The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-03-02
HISTORY OF THE SHEELY'S.
An Historic Family With Noble Ancestry
and Worthy Descendants.

| HISTORY OF THE SHEELY'S.
| An Historic Family With Noble Ancestry
and Worthy Descendants.
Written for The Herald and News. ]
LITTLE MOUNTAIN, February 22.-In
our last we promised to give brief
sketch of the Sheelys. John Windall
Sheely was the first Sheely that came
from the old country to this country.
A man by the name Of John Adam
l Epting brought over small colony
from the city of Heidelburg, consisting
of Sheely, Leitzsey, Settler, Cromer
and Myer in the year 1853. They were
all Lutherans, and were among the
founders of the present st. Johns
church. John Windell Sheely married
Miss Epting, daughter of John Adam
Epting, the pioneer of the colony, in
in the year ITO, and settled near
where W. c. Sheely now lives. The
fruits of this happy union were u sons
and daughter. have been able to
learn the names of but eight of these
sons, viz: Windell, William, Adam,
John, Henry, Matthias, David and An
drew. Of these William, Windell and
David married Wertses, Andrew mar
ried Miss Sawyer, and the daughter
married Mr.. Quattlebaum, who the
other sons married, Gf they ever mar
ried) 1 am unable to find out. Mr..
Sheely, the pioneer of the Sheelys, died
in the year 1914, and was buried near
the place where he first settled. He
lived to see all his sons grown up and
they were all strong, robust men. lam
informed they stood six feet, and the
least one weighed It's lbs, and in those
days when men defended their princi-
Piles, honor and integrity with the
weapons which nature gave them,
when the rights of one of their number
were infringed upon, the other eleven
came to his assistance. And now to
undertake to give sketch of the Off
spring of these twelve sons would be a
herculean task, would require one to
travel las my friend John D. says)
from the Atlantic to the Mississippi.
Mr.. Sheely owned all the lands in and
around Little Mountain at that time
and settled not few Of his children on
them, hence this is the mecca Of Sheely-
ism. The writer has often visited the
spot where the first house in this COM
munity was built by Mr.. Sheely, and
has drunk water from the first spring
that was used by white man, and,
strange to say, a portion of the gum
that was placed in the spring by Mr..
Sheely 122 years ago is still to be found
in the spring, within few hundred
yards Of the residence of VIC. Shealy.
The favorite occupation of the Sheelys
seems to have been, and is yet, tilling
the soil-attending to their own busi-
ness and letting others alone-hence
their success in life. Furthermore, I
have never heard of a Sheely being
mixed up in politics. Happy people
are they who are willing to earn their
bread by dint of hard labor.
Unlike many of the present day who
are promising something great to allie
viate the suffering of poor fallen hu-
manity in order that they themselves
may bask in the sunshine of love.
How much wiser is he who keeps out
of this whirlpool, hot oven of excite
nent, content with an honest calling
and reasonable gains. There are two
or three of the name, Lutheran preach
ers, and one in the community a mer-
chant, and last but not least our friend
Gus, the teacher, who is man OF no
small dimensions mentally, with an
overfowing heart, but small in stature.
While this portion of Newberry
County before, and even after the war,
was regarded as the poor portion of
the county, it has been made to BIOS
som and bloom like the rose, and is
now regarded as the most independent
portion. 1t was brought about by dint
of hard labor. There are Sheelys who
started in the world at the close of the
war penniless, whose names to-day are
regarded synonym of money, and We
think, could the pioneer Sheely arise
from his last resting place, and from
the tops of the surrounding hills over
which he and his sons so often roamed
in pursuit of the deer and other game
now extinct, he would exclaim, 90
tempora, O mores." What change has
been wrought.
Time, the fell destroyer, made many
changes in l29 years. The forests have
been felled, and the waste places filled.
Generations have been born, reared
and died, leaving t. cir Footprints on
the sands of time,n and while no mar
BILE shaft looms up to mark their last
resting place, yet they have fought the
fight, and their offspring have caught
the inspiration and are still bustling
onward, endeavcring to keep pace with
the age, rearing and educating their
children. While they are having the
mind cultivated they do not allow their
muscles to grow lax, believing if they
(their children) should he as fortunate
or unfortunate as not to have to labor
for support, it will do them no harm
to learn them to work. Such, We think,