Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-21
OLDEST MAN Alive
Distinction Belongs to John She'll, Of
KeNtuCkey.
One HUNDRED and THlRTY.ONE

Teeth.
Considering the rate of speed at
which life is lived today, however, the
patriarch didn't have so, much on
John Shell of Greasy Creek, near Hy-
den, Leslie County, Kentucky, who,
we are told, has just celebrated his
one hundred and thirty-first birthday.
At this writing Shell enjoys the dis
tinction of being the oldest human be-
ing in the world.
He was born in 17SS and first mar
ried at the age of 10, and lived with
his first wife more than 80 years. He
lived rs years in one house. He is the
father of 20 children, the Oldest now
living being more than 30 years old.
He has several great great-great-
grandchildren. He has nine children
living, and there is no definite record
of his grandchildren, great -grandchil-
dren and other descendants, although
the total it is said, will reach nearly
two hundred.
six years ago he married again at
the age Of 125. BY his second wife
he has one child, a boy, now five
years old. He was 73 years old when
the Civil War began. He was born
near Knoxville, Tennv IL years after
the battle OF Bunker Hill, and was
full grown when the War Of 1912 be-
gan He has seen the United States
develop from a small nation to
world power.
He bears his age well. His mind
is clear and his oversight is far better
than that Of many men still in their
youth"
And the New York Tribune furnish
es the following additional facts:
He came to Kentucky when this
section was a wilderness, following
the hunting trails blSzed only a few
years previously by Daniel Boone
and Shell himself, was a noted hum
ter and pioneer.
About forty years ago, it is claim
ed, his first two sets Of teeth had
come. and gone and then third set
mado it's appearance. After n few
years these teeth all decayed, but in
later years a fourth lot has made its
appearance, and. most of these are
on duty now. Mr.. Shell is described
as light, wiry build, in full possession
Of all his faculties, and when he has
occasion to do so ne mounts his horse
and rides twenty miles into Hyden
and back home the same day, without
visible evidence of distress.
"Mr. Shell helped clear eastern
Kentucky from Indians, there still
having been a few nomadie bands
when he arrived, and he was sprobab-
ly the first white man to settle in Les
lie county. He lives near the home
he picked out over one hundred years
ago"
On his recent visit to Lexington Mr..
Shell made little speech before the
Board Of Commerce. Afterwards the
new spaper men interviewed him. The
substance of his remarks is set out in
the Ledger as follows:
ut must have been hard times that
have kept me alive; l don't know of
anything else 1t could have been"
said Mr.. Shell. 81 have taken it tough
and rough. l am an old hunter. |
hunted the coon and the deer. l took
the weather as.it came. Many nights
I have lain out. Sometimes the snow
has covered me when l got up. There
were no roads even in those days. We
took things as they came. Hard times
surely are what have made me live so
long"
Those who gathered about the chair
of the oldest man in the world asked
him questions at pauses.
my children? Why, the oldest is
90 and the youngest going on 5. Use
tobacco? Yes, / took a chew once.
Ny father said it would make per-
son drunk. My brother and l wanted
to see which of us could stand it best.
After we spit it out 1 went to the ta-
BILE and ate a piece Of bread. He
couldn't even go to the table. I never
used it since.
do drink? Yes, whenever I get
it.
"One reason l have lived so long
may be because l have worked so
hard. / have never stunned work
and have never tried TO save myself.
have had to work mighty hard. l
have had a heap OF good times and
heap If bad times. When l was IS
years old, think was in my prime.
1 certainly was as good as l ever was.
I lived with my first wife so or 90
years-as near as l come to it.
How many deer did I ever kill? |
couldn't tell l killed ~ one winter
and summer. That's the only time
ever took account Of it. And I killed
them with a ntntlOck rife.
~ had a shooting match two or
three months ago. l beat all that
were shooting against me. | can still
kill n squirrel. The first vote l cast
for q president was for Polk"
Mr.. Shell received scores of pres
ents for his birthday He talked with
force and diStirCtiYcncSS which great