John Ernest Shaw	see FAMILY TREE
Born: 14 May 1886-7 San Juan Del Rio, Queretaro, Mexico Married: 19 Oct 1912 Nevada County, CA Died: 1946 Monterrey, Mexico Buried: Rosario Cemetery, Monterrey, Mexico FATHER David Shaw MOTHER Jennie "Jane" Wray WIFE Lucy Prescott Moore CHILDREN

1. John Ernest "Jack" Shaw   b. 17 Sep 1913   m. 31 Jul 1933 Josephine Augusta Tobin   m. Ester Cejuda Melear   d. 27 Oct 1969

2. Lucy Moore Shaw     b. 02 Apr 1915     m. 15 Aug 1939 to Chase J. Brooke     d. 17 Nov 1999		Lucy Moore Shaw
3. Jane Shaw     b. 1917    d. Abt. 1919
4. David Shaw     b. 28 Jun 1918     m. Abt. 1940     d. Abt. 1946		David Shaw

John Ernest Shaw
by Chase Brooke
Oct 2023 

John Ernest Shaw was born about 14 May 1886 or 1887 in San Juan Del Rio,  Mexico  (1) His father, David Shaw, had moved from Canada to Mexico in 1881 with the building of the Mexican Central railroad south from El Paso. (2) So, John carried a Canadian passport and was listed as Scottish in some of his border crossings. (3) . His father was out working at the railroad camps a lot when he was growing up so he grew up mostly with his mother, Jane Wray, and his older brother, William, who later became a doctor in Mexico City and helped found the ABC Hospital. John was living with his mother in Detroit in 1900. The Detroit Directory for 1900 shows his Mother, Mrs. Jennie Shaw, his brother Wm. F Shaw and John E Shaw all boarding at 178 Bagg Street. (4)  However, that is the only year he appeared in the Detroit records. even though the border crossing of 1944 recorded that he had lived in Detroit from 1893 until 1904 which would indicate he had attended school in Detroit from the age of 7 to 18.  In the 1900 census for Detroit, however,  John E was living with his father, David, in Detroit at 178 Bagg. (5) His mother was not listed and she was not listed again in the Detroit directories after 1900.
John went to Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana graduating in 1908.  The Roll Call Yearbook for 1908 lists him as "Jack" Shaw from Chihuahua, Mexico. (6) Two years later, in 1910, there was a Mexican Revolution and the foreigners were rounded up and put on containment camps for their own protection.  As a Canadian, John was living in one of those camps when he met Lucy Moore, who had come to Mexico with her sister, Louise, to look for Louise's husband, Malcolm Poole, who was lost during the Revolution. Oral history says John Shaw and Lucy Moore met on a tennis court in this camp.
After her release, Lucy went to San Francisco to an aunt's home, probably Elizabeth Whiting McCutcheon.  John followed her and became a mining engineer in Gaston Ridge, CA. He had been appalled to see an American woman in Mexico during the Revolution and admired her spunk and courage. They dated and married on 17 Oct 1912 when he was 26 and she 28. The attendants were Fred P. Moore and Ethel Garland both residents of Gaston, Nevada County, CA (7) They appear to have stayed in California until 1916. (8)
They moved to Chile for a short time, 1917 - 1922, and then to Tampico, Mexico. In Tampico John Shaw became the manager of an oil company. Finally the family settled in Monterrey, Mexico about 1932.  John Ernest Shaw died 24 Jul 1945 in Monterrey, Mexico. (9)

Sources

(1) Border Crossing records indicate he was born 14 May 1886
The 1900 census for Detroit Michigan indicated he was born May 1887
Findagrave gives date of birth at 14 May 1886
The application for US citizenship by his wife indicated he was born 14 May 1885

(2) Obituary of his father, David Shaw
El Paso Herald  21 Mar 1910 pg 4

(3) Border crossing 29 Jan 1929
     Border Crossing 7 Oct 1936   

(4) 1900 City Directory Detroit Michigan
John E Shaw student bds 178 Bagg
Mrs. Jennie Shaw  h. 178 Bagg
Wm F. Shaw  student  bods 178 Bagg 

(5) 1900 Census Detroit Michigan
Listed as John E Shaw, aged 13 and born in May of 1887.  'At School"
Immigrated to the US in 1892 and has been in the US for 8 years

(6)   The Roll Call Yearbook for 1908 lists him as "Jack" Shaw from Chihuahua, Mexico.  Second Lieutenant Company D; First Lieutenant Black Horse Troop: Company D Foot Ball '07; Company D Track Team '08; Rife Association; Y. M. C. A.  Business Course.

First Lieutenant of Black Horse Troop Full photo shown at right

Culver Military Institute Roll Call Yearbook 2008 First Lieutenant  J. E. Shaw of Black Horse Troop. He is in front row, 2nd from left.

Culver Military Roll Call Yearbook 2008

(7) Married: 19 Oct 1912 Nevada County, CA

Jack Ernest Shaw of Gaston, Nevada, CA aged 26 to Lucy Prescott Moore of NY aged 28 17 Oct 1912 Witnesses: Fred P Moore and Ethel Garland

(8) Border Crossing 12 May 1944
     Border Crossing 3 Nov 1931
     Border Crossing 10 Jul 1942

From the records of his border crossing on 12 May 1944, he was 5' 9 " tall and had blue eyes and a scar on his right cheek.  . He resided in the Detroit from 1893 to 1904 and from 1912 to 1916 in Grass Valley, CA  the border crossing of 3 Nov 1931 said he lived in San Antonio for 1930-1931 and his mother was Jane Ray Shaw. The border crossing of 10 Jul 1942 adds that he was in the US from 1904-1908

(9) Findagrave

John E and Lucy in Laredo, TX early 1940's

.