surname Distribution)
1990 U.S. Census: Surname - Population Frequency - Frequency Rank
Smith - 1.006% - 1
Short - .021% - 550
Shortt - .001% - 10,562
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Revised Mar 15, 2021