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8 “■fw* IT T T ggF Old Is John? b What * s the Truth about Old Unde John IKT \ Ajfe IWTOI Shell,ofGreasyCreek.Keniucky?lsHe“The W^ z ZLlKlbl\^, '7I oWest Living Man" n ' SKHH orOKiyaYoung’ster X of 95 to WO Summers? kK , \ Iff« i l ■■ - - u F ia Btr« . \ gaLo < • JLI - - ■ FtT “■T ■4l vJfc Ti TF } 1 ' ::; ——• 1 investimtorswort vE:: i i■ ■ age-oid puzzle, “How oid is Ann,” is now put \ wx i ZZZ2ZZZZZZZZZ iSOI - - raMvRMj £0 ~H~ TP * nto e s^e Sy, the question lately agitated in the • 1 I = ISm I I public press as to*'How old is John?” * " LU Maegm» £4/ x v ■ ------- A | Old “Uncle” Johnny Shell, the Kentucky moun- vSvmKhL \ \ \\ X \sUral ut& .Illi;;;”:: - . J'! ’ taineer, who paid a visit to the Kentucky State Fair BWmS \\ vl \\ \ ht----------ifn B |HEB 'Oil::i:2"':**' at Louisville last fall, has become famous over* r-iywMWy Z \ a M A f (WE IZ I - ‘?5 H w night as a result of this controversy. ii’Er *ll laßjb/ 00f' \ 8„. BHf ME"--" -] - - -'; printed his picture, with comments on the question at issue.. ‘ ;j" j 11111011 * ntercst has been shown in the matter, that a X oVHPgEfIk t I \ special investigator was sent to Greasy Creek, Kentucky, by r W ®Jr JgF I mMWTS&> JOHN SHELL AND FAMILY Ifcjs The Chattanooga Medicine Company (whose medicine— l / ' :;> «■■■■■■■■% S a’} Sh A ll, H hi L se n ond wife dtld s-year-oid |Vaj Thedford’s Black-Draught Liver Medicine—had been used h?s n wiic and their tX’daughters. 01 JohnShcll ** Fl jk in the Shell family for many years) in order to get more in *** I g Vy_ Mli " formation on the subject. I 0 I \^kTk*- apyr;sf \- The investigator’s report is given on another column \ I n ' of this page. The results of this investigation seem ta - | j! jWwllr i Ynd,tf show, on the testimony of friends and neighbors, that 1 J- dF I ' John Shell is about 112 years old, that his health is good i JubK | jjsag||g|g - Vi for a man °^ bis a s e » that 1S mind is c ’ earer than r that oJ the avera £ e centenarian. J ”700 / 1 I \VWT?*k A statement from his grandson (A. H. Shell) regard- 1 'g! / j||y Z n z-~ Z ' _, ~"*b <5 VVwT ’ \ ing the use of Thedford’s Black-Draught, by John i fi - k Shell himself, is given at the foot of this \y|j|p^ P3Be ' CAOTQ FlftTinii MH - tlgw Zi?. * | A(j | U VSi Hu i llln *~?s3 > Jo^ n Shell turning a grindstone for his five- )SBil fr=n }J$ y ea r-old son, Albert, to sharpen a jack-knife. | SOHNSHELL is without doubt the fefc\ " , —ffy? —tzteEJ? most remarkable centenarian 1 6UNDERWOOD,itY|| 0 have seen, and he is about the fef ’ MjMßw. 7 jWBgT ig l tl ? 1 J?, ave met >” sa y s our investigator. “His memory is won- B I derful. The nearest that he and his family can come to his age ■ ■ ; '■-') W-W is 112 years. His family has hever claimed him to be over that age. ttg The tax records that were burned in the court house at Harlan gave Efl t the date of his birth, as near as they could make it out, as September, 1808. B I / 2*O ? /* He also counts from the age of his first wife, who died at the age of 107. 1H I HlK*wSr “John Shell cannot read or write,but for many years he was an Bl I "f- expert maker of flint Jock rifles. John Shell rifles, marked with his private Bit i H ? XS' >1 fcfe mark just behind the lock, are prized by collectors. BB I - M S tlife. “In order to get a consensus of opinion as to his probable age, I uB \ JSTw ff- thought it best to secure statements and affidavits from members of the family Bfl \ IIIS 11 and neighbors, who have kqpwn him for many years. I therefore secured WU\ ; '‘: M W?> such statements from Judge A. B. Cornett, T. H. Howard, attorney-at-law, B1 L "" • ."' '" 1 "” and W. B. Kelly, ex-United States Marshal, and others. These are among the >IV C°Py n tf w UNDERWOOD & UNOLRwOOD- New Yonv most substantial and reliable men of Kentucky.’* ° W%- ‘ r’//jßp4-» V rm Extracts from their statements are given below. W%\ \9 K' Viift? Over 100, Says W. B. Kelly WIX (Sf) '« WtHlk.lffib I have known "Uncle” Johnny Shell for years, in fact, stayed with him a good deal, W\\ Xy XiX W T C? fL :: ::: -P~ K , ~ ImwtfSgl H: £: j, about 16 years ago. From the age Mr. Shell claimed to be, when I stayed with him and the TlV\ i JI U WeV ::::: ‘ ■• * y time that has elapsed since, I would judge him to be a good deal over 100 years old Tl %\ U I - ::::: Z:: t::: p. W.B.KELLY, W%\ m /JS? wft::::::K «•_ -h. j. Ex-United States Marshal. li —‘W XZ @L AZ K* ■' ■• 4y . rfn. Subscribed and sworn to before me this April 24th, 1920. Mill /f ': f : ±'":" ~i + :::::: 4 IT* E. F. BOGGEN, Notary Public, Harlan Co., Ky. 'ik '‘ " : +::::::: K. Shell Family Record Says 112 JShk •• • : W. J°7 Flßk My Aunt. Mrs. Martha Garrison, says that the date in her Bible, containing grandpa’s 3§£S i :::: iMl X Ut- age, September 15, 1808. I have every reason to beheve that she speaks the troth. My ■■’ ■±V 1 'ft - :: k father, W. C. Shell, says this is the truth so far as he has ever known; also my uncle, RlW ::: i d\ 1 j /.::”li T* AB. Shell. » 7 T7l RTIwl - * \ I \Wwij- * <>r J/ fl IX A H shell. ap^H-bF^rl * 1 it li f Jl Subscribed and sworn to before 26th day of April, 1920. * G ’ W* HOWARD, County Court Clerk. a \:::::::: i: At Least 110, Says T. S. Ward z ■■:::::!: » I will be JI years old the 10th of July, 1920. I was bom and raised in Harlan County. ' ±'' 1 Ketrtucty, In 18631 met Johnny Shell, who was called “Uncle Johnny” then. I was dodc- X < WR ! i!!!: ’:: w Tt -+-■ + ■ tng the Confederate army and met “Uncle Johnny”. He was too old then for service in the X OLD “UNCLE” JOHN SHELL ± # :: I Civil war. I am satisfied he is at least 110 years old, as he is a much older man than lam. V \ Most every one in Harlan County knows me and will take my wordjor anything I say. 1 t- 1 A Rpmarkahlp ftlrt would not make a statement unless 1 believed it to be true. ' 8 y f - x A nemarKaDie Ulu Mountaineer, rgyt T+ - ■ T + , T. s. ward. f ? ?2Srsf Now Living at Greasy Creek, Kentucky. Wt. : - - u Subscribed and sworn *to before me, this 23rd day of Anrir 1920 F ,: . kF--- ';'-B n . .. ~ . . . ~ , t .... SW+i : m ncuiTUM* tt . z, . M. G. SMITH, Notary Public, Harlan Co., Ky. '<*' / does not disclose any reliable records going back so far. W- ~ I>. '' Attorney Howard Says Over 100 y-fiSfry- 1 mi**»wwii munvn^i | I « In different conversations with John Shell, he often told about coming to Kentucky with Hi <-.-'*.V.’: , TT - •■ -4- - - -*•.' »■ r M- ■ t - V eummer of 1816 and that they camped where the town of Harlan, Ky., is now looted andttS at that time ht was n U ■ • J . . -U-* 1 WW ± ■ ■ 1 years old. In abstracting old land papers I found one where an entry was made by S. Shell (John’s father) in the J ‘ ?7“ ■ ‘ v: JT |« a- -fc - - If |-f, H 2 Z’ I year 1816. in the neighborhood where he now lives. 1 have every reason to believe John Shell is a good deallover 100 4- -| ~H~r "H I | : i ct. — j . . , ... „. . ..T. H. HOWARD, Attorney at Law. Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 23rd day of April. 1920. 'LI 11 V inV'ahl hliMi i ih .. M. Q. SMITH, Notary Public, Harlan Co., Ky, BBj Over 100 and an Honest Man R *** A wt I \ Ststomont bv John ShoO s Brondson and talked to me as intelligently as I ever heard him. I have always found John SheU ati VIUiUHIUIII WI W Vlll ß VIIVIBW WUIBUvUII honest man. gty * K^^raaßßßwwimwP*nfPwx y '**^? ; ' rA V '* Judge Cornett Says All of 108 E AH. Shell, aged of Chappell, Kentucky; grandson of John Shell, - ft’&’Sl'Sitl - whose P’ cture 1S shown in the B rou P at tO P of th!S page,authorized publication W>jESBg/ (Judge) A. B. CORNETT. Harlan. Ky. g <>f the following Statement: W>fr ‘ ; '' ' “Older Than My Mother, 104** E < <M „ u V * ru< t_ I have known "unde john W ” shell aii my life, iam almost 68. iwduid place I! grandfather has lived to a remarkable age. When a young man, he Iml i his age at 106. Johnny Shell was older than my mother, and she would have beA 104, had she aS . ... . uved td now. F . g. lewis g took very little medicine. Os late years he has needed medicine and my wife In justice to John Shell and his family, it should be said B as 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 ® ~ i , r KT ,TJ ™ that was given in some of the reports published in the daily fl kee P “ 1S Ilver ac hng, so she sends to the store for g? press. A story of the kind grows in the telling, and the desire S’ ' • » ' E xJ® for something startling to make good reading is no doubt the | OT A TkTO A TTZWTim F - Wfe.X ca S?Z% t the h u e in x te^ s !?r n T g f l ct i on (founded on fact) that has been g 1H JBl JLo? IMW OHL A UIl" UKA U oil 1 /«*, WX published about old Uncle Johnny Shell. S’ wWk>X Facts, however, in many cases, are just as interesting as | and makes him a tea from that and it keeps him in splendid shape.” B Wfefr fiction, and we have endeavored in this article to give the facts I ' H - as we have been able to find them. ffl g g *’ f , THE CHATTANOOGA MEDICINE co. THE ATLANTA TRI-WEEKLY JOURNAL. SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1920.