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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1920)
E BEE: OMAHA. THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1920 14 t mTril i I : u "Htf w If f - '';! si J; r. u ; v : 1LMM X' FACTS vs. FICTI What is the Truth about Old Uncle John Shell.of Creasy Creek , Kentucky ? Is He "The il Of cleat' Living Man orOnlyaYounster of 95 to 100 Summers? mm John Shell turning a grindstone for his five-year-old son, Albert, to sharpen a jack-knife. Copynghr.UNDERWQOD 6 UNDERWOOD, ltY IOHN SHELL is without doubt tnc 1 most remarkable centenarian 1 J have seen, and he is about the 1 eighth I have met." savs our invesriVafrir "His mrmnrv is won derful. The nearest that he and his familv can come to his ape 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 could make it out, as September, 1808. ne aiso counts irom the age or his tirst 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, 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 ana reliable men ot 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 a good deal, about 16 years ago. From the age Mr. Shell claimed to be, when 1 stayed with him, and the time that has elapsed since, 1 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 24th, 1920. E. F. BOQGEN, Notary Public, Harlan Co., 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, 1S0S. 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 years old the 10th of July, 1920. I was born and raised in Harlan County, Kentucky, In 1863 1 met Johnny Shell, who was called "Uncle Johnny" then, 1 was dodg ing 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 1 believed it to be true. T. S. WARD. Subscribed and sworn.to before me, this 23rd day of April, 1920. M. G. SMITH, Notary Public, Harlan Co., Ky. Attorney Howard Says Over 100 In different com'ersations with John Shell, he often told about coming to Kentucky with his father in the Qremerof 1816. and that they camped where the town of Harlan, Ky., is now located, and that at that lime he was 12 jears 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. 1 have every reason to believe John Shell is a good deal over 100 years oia. T. II. HOWARD. Attorney at Law, Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 23rd day of April, 1920. M. a SMITH, Notary Public Harlan Co., Ky. ) 1 w im a immn to sit 11 gji&wk iKf 1 mmm ii Arm? I -Jl A Remarkable Old Mountaineer. miL :S:: AlfM? m : : I) i4 Now living at Greasy Creek, Kentucky. Im. BftjM P'lI k g:'vi : Was thought by some to be 131 years old, but a full Investigation piW-5feXt JpsWJi5k T 'i.' 54 'i INVESTIGATORS REPORT JOHN SHELL AND FAMILY John Shellhis second wife and 5-year-old son. Also A. H. Shell, grandson of John Shell. Jus wile and their two daughters. Ctfpynght JtlDfRWOO) . Vo'li HE 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 moun taineer, 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 York Herald", the "Literary Digest", and other periodicals of national circulation, have printed his picture, with comments on the question at 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 in formation on the subject. The investigator's report is given on another colurftm of this page. The results of this investigation seem to show, on the testimony of friends and neighbors, thai John Shell is about 112 years 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) regard ing the use of Thedford's Black-Draught, by John Shell himself, is given at the foot of this? page. The beneath picture shows Uncle John Shell's home at Greasy Creek, Kentucky, where he has lived for 55 years. His first wiie died here, at the ase ol 107 years. L Copynjhl (JflDf fiWOOO 6 uNOUwOOO- New Yom, Over 100 and an Honest Man i have known Johnny Shell for about 50 years. I have sold him goods for 40 years. W. B. Kelly told of a man Smith. He and Shell grew up together, about the same ape. It Smith had lived he would be a little over a hundred now. Richard Wilson, who was raised I few miles from Shell, says Shell has turned 100. I talked to Shell last year. He knew me and talked to me as intelligently as I ever heard him. I have always found John Shell an bonest man. S. C HOWARD. Judge Cornett Says All of 108 1 have known "Uncle Johnny" Shell for 30 or more years. I have known of him as in old, old man. From all reports from the few who lived here when he said he came here at the age of about 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 lum. (Judge) A. B. CORNETT. Harlan. Ky. "Older Than My Mother, 104" ! have known "Uncle Johnny" Shell all my life. I am almost 68. I would place his age at 108. Johnny Shell was older than my mother, and she would have been 104. had she lived tiU now F. a 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 Jor 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 cs we have been able to find them. Statement by John Shell's Grandson A. H. Shell, aged 45, of Chappell, Kentucky, grandson of John Shell, whose 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 ind makes him a tea from that and it keeps him in splendid shape." L.A.Q THE CHATTANOOGA MEDICINE CO. an: