John Shell
What is the Truth about Old Uncle John Shell
Testimonials: Aug 8 1920
Submitted By:Anne (Sprentz) Kenworthy
asprentz@buckeye-express.com
Back to Harlan County Ky Research

Pennsylvania * New Oxford * New Oxford Item * 1920-08-05


How Old Is John???

What is the Truth about Old Uncle John Shell of
Greasy Creek, KY? Is he " The Oldest Living Man" or
Only a Youngster of 95 to 100 Summers?

The age-old puzzle, " How old is Ann," is now put into the shade by the
question lately agitated in the public press as to " How old is John?"
Old "Uncle" Johnny Shell, the Kentucky mountaineer, who paid a visit to
the Kentucky State Fair at Louisville last fall, has become famous over
night as a result of this controversy.
Such papers as the "New your Herald" the "Literary Digest" and other
periodicals of national circulation, have printed his picture with
comments on the question of the issue.
So much interest has been shown in the matter, that a special
investigator was sent to Greasy Creek, Kentucky, by The Chattanooga
Medicine Company (whose medicine --Thedford's Black Draught Liver
medicine--had been used in the Shell family for many years.) in order to
get more information on the subject.
The investigator's report is given on another column of this page. The
result of this investigation seems to show, on testimony of friends and
neighbors that John Shell is about 112 yrs old, that his health is good
for a man of his age and that his mind is clearer than that of the
average centenarian.
A statement from his grandson (A.H. Shell) regarding the age of
Thedford's Black Draught, by John Shell, is given at the foot of this page.

Fact vs. Fiction

"John Shell is without a doubt the most remarkable centenarian I have
seen, and he is about the eighth I've met," says our investigator. " His
memory is wonderful. The nearest that he and his family can come to his
age is 112 years. His family has never claimed him to be over that age.
The tax records that were burned in the court house at Harlan gave the
date of his birth, as near as they make it out, as September 1808. He
also counts from the age of his first wife, who died at the age of 107.
John Shell cannot read or write, but for many years he was an expert
maker of flint-lock rifles. John Shell rifles are marked with his
private mark just behind the lock, are prized by collectors.
"In order to get a consensus of opinion as to his probable age, I
thought it best to secure statements and affidavits from members of the
family and neighbors, who have known him for many years. I therefore
secured such statements from Judge A.B. Cornett, T. H. Howard,
attorney-at-law, and W. B. Kelly, ex-United States marshal, and others.
These are among the most substantial and reliable men of Kentucky."

Extracts from their statements are given below:

Over 100 says W.B. Kelly
I have known " Uncle Johnny" Shell for years, in fact, stayed with him
for a good deal, about 16 yrs ago. From the age Mr. Shell claimed to
be, when I stayed with him and the time that has elapsed since, would
judge him to be a good deal over 100 years old. W.B. Kelly Ex United
States Marshal Subscribed and sworn to before me this April 21th, 1920
E. F. Boggen, Notary Public, Harlan County, KY

Shell Family Record Says 112

My aunt, Mrs. Martha Garrison says that the date in her Bible containing
grandpa's age was September 15, 1808. I have every reason to believe
that she speaks the truth. My father, W.C. Shell says this is the truth
so far as he has ever known, also my Uncle A.B. Shell.
A. H. Shell subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of April, 1920
G.W. Howard, County Court Clerk.

At Least 110 says T. S. Ward
I will be 81 yrs old the 10th of July, 1920. I was born and raised in
Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1863, I met Johnny Shell, who was called "
Uncle Johnny" then. I was dodging the Confederate Army and met " Uncle
Johnny". He was too old then for service in the civil war. I am
satisfied he is at least 110 years old, as he is a much older man than I
am. Most everyone in Harlan County knows me and will take my word for
anything I say. I would not make a statement unless I believed it to be
true.
T.S. Howard
subscribed and sworn to before me this 23th day of April, 1920
M.G. Smith, Notary Public, Harlan County, KY

Attorney Howard says over 100
In different conversations with John Shell, he often told about coming
to Kentucky with his father in the summer of 1816, and that they camped
where the town of Harlan , Ky is now located and that at that time he
was 12 yrs old. In abstracting old land papers, I found one where an
entry was made by S.Shell, (John's father) in the year 1816, in the
neighborhood where he now lives. I have every reason to believe John
Shell is a good deal over 100 yrs old.
T. H.Howard, Attorney at Law
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 23 day of April, 1920.
M.G. Smith, Notary Public, Harlan Co. Ky

Over 100 And An Honest Man
I have known Johnny Shell for about 60 years. I have sold him goods for
40 years. W. B. Kelly told of a man Smith. He had grew up together,
about the same age. If Smith had lived he would be a little over a
hundred now. Richard Wilson who was raised a few miles from Shell says
Shell has turned 100. I talked to Shell last year. he know me and
talked to me intelligently as I ever heard him. I have always found John
Shell an honest man.
S. C. Howard

Judge Cornett Says All of 108
I have known "Uncle Johnny" Shell for 30 or more years. I have known him
as an old, old man. From all reports, from the few who lived here when
he said he came here at the age of 12, he is now at least 108 years old,
and I believe older. I have talked with him in the last year and he
seemed to be intelligent, and just as rational as I ever saw.
(Judge) A. B. Cornett, Harlan , Ky

Older Than My Mother, 104
I have known " Uncle Johnny" Shell all my life. I am almost 68. I
would place his age at 106. Johnny Shell was older than my mother, and
she would have been 104, had she lived till now.-----F.G. Lewis

In justice to John Shell and his family, it should be said that neither
he nor they have ever claimed the extreme old age that was given in some
of the reports published in the daily press. A story of the kind grows
in the telling, and the desire for something startling to make good
reading, is no doubt the cause for the interesting fiction (founded on
fact) that has been published about old " Uncle" Johnny Shell.
Facts, however, in many cases, are just as interesting as fiction, and
we have endeavored in this article to give the facts as we have been
able to find them.
THE CHATTANOOGA MEDICINE CO.


Statement By John Shell's Grandson

A. H. Shell, aged 45, of Chappell, Kentucky, grandson of John Shell,
who's picture is shown in the group at top of this page, authorized
publication of the following statement.
"My grandfather has lived to a remarkable age. When a young man, he
took very little medicine. Of late years, he has needed medicine and my
wife has looked after it for him. He needed something as a laxative and
to keep his liver acting, so she sends to the store for
Thedford's Black-Draught
and makes him a tea that keeps him in splendid shape."
Article appeared about 1970
Early Leslie County Settler lives to be 134

Caption below picture


Uncle John Shell of Greasy Creek, Leslie County, Ky; in his 131st year. Picture was made in 1919. He died in July of 1922 at the age of 134.

(Editors Note) The following interesting article was researched and written by Darrell Terry of Cannel City, a student at Lees Junior College, Jackson. We enjoyed it. We hope you do)

Other men in the mountains lived to advanced ages, but none ever came close to John Shell. John Gilbert, an "iron Jacket" Baptist preacher of Red Bird River in Clay County one of the first settlers in that region, lived to be 110. Then John Byran, early settler on the waters of the Big Sandy River and a cousin of Daniel Boone's wife, Rebecca, died in 1867 at age 115.

Greasy Creek when Kentucky was still part of Virginia, was called Licking Creek by early hunters because of the deer licks there. The name was later changed to Laurel Creek, justified by the laurel thickets that abound there. Then one day, John Shell shot and wounded a bear on the mountain at the mouth of Shell's Fork on the Laurel. The bear ran off the mountain and fell into the "Blue-hole". The water was so deep that John could not get his bear out. The bear, in time, began to decompose and his accumulated fat created a greasy scum that rose to the surface of the water for some time. People downstream then renamed the tributary to suit it's aspects. It is called Greasy Creek to this day.

The Shells are of Dutch descent. John Shell's father Sam, moved from Pennsylvania through the Shenandoah Valley to settle in East Tennessee, where John was born in 1788. When John first came to Kentucky there were only about three or four families living in the mouth of the Clover Fork of the Cumberland River, where the town of Harlan now stands. John married Elizabeth Nance or Nantz, a German. Their children were Mary Ann, William, Nicholas, Sarah, John, Martha, Elizabeth and Alijah. After the death of his first wife and after he was well over one hundred years old he married Elizabeth Chappel and had one son by her. Albert James Shell who is now fifty-five years old and lives in Leslie County.

John and Albert went to the Kentucky State Fair in 1919 as guests of the governor and John was displayed as the oldest man in the world. Many folks at the fair doubted his claim of age. He became 'biling mad" returned home and found a tax receipt which showed he had paid taxes in 1809, and that is how his age was affirmed.

John recalled the earthquake which rumbled through Kentucky in 1811. He remembered in 1837 or 1838 when the stars fell at night long in bunches and one after the other. He was a gun maker, a miller, a wagon maker, blacksmith, knife maker, made axes, hammers, spinning wheels, looms, whiskey and kept bees, he remembered seeing Daniel Boone had killed many bear, deer and wild turkeys. John was too old for service in the Mexican and Civil Wars. When he died his oldest child was 99 years and his youngest was only seven. During his full and colorful life, he helped defend the settlement of Harlan against a flaming-arrow Indian attack.

Research done by Darrell Terry. Student at Lees Jr. College. A Morgan Countian from Channel City, Kentucky.


Submitted by Mollie

JOHN GILBERT SHELL son of SAMUEL SHELL and MARY ANN FRY was born September 1822 in Greasy Creek, Leslie County, Kentucky, and died 05 July 1922 in Leslie County, Kentucky. He married (1) ELIZABETH NANTZ 19 October 1844 in Harlan County, Kentucky, daughter of CLEMENT NANTZ and SARAH UNKNOWN. She was born 1825 in Kentucky, and died 13 November 1912 in Hyden, Leslie County, Kentucky. He married (2) ELIZABETH CHAPPELL Bef. 1915.
World’s oldest man — Kentuckian John Shell

Posted by Dave Tabler | July 6, 2011


He never wore shoes much and chewed tobacco inveterately. He grew 3 sets of teeth during his long life, he claimed. And when he died on July 5, 1922, his oldest child was 99 years old and his youngest only seven. Other men in the mountains lived to advanced ages, but none ever came close to John Shell.

John Shell’s father Samuel, a gunsmith of Dutch descent, and his wife Mary Ann Fry Shell, moved according to one account from Pennsylvania through the Shenandoah Valley to settle in East Tennessee, where John was born in 1788 near the Roaring River. Other accounts state that both parents were born in the Carolinas. All their known children were born in Tennessee. John’s mother lived to great age; she is believed to have been 102 years old when she died in 1877.

The Shell family moved on to Kentucky, settling first on Poor Fork and later moving over the mountain to Laurel Creek/Greasy Creek in the part of Harlan that became Leslie County in 1878.

The town was originally called Licking Creek by early hunters because of deer licks there, when it was still part of Virginia. The name was later changed to Laurel Creek, justified by the laurel thickets that abound there. Then one day, John Shell shot and wounded a bear on the mountain at the mouth of Shell’s Fork on the Laurel. The bear ran off the mountain and fell into the “Blue-hole”.

The water was so deep that John could not get his bear out. The bear, in time, began to decompose. Its accumulated fat created a greasy scum that rose to the surface of the water for some time. People downstream then renamed the tributary to suit its aspects. It is called Greasy Creek to this day. Yes, John Shell had quite the reputation as a storyteller.

Harlan became a county when Shell was 12 years old, he stated, and that he had stood on a tree stump and shouted the news to the people. This took place in 1819, which would place his age at the time of his death at 115, not 134 years old. In his early years he helped defend the settlement of Harlan against a flaming-arrow Indian attack.

John recalled the earthquake which rumbled through Kentucky in 1811, saying that it came in December, early in the morning and lasted for two days, shaking the dishes from the table and pictures from the walls. He could call to mind when the stars fell at night long in bunches and one after the other in 1837 or 1838. And John remembered seeing Daniel Boone had killed many bear, deer and wild turkeys.

“Uncle John” Shell, 131 years old, at the Bluegrass Fair, Lexington, in 1919. First time he had seen anything but the backwoods of Leslie County. He died two years later at an actual age of 113.

Only about three or four families lived in the mouth of the Clover Fork in that era, but one of them produced Elizabeth Nance (or Nantz), whom John married in 1844. Their union in turn brought forth Mary Ann, William, Nicholas, Sarah, John, Martha, Elizabeth and Alijah. They are thought to have had twelve children total.

There was the matter of getting a living. Shell was a gunsmith, a miller, a wainwright, and a blacksmith. He made knives, axes, hammers, spinning wheels, looms, and whiskey.

When the Civil War broke out, Shell rode all the way to Virginia to fight for the Confederacy. “When John Shell arrived in Virginia and finally got to see Robert E. Lee to enlist to fight for the Confederacy,” relates Shell descendent Naomi A. Middleton Taylor in a family history, “Robert E. Lee said to him, ‘Sir, I admire you for riding this far. But sir, I cannot take you because of your age.’ John Shell was disappointed. You see, he was 74 years old.”

After the death of his first wife and after he was well over one hundred years old, John married Elizabeth Chappel and had one son by her, Albert James Shell. She died when the child was three years old.

John and Albert went to the Kentucky State Fair in 1919 as guests of the governor and John was displayed as the oldest man in the world. Many folks at the fair doubted his claim of age. He became ‘biling mad,’ stormed home and found a tax receipt which showed he had paid taxes in 1809.

He argued that he must have been at least 21 years old at the time to have done that. Harlan County tax lists, however, show that he first appears in 1844 which would place his birth date at 1822, not 1788.

At the time of his last appearance in the lowlands, ‘Uncle John’ weighed 130 pounds and was 5 feet 5 inches tall. It is said that he was breaking a horse to ride on his last day and that he fell off and hurt his back. He died that night.

Many Shell descendants live in the Harlan area to this day.

OLD JOHN SHELL OF KENTUCKY
by Q, Friday, December 14, 2007, 23:03
I am a believer in the saying: "You can't know where you are going unless you know where you come from".
In these troubled times, FAMILY is all important. Cherish your people, and hold close your memories. FAMILY includes more than just blood relations. Perhaps TRIBE is a better word?
I recall sitting on my Grandfathers lap more than 50 years ago, as he told me of his Uncle, Old John Shell.
Grandfathers name was also John Shell. He firmly believed that Old John lived to be 132 years of age. The family believed that Old John was the maker of Daniel Boones rifle, "Old Betsy".
At any rate, Granddad was proud that we had such a character in the family.
Here are a few of the articles that I have gathered over the years....

JOHN SHELL, RIFLEMAKER.
Died in July, 1922, at his home in Leslie County, Kentucky. Shell claimed to have been born in Tennessee in 1788 and was able to substantiate his story impressively. He paid taxes in 1809, and was too old for service in the Mexican War. He was the son of Samuel Shell, also a riflemaker. Medical men, interested in Shell's advanced age, all declared him well over a hundred years of age. At this age he married for the second time. His faculties were perfect to the end, and he laid plans for his funeral a few days before his death. One of his rifles is shown above.
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The International Herald Tribune
March 9th, 1920
Active Veteran
NEW YORK - John Shell, a mountaineer of Kentucky, had an exciting 133rd birthday yesterday [March 8], according to news despatches. He returned home after visiting a place a few miles away and found that his wife, aged 35, had died in his absence, and that his 6-year-old son was in the hands of his father-in-law, aged 70. Mr. Shell objected to the abduction of the child and seized his flint-lock rifle, which he had made more than 100 years ago, and forced his father-in-law to return the boy to his home.
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KY MOUNTAIN NEWS ,Breathitt County, Kentucky
From The Hazard Herald
Hazard, Kentucky
JOHN SHELL, OF GREASY CREEK, PROBABLY OLDEST MAN IN WORLD
It Is Claimed That He Has Had Three Sets of Teeth
In His 130 Years of Life - Beats Boys In Shooting Matches Now
There is little doubt that John Shell, who has lived a century or more on Greasy creek, not far from the Leslie and Harlan lines, is the oldest man in the civilized world today. He admits being 115 years old, but all his old neighbors say he skips a year or two at a time very frequently in his reckoning. "Uncle Henry" Chappell, himself seventy years old, and one of the foremost citizens of that community, says Mr. Shell was an old man back as far as he can remember, and that he has a tax ticket showing payment of taxes by the old man in 1809, which would make the latter at least 130 or 131 years old. The old man says his mother had a record many years ago, but it was lost uite as many years ago and all accurate account has been lost. The case is to be reported to the National Geographic Society at Washington, D. C., for official investigation.
Mr. Shell's oldest children are now about ninety years old, and he has several great-great grandchildren growing up, or nearly grown. He has about nine children living, and no effort has been made to count up the grand-children, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. The total will probably come close to two hundred. His eyesight is as good today as ever, and his greatest pleasure is to have the boys come in for old-time shooting matches, in which he generally bests the youthful present-day marksmen, most of them a hundred years, or more, younger than he.
He came to the Kentucky Mountains while the section was a real wilderness, following the hunting trails blazed a short time previously by Daniel Boone, and was himself a great hunter and marksman. He attributes his long and vigorous life to his outdoor living, at hunting mostly, and to his never-failing temperate habits. He never drank, ate, or used tobacco to excess at any time in his life. In fact, such indulgencies have, as matter of habit, always been very sparing with him.
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