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8 fev Old Is John? What isthe Truth about Old Unde John IBmw \ v TW Shell,ofGreasyCreek.Kentuclw?lslle"Tlie vl HESBBi Man” 0 orOnly X SWBH 0f951® 100 Summers? Jssk \lli>z W 1 /PM VJW if W to I r-Ti rr» iS-l+d- I - m □L ”-wwlm Ai investigators report W. AWfehMß \ X 4? «Q Ei WjBpBMi at!' \\ il’ i7t •fin H XxfnTra nnT I a n j &» ill" IV ‘ 1 age-old puzzle, “How old is Ann/* is now put \ 1 ;~tffi MT ~ y /Saiffi @B M PTiH FtF i 'TP I into the shade by the question lately agitated in the j I K XK ZZZZZZZZZ22Z" Blw_* Hh Wmiwt I Sfflr' T""1 I I public press as to “How old is John?” x \ ewk iwHyfffiiWl hMbilWi ------ ±LI | A S Old “Uncle” Johnny Shell, the Kentucky moun- - - I ■" taineer, who paid a visit to the Kentucky State Fair \\ M v< \Nr dOu / BSHtvfBI 1 -,fc W+ -- - - Zlll - S at uisville last fall > has become famous over- \i-.? z w '\ v>s -- =-- - - Ugg f tq rferr —~ a maffiß night as a result of this controversy. / apffii VI M \ wr --' ---'-- -IM I allll g Such papers as the “New York Herald”, the “Literary J? t lOi 1/ ’§ h1 I SBeivk ißßflaiHf Digest”, and other periodicals of national circulation, have x UV' \ JmK| rJv Ja. ffprinted his picture, with comments on the question at issue. 1 ! I ii I $° * nterest has been shown in the matter, that a j* vtF * B iIV I special investigator was sent to Greasy Creek, Kentucky, by ,t . r T i~ JOHN SHELL AND FAMTT.V rejk The Chattanooga Medicine Company (whose medicine— \.. £ g John Shen his second wife and 5-ycar-oid Thedford’s Black-Draught Liver Medicine—had been used q|M|F t 2F his wife *” d d ’ cir " l ™° Os iohn Tj t in the Shell family for many years) in order to get more in- ** | j 1 l *Oflnar‘~~ formation on the subject. - I *-* The investigator’s report is given on another column \ i lOIr \/^^^ f UiiD^RV’OO 9 ' of this page. The results of this investigation seem to I i ; x v vo r <« show, oh the testimony of friends and neighbors, that s ■’• ,df John Shell is about 112 years old, that his health is good I j \>kW'K for a man of his age, and that his mind is clearer than that of the average centenarian. - ) r |i ; ~~ZL. — "■■jH tEu ‘4- ing the use of Thedford’s Black-Draught, by John 1 R V*> W■- -< Shell himself, is given at the foot of this 1 YvrW^ y • \1 la TT TF . The beneath picture shows Uncle John Shell’s !■"■ tfWiTV Bn|fMnn/*»a S J IMMMIIin IVA «[ ILL t nome at Greasy Creek. Kentucky, where he has / LnOTv F Boi*li UlHßfi I — <■■ * M-MLIjfF lived forss years. His fust wife died here, at the / lAulv VS« 0 80 g ItlN ** =! SE3L Jo hn Shell turning a grindstone for his five- Ji ° _ 18 x BW [ itOHN SHELL is without doubt the T "T£t & —lllli|i|iM/ ''' I Tj most remarkable centenarian 1 V—J CopyrighI,UNGERWOOD& UNDERWOOD, RYo x\- " | have seen, and he is about the g f L y Wr I v | eighth I have met,” says our investigator. “His memory is won- ft K / 7-- 10 derful. The nearest that he and his family can come to his age B is 112 years. His family has never claimed him to be over that age. S ! •' The tax records that were burned in the court house at Harlan gave K < /■■ >. W> the date of his birth, as near as they could make it out, as September, 1808. KS • £ W« / 7 He also counts from the age of his first wife, who died at the age of 107. g g • fv'' “John Shell cannot read or write, but for many years he was an 8.l L expert maker of flint-lock rifles. John Shell rifles, marked with his private B 1 <*’ II Wh mark just behind the lock, are prized by collectors. Br s / ®S'"'' .•■/ : - : srw.-.- “In order to get a consensus of opinion as to his probable age, 1 lel WWI 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 V \ /W n W Wil fear such statements from Judge A. B. Cornett, T. H. Howard, attorney-at-law, U " ' I'. and W. B. Kelly, ex-United States Marshal, and others. These are among the ILVA ■ Copyright UNDfRwQOO 6 UNOLRwOOD- New Yom most substantial and reliable men of Kentucky.” %t\ V WW w *rm Extracts from their statements are given below. f~~ Th K' eHH! h Over 100, Says W. B. Kelly %W\ $> \/ =bk *« I have known “Uncle” Johnny Shell for years, in fact, stayed with him a rood deal, V’A.\ 111 A C» yBJ r :U"i» about 16 years ago. From the age Mr. Shell claimed to be, when I stayed with him, and the fe,%\ Ji U Mg. :::: ’ ifflP'l ■■+♦■ -■■ tv time that has elapsed since, I would judge him to be a good deal over 100 years old W%\ ' I **e,ct ’ : " : v Z" t-fP' w. B. kelly. 4i II ' Subscribed and sworn to before me this April 24th, 1920. Mill- "' XN - /J x»g -■X:X: ■ - J.. ®:::::::x *nr* E. F. BOGGEN, Notary Public, Harlan Co., Ky. ZZl|||k Hm ,io J imlL -■ ■ |i' ' :: S'- ----■ ZZ Z i I X. Shell Family Record Says 112 WXk x / My Aunt, Mrs. Martha Garrison, says that the date in her Bible, containing grandna’s I :::: L age, was September !S, ISOB. I have every reason to believe that she speaks the tnith. My > “51 l^»E ::;: Mik father, W. C. Shell, says this is the truth so far as he has ever known; also my uncle, A. B. Shell. ~*Sagfc ’*w<s. - ; .Zr-7' ? '' Tn~l~ j! fl \ I WStt?/ ” _Zi j/ /7 x o _ J ~ a. H. shell. f®W“S ftl K SI M| #/Z^4 :::: :::K Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of April, 1920. _r - ..I M? I \ | w fj> G. W. HOWARD, County Court Clerk. itk » I iH ~ ~T' At Least 110, Says T. S. Ward feu t: Sl : I will be 81 years old the 10th of July, 1920. I was born and raised in Harlan Countv V-n. ■» M.~zHI Kentucky, In 18631 met Johnny Shell, who was called “Uncle Johnny” then. Iwasdodg- - X 'W* ? +--tFt ing the Confederate army and met “Uncle Johnny”. He was too old then for service in the X OLD 6< UNCLE S ’ JOHN SHELL Z2Z ZZ: Z: C Z W : 1 : Civil war. lam satisfied he is at least 110 years old, as he is a much older man than I am. 1 wxflV/XtAj + ; ; ; + : Most everyone in Harlan County knows me and will take my wordj for anything 1 say. I | A A Remarkable Giri Mnnntaiiuw xZ|: ZZZZ ZZ Z: ZZ: ::1: would not make a statement unless 1 believed it to be true. st b 21 JxcmdrKdDie Via lYiOuniailieer* \Z ZZ Z: S»/C x 4 ■ „ . T. s. ward. f• r Now Living at Greasy Creek, Kentucky. ;, %L T ■ ■ 1 ■r■ ■ ■ V Subscribed and sworn-to before me, this 23rd day of AoriL'l92o. B' : -- ':■! u. u . t. .0. ~ . . c ~. .. .. : ~ n CUIT ,, M. G. SMITH, Notary Public, Harlan Co., Ky. B'-t .•«$• 1 does not disclose any reliable records going back so far. ® Attorney Howard Says Over 100 n ■«r....«n .nn., In different conversations with John Shell, he often told about coming to Kentucky with his father tn fta» r . ~~FFF HFF “tT **Hz TTMCggra* 5 : summer of 1,816. and that they camped where thp town of Harlan. Ky.. is now located, and tliit at that time he was 12 M+ 4-f - 44- -* t "WMSi-VX' '- years old.. In abstracting old land papers I found one where an entry was made by S. Shell (John’s father) in sh. -■ ••#•• •. ••" • ••• J-£ - -+- 4+r “"T . ” “ yeaMßl6^ ia the neighborhood where he now lives. 1 have every reason to believe John Shell is a good deallover 100 4 | ■l-f- 44- ~~ Tl *TH a. u _iv a j. . m-. . .. T. H. Howard, Att6rney at Law. EMM 1 ' Subscribed and sworn to before me. this 23rd day of April. 192 Q. Kjg—iMWMIMUIH mfllfil Mill 1 M it s^mil^a«MßßCglLaEajsßß»Sa^ffl*£^ , a^W>^<agM»»ra^jEM^^?s^g«iKMw^^tS^4^Ea6g|a^MKWSMw^gga^g^gi2%ba&\g > AL tt SMITH. Notary Public, Harlan Co.. Ky. H I 1 ' Over 100 and an Honest Man 8 , 4 »rI 1 \t9tomDnt hv inhn Qholr q fironrionn WBWml and W toked to°meas tatS«enUy l asYe^rhear^hirL U T e hav 0 e S X l ays S found‘john l Shtil“n H Vld lUII &WB I I Oj vUllll VIiSUII O OlMllOvOaa honest man. ||| * ' V;njv ’s• Judge Cornett Says All of 108 H A. H. Shell, aged of Chappell, Kentucky, grandson of John Shell, I whose pieture 1S shown 10 the grou P at top of thls pagerAuthonzed publication Uudge) A. B. CORNETT. Harlan. Ky. || <>f the following Statement.* I tew taoTSmnn" s^?L?J?mL er r Ms age at Itt>. Johnny Shell was older than my mother, and she would have been 104, had she Es . , ~.., ~. HT* %a«A t Cved tin now. f. g. lewis. N took very little medicine. Os late years he has needed medicine and my wife HvKrfe In justice to John Shell and his family, it should be said fl has looked after it for him. . . He needed something as a laxative and to that neither he nor they have ever claimed the extreme old age ffl i u- r t_ cx „ . r that was given in some of the reports published in the daily S kee P hls llver a chng, so she sends to the store for g press. A story of the kind grows in the telling, and the desire n ejt something startling to make good reading is no doubt the H r T , 'ET , S?T^ , DT A Z’lF A TT/’I z- cause for the interesting fiction (founded on fact) that has been 11 HJul/J? WIUJ & JL tsx\ /4> 'wlkX published about old Uncle” Johnny Shell. || || T'-h . Facts, however, in many cases, are just as interesting as H and makes him a tea from that and it keeps him in splendid shape.” S fiction, and we have endeavored in this article to give the facts H * . r r r H - as we have been able to find them. O p L A- 9 f THE CHAIT'ANOOGA MEDICINE CO. ' --- GLxAja AaIjAI. X.A li<l- »• luxa-»XJX L VJXJ»Z*-.X _ , <ZC)JUX G, 1,/C.O.