William Wilson Shaver
1822-1898
Photo Source: Arkansas Christians, p.351
The Life And Influence of Wm. W. Shaver
William Wilson Shaver was the first child born to John and Nancy Cook Shaver in 1822. Missouri census records (1860, 1870, 1880) indicate that he was born in Randolph County, Arkansas.1 (1 One Shaver historian believes he was born in Tennessee. See: W. Carey Anderson, The Ancestry and Descendants of John Shaver (1745-1835), p. 97. Copies of this work may be found in Randolph and Cross County libraries.) His grandfather, Peter Shaver, moved from Sumner County, Tennessee, to Lawrence County (the area that would become Randolph County), Arkansas Territory, between 1810 and 1820. Peter Shaver's sister, Leah Shaver and her husband, Matthias Mock, had moved to Arkansas, near Warm Springs, around 1815, as had their parents, John and Mary Blackwelder Shaver. 2 (2 Lawrence Dalton, History of Randolph County (Little Rock: 1946; Reprinted and Enlarged, 1981, pps. 10-11, 137, 182, 213, 317.) Other members of the family had come to Arkansas just after 1800.3 (3 Ibid., p. 342.)
Some of the Shavers were converted to New Testament Christianity in a Sumner County, Tennessee, revival conducted by Christian minister Philip Mulkey in 1810.4 (4 F. M. Carmack, "Obituary: John Shaver, Jr. ," Gospel Advocate (September 1859).)
When William's family came to the Palestine-Ingram area of what is now Randolph County, many of them were members of the Christian Church. Upon his fifty-five year old father's death, ca. 1852, it was noted that John Shaver had been a life-long member of the Christian Church.5 (5 Goodspeed Biographicol and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas (Chicago: The Goodspeed Pub. Co., 1889), p. 249.) Respected Randolph County historian, Lawrence Dalton, indicated that the Mocks and Shavers held church services in their homes in the early 1800s. 6 (6 Lawrence Dalton, History of Randolph County (Little Rock: 1946; Reprinted and Enlarged, 1981 p. 213.) Some of the information Dalton printed came from Goodspeed's book. Research has shown Goodspeed to be in error on occasion.) William grew up, therefore, in one of the first Christian families west of the Mississippi River.
As a youth in the early 1820s, he helped with the farm and attended services of the church with his parents. On October 1, 1846, he married Mary "Polly" Johnson (1823-1892) in Randolph County. As a couple they became members of the Church of Christ in 1854.7 (7 "Obituary: Wife of W. W. Shaver" (August 1892). A copy of which is in this writer's possession. Some of the dates are inaccurate. The obituary indicates that she and Shaver were married in 1849, but Randolph County records clearly show the wedding date to have been Oct. 1, 1846.)
William was a farmer, but became a preacher shortly after he became a Christian. Dalton listed Shaver among preachers who served churches before as well as after the Civil War. He is credited with having organized and preached to some of the first congregations of the Church of Christ in North Arkansas.8 (8 Lawrence Dalton, History of Randolph County (Little Rock: 1946; Reprinted and Enlarged, 1981, p. 312.)
Wm. W. Shaver and his wife, Polly, with their children: Aurina (b. 1848; died early), Isabell (b. 1851), and Mary (b. 1856), moved to Missouri after Mary's birth, where they homesteaded 160 acres of land on Finley River near Sarvis Point in Webster County and built a log house. During the Civil War Shaver served in the Home Guard on the Southern side. 9 (9 "The Elder William Wilson Shaver Family of Webster County, Missouri," by Blance C. Newton, great granddaughter of W. W. and Mary Johnson Shaver, 1982. A copy of which is in this writer's possession. Hereafter referred to as Newton.)
It is evident that Shaver was active as an evangelist in Southwest Missouri before the War. He was listed as one of the early preachers of "The Old Sixteenth Church" (Disciples of Christ) when it met in the old log structure built about 1856.10 (10 "The Old Sixteenth Church," by Dee Hutton, Bertha Rodegaard and Warren Beck, in the Webster County Historical Society Journal (August 1976):5-6.) Just after the War he baptized Thomas Todd, an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, who became one of Missouri's great preachers. Todd was ordained by Shaver in 1873.11 (11 E.T. Sechler, Disciples cf Christ in Webster and Wright Counties cf Missouri (Hermitage, Mo.: The Index, ND), pp. 4-5. Hereafter referred to as Sechler, Webster & Wright Counties.) These two men established several churches and made hundreds of converts to the Restoration Movement in post Civil War Missouri.
In 1877, W. Shaffer (Shaver) was identified as one of twenty-four active Christian preachers located in Southwest Missouri. 12 (12 The Christian (March 22, 1877). He helped organize and preached for the Northview Christian Church for a number of years in the 1880s.13 (13 Floy Watters George, History of Webster County 1855 to 1955 (NP; 1955), p. 252.) A Christian Church was established at Sarvis Point, near Shaver's home, in 1887.14 (14 Ibid., p. 172.) Two years later he conducted a ten day revival meeting at the Marshfield Christian Church and sixteen were added.15 (15 Earl Sechler, Disciples of Christ in Webster and Wright Counties of Missouri (Hermitage, MO: The Index, ND), p. 14.)
Assisting him in some of his revivals was his daughter, Isabell, who often led the song services. They went on foot for short distances and on horseback for longer journeys.16 (16 Newton. Another daughter, Mary E., married Frank Green, a Church of Christ minister, May 3, 1872.) When Shaver traveled, he wore high top leather boots and carried his saddle bags on his shoulders. 17 (17 Sechler, Webster & Wright Counties, pp. 6-7.)
Shaver was listed among the active Missouri ministers in the 1892 and 1897 Yearbook of the Disciples of Christ: His beloved Polly died at the family home near Sarvis Point, August 10, 1892. Nine children had been born to the Shavers, and Rush Smith, a grandson, was also raised by them.
The final chapter in Wm. W. Shaver's life was closed when he died in December, 1898. A brief line appeared in The Marshfield Chronicle: "Rev. Shaver, a well known minister of the gospel, living near Seymour, died last week. "18 (18 The Marshfield Chronicle (Dec. 8, 1898).) Shaver's tired old body was laid to rest in the Cardwell Chapel Cemetery, south of Fordland, Missouri. A lovely stone with sculptured work of the Bible and pearly gates mark his grave. 19 (19 This writer visited the gravesite in November, 1989, and took photographs of the stone which could still be clearly read.) A more lasting monument are the myriads of people he led to Christ during a ministry of over forty years.
-Michael L. Wilson, Arkansas Christians: A History Of The Restoration Movement In Randolph County, Arkansas, 1800-1995, Pages 351-353 Note: Edited for this site.
Directions To Grave
William W. Shaver was buried in the Cardwell Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery near Finley Creek, on Cardwell Rd. in Webster County, Missouri. Located about 35 miles east of Springfield, Missouri, the best way to find the cemetery is to used the GPS location below. It is the actual grave location. However, you can head east out of Springfield on Hwy. 60 to just east of Fordland. Head south on Tandy Rd. and then left on Cardwell Chapel Rd. You will leave pavement for a couple miles and see the church on left. Looks as if the doors of the church have been closed a few years. But the grave is in the cemetery the other side of the building. Shaver's plot is about half way back on the left.
GPS Location
37°06'15.4"N 92°52'02.9"W
or D.d. 37.104275,-92.867470
William W.
Shaver
Born
October 2, 1822
Died
December 2, 1898
Photos Taken Saturday, 05.03.2025
Webpage Produced -
05.30.2025
Courtesy Of Scott Harp
www.TheRestorationMovement.com
Special Recognition: The grave of William W. Shaver is one of 29 graves of gospel preachers it was my privilege to find during the first week of May, 2025. I had the great blessing of traveling from my home in Russellville, Kentucky to Lebanon, Missouri that week for the purpose of preaching a gospel meeting at the South Hwy. 5 church of Christ. During the week, I stayed on American history's most famous U.S. Hwy, Route 66. Daily, I had the opportunity to travel a number of miles to visit graves of preachers of yesteryear. It was a wonderful week for the gospel, and a blessing for me to stand at the graves of giants in the Kingdom of our Christ.