From "Geneaological Compilation of Descendants of James Shed, Who Died in Loudoun County, Va., About 1774," by Joel P. Shedd (undated):

James Shed of Loudoun County, Va., is the earliest ancestor about whom I have been able to obtain any information. We have little positive knowledge about him. We know from a lease he signed in 1768 that at the time he was living on a plantation on the west (Loudoun County) side of Difficult Run, a few miles north of the present Vienna, Va., in what is now Fairfax County. We have evidence that he died about 1774, that his widow died about 1790 and that his three sons left Virginia and settled in South Carolina before his death.

As to the time and place of birth of James Shed, we can do little more than speculate on the basis of probabilities. Since we have evidence that he had a grandson born as early as 1768, we can assume that he was born prior to 1728, probably 10 to 20 years prior thereto and possibily as early as 1700. Since it is highly improbable that his parents would have migrated to America when he was born, we assume that he was born overseas, probably in Scotland or Northern Ireland, and migrated to America. Since Loudoun County was not a place where newly arrived immigrants settled, and since most, if not all, of the Scots-Irish who settled in Loudoun County came from the Pennsylvania frontier, we assume that James Shed moved from Pennsylvania to Loudoun County. We have evidence that James Shed lived on the Difficult Run plantation for several years prior to 1768, and we know that the settlement of this section of Loudoun County did not start until about 1755. Therefore, we assume that he settled on the Difficult Run property between 1755 and about 1760.

If these assumptions are correct, it seems likely that James Shed lived with his wife and children for a number of years on a farm on the Pennsylvania frontier before moving to Loudoun County. Perhaps his move was a part of the large exodus of settlers from the Pennsylvania frontier after Braddock's Defeat (1755). The inventory of James Shed's estate at the time of his death shows that he was a well-to-do slave-owning planter, and perhaps he brought slaves and other personal property with him from Pennsylvania.

We have no information about whether any relatives of James Shed migrated to America when he did. He may have arrived when a child as a member of his parents' family, or he may have arrived as a young married or unmarried man either with or without brothers or other relatives. Therefore, we are unable to determine whether he had collatoral relatives in America.

While we have no direct evidence that James Shed of Loudoun County ever lived in Pennsylvania or had any relatives in Pennsylvania, we do know that Sheds lived in Pennsylvania at that time and that some of them could have been related to him. One Pennsylvania Shed who may have been a brother or other close relative of James Shed was George Shead, a soldier in the French and Indian War. George Shead served from September 10, 1757, to June 1, 1758, in Lt. Col. James Burd's Company, Second Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot. He apparently lived in Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pa.

In this history are the descendants of James Shed who moved southward and westward. Among them we find one veteran of the American Revolution, two veterans of the War of 1812, and one veteran of the Mexican War. How numerous and widely scattered his desendants had become in just one century is indicated by Confederate war service records. In addition to soldiers with other surnames that were descended from him through female lines, there were some 33 Confederate soldiers with the name Shedd, or variant spelling, who were probable descendants of James Shed, of whom 27 can be positively identified as his descendants. These include soldiers who served from South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas and Missouri. Three of them were at least sixth-generation Americans.

Two powers of attorney executed and recorded in Fairfield County, SC, in 1790 show that James Shed of Loudoun County, VA, had sons named James Thompson and George, and a leased signed in 1768 shows that he had living with him at the time sons named William and George. Since James Thompson Shed was not mentioned in the 1768 lease as living with him at the time, and since we have evidence that James Shed had one grandson born in Virginia in 1770 and another grandson born prior to 1770 (probably about 1768), we assume that James Thompson Shed was the older of the three brothers and was married and had a family of his own by 1768.

From Millan Family web site:

James Shedd m. Martha, d. aft 11 Nov 1782, Loudoun Co., VA. James died by 11 Apr 1774, Loudoun Co., VA. Martha: Martha as the widow of James Shedd, obtained letters of administration on her deceased husband's estate on 11 Apr 1774. (Loudoun Co., VA, Order Bk F:352, 11 Apr 1774). She was also appointed gaurdian of Eleanor & Frances Shedd, orphans of James Shedd, dec'd, in room of George Winn and Thomas Sangster who are discharged. Whereupon the said Martha, with Thomas Millan and John Orr her sercuriters entered into bond...L200. (G:460, 11 Nov 1782).

Children of James and Martha Shed:

i Elizabeth Shedd. ii Mary Shedd m.1. William Kitchen, m2 William Debell. iii William Shedd b. 1760, Loudoun Co., VA. Made a choice of Thomas Sangster as his gaurdian when he was 14 years of age. (Loudoun Co., VA, Order Bk F:352, 11 Apr 1774). iv John Shedd b. 1762, Loudoun Co., VA. John Shedd, aged 14 years, was bound out to Thomas Millan according to law, to be taught the trade of a taylor. (Loudoun Co., VA, Order Bk F:591, 13 May 1776). v Jean Shedd. vi George Shedd. vii James Thompson Shedd. viii Eleanor Shedd. ix Francis Herd Shedd.