Shain History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

In the 18th and 19th centuries, thousands of Irish families fled an Ireland that was forcibly held through by England through its imperialistic policies. A large portion of these families crossed the Atlantic to the shores of North America. The fate of these families depended on when they immigrated and the political allegiances they showed after they arrived. Settlers that arrived before the American War of Independence may have moved north to Canada at the war's conclusion as United Empire Loyalists. Such Loyalists were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Those that fought for the revolution occasionally gained the land that the fleeing Loyalist vacated. After this period, free land and an agrarian lifestyle were not so easy to come by in the East. So when seemingly innumerable Irish immigrants arrived during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s, free land for all was out of the question. These settlers were instead put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Whenever they came, Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Shain or a variant listed above, including:

Shain Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

• Samuel Shain, who landed in America in 1790-1802 2

Shain Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• Edw. Shain, aged 22, who immigrated to the United States, in 1894
• Wm. Shain, aged 28, who landed in America, in 1895

Shain Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

• Arthur John Shain, aged 18, who settled in America from Brunstead, England, in 1910
• William Shain, aged 22, who immigrated to the United States from Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1911
• Margaret Shain, aged 28, who landed in America, in 1913
• John Shain, aged 43, who immigrated to America, in 1919
• Worley Shain, aged 37, who settled in America, in 1919
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

• Irving Shain (1926-2018), American chemistry professor and academic from Seattle, Washington, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1977-1986)
• Randy Shain, American business author
• Jonathan Bruce "Jon" Shain (b. 1967), American folk musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter and recording artist
• Eva Shain (1918-1999), American boxing judge, one of the first female judges in New York
• Yossi Shain (b. 1956), Israeli academic
• Merle Shain (1935-1989), Canadian author and journalist, associate editor of Chatelaine
• Charles Alexander Shain (1922-1960), Australian astronomer, pioneer in the field of radio astronomy
• Jesse Shain Eubanks (1884-1944), American politician, Mayor of Corsicana, Texas, 1923-25 3