Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: Biography – Community Families

SHELL FAMILY, 1911 – 1949

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TAGS: Shell Family; Pine Mountain Settlement School; Pine Mountain Valley Community; PMSS Boarding School Students; Shell’s Gap; Civil War; Community Fair Days; land donations; Creech Cottage; Shell Creek; Evelyn K. Wells; Uncle John Shell; John D. Shell; Shell’s Gap; Civil War; Community Fair Days; land donations; Shell Creek; Evelyn K. Wells; John D. Shell; Uncle John Shell; Aunt Sis Shell; Shell Farm; Aunt Sis Shell; Shell Farm;

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Members of the Shell Family lived in the community of Pine Mountain since very early years. According to Cora Richardson, whose great-grandmother was Sara Jane (Shell) Nolan: “The Shell family owned lots of land on Pine Mountain and Shell’s Gap is located on top of Pine Mountain west of PMSS on Little Shepherd Trail.”

Several Shell family members attended Pine Mountain Settlement School in 1939 through 1949 which was during the boarding school years.

Go to http://johnshell.webstarts.com/about.html for a detailed family tree, beginning with Samuel Shell of Leslie County, Kentucky, born in 1782.

For additional assistance in locating histories of families in Eastern Kentucky see:

Harlan County, Kentucky Genealogy – FamilySearch Wiki

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Shell Family: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PMSS COLLECTIONS, 1911-1949

Margaret Motter recorded a story of the atrocities committed by Rebels and local people during the American Civil War. The story was told to Motter by an anonymous person who heard it from his grandfather Nolan and Billy Shell. MARGARET MOTTER WRITINGS “AROUND 1865…”

Emily Shell is listed under “Students” in the May Supplement to CONIFER – 1949.

William Creech wrote to Katherine Pettit on November 30, 1911, that Mr. Shell will help with building a school, probably by leasing land. CREECH LETTERS 1911. On August 5, 1912, Creech wrote that Mr. Shell will give land and timber to the School. CREECH LETTERS 1912.

Evelyn K. Wells wrote home in 1916 about visiting Uncle John Shell “whom we found splitting kindling. He was most entertaining, telling us all about the game one used to be able to catch, and conditions when the country was really wild.” She writes that later, while riding pass Uncle John Shell’s, “I saw a quaint procession passing, through the bottomland. Aunt Sis stalking along, behind her Uncle John with his beard and slouch hat, and after them a boy driving a sledge drawn by a team of oxen. They are getting in their corn because the sheep are eating it….” EVELYN K. WELLS 1916 Excerpts From Letters Home.

John Shell’s bear story is recorded in the March 1927 issue of Pine Mountain Settlement School Notes, page 1. Henry Shell is mentioned on page 2. NOTES – 1927.

In a report on the 1944 COMMUNITY FAIR DAY, Alice Cobb described an exhibit of vintage household items, which included “the bed that Uncle John Shell made for Aunt Sal (Creech) when [she and William] were married, maybe eighty years ago.” Also published on pages 1-3, NOTES – 1944.

Creech Cottage was built by Charles Creech and Ruth (Smith) Creech on land once owned by John Shell. It sits some distance from the main campus along Shell Creek, near the current beaver ponds. According to a DEAR FRIEND letter of November 14, 1914, “We are still borrowing from Uncle John Shell the little grey cottage where we first lived. With two tents for satellites, it makes another home center…” in the beginning days of PMSS.

Mae Shell was among those who graduated from Pine Mountain Settlement School in May 1941. 1941 GRADUATING CLASS.

Evelyn K. Wells, in a narrative on religious life at PMSS, wrote “In 1924 the double wedding of Allene Nolan to Dillard Metcalf and Hazel Nolan to Pearl Shell took place in the Chapel. Mr. Fields of Big Laurel married them, and the Laurel House girls were the ‘waiters.’” WELLS RECORD 18 RELIGIOUS LIFE 1913-1928…”

Evelyn Wells’ 1919 letter home mentions Pearl Shell, who drove his grandparents, Aunt Louize and Uncle John Fiddler Nolan, in a wagon harnessed to mules, to the polls to vote. EVELYN K. WELLS 1919 Excerpts From Letters Home.

Evelyn K. Wells, longtime PMSS secretary, wrote home in 1915 about celebrating Christmas: “…we took the little Christmas trees to Aunt Sis Shell and Aunt Polly Day. We cut the trees along the way and trimmed them by the roadside, and then bore them to the houses…” EVELYN K. WELLS 1915 Excerpts From Letters Home

In 1918, Evelyn Wells wrote to her family, “The other day I called on Aunt Sis Shell. She took me into the bedroom to see her wool, the fleeces of 50 sheep, black, Southdown and white, piled high on three feather beds, we have picked out some fleeces — mine, a lovely Southdown, gray-brown, to be woven into a linsey skirt for next winter.” EVELYN K. WELLS 1918 Excerpts From Letters Home.

Percy MacKaye’s book, Tall Tales of the Kentucky Mountains, includes a story “told in the mountain vernacular by Solomon Shell, a legendary figure.” (MacKaye, a poet and dramatist, visited PMSS in the summer of 1921.) Tall Tales of the Kentucky Mountains is also known as “A Mountain Munchhausen,̓ they were first published in the Century magazine VII, p. 9-185) (July-November, 1924) PERCY MACKAYE.

SHELL FARM FIELD PLAN, 1948, displays a map, hand-drawn by William Hayes, farmer, 1939-1953, depicting the layout of the PMSS farm.

Members of the Shell Family are mentioned in the article “John Shell: Latest Study of Oldest Man…,” such as John Schell and William C. Shell (his eldest son), Allen H. Shell (William’s only child), Polly Huff (John Shell’s daughter), Stewart Shell (son of Allen and grandson of William Shell). Shell had approximately 11 children. LOCAL HISTORY SCRAPBOOK: JOHN SHELL.

Shell Family: IN PINE MOUNTAIN VALLEY COMMUNITY, 1916-1942

TITLE	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	DATE OF INFO	SOURCE OF INFORMATION	NOTES
	Shell	John	1927	COBB STORIES ” “John Shell…”; “Logging in Gabes…”
	Shell	Henry	1927	COBB STORIES ” “John Shell…”
Mr. & Mrs.	Shell	Bradley	1934 – 1942	MAP OF COMMUNITY RESIDENTS 1934 – 1942
Mrs.	Shell	Mary Elizabeth “Aunt Sis” (Nolan)	1916	1916 CHRISTMAS AT PMSS “The Beginning”	Has 3 children at PMSS school.

Shell Family: PMSS WORKERS

NONE FOUND

Shell Family: PMSS BOARDING STUDENTS, 1921-1949

STUDENT NAME	YEARS AT PMSS	GRAD?	SOURCE
Shell, Chester	1929		BOX 33
Shell, Emily	1948-1949		Database
Shell, Mae	1939-1941	yes	Database
Shell, Napoleon	1921		BOX 33
Shell, Tressie	1939-1940		Database

Shell Family: PMSS COMMUNITY SCHOOL STUDENTS

NONE FOUND

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See Also:

ALICE COBB STORIES John Shell in Notes 1927

SHELL FAMILY
JOHN D. SHELL Biography
FARM: Shell Farm Plan, 1948

METCALF FAMILY

NOLAN FAMILY
CALVIN NOLAN Biography [Calvin’s sister Mary Elizabeth Nolan married a Shell.]
ELHANNON MURPHY NOLAN Biography [Spouse: Sarah Jane (Shell) Nolan]

DAY FAMILY
SOL DAY Biography [Sol Day’s mother was Mary (Polly) Ann (Shell) Day.]

Return to GUIDE TO FAMILIES IN THE PINE MOUNTAIN VALLEY COMMUNITY

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Shell Family: GALLERY

Title	Shell Family
Identifier	SHELL FAMILY
Creator	Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY
Alt. Creator	Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;
Subject Keyword	Shell Family ; Shell’s Gap ; Civil War ; Community Fair Days ; land donations ; Creech Cottage ; Shell Creek ; Evelyn K. Wells ; John D. Shell ; Uncle John Shell ; Aunt Sis Shell;  Shell Farm ;
Subject LCSH	Shell Family. Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History. Harlan County (Ky.) — History. Education — Kentucky — Harlan County. Rural schools — Kentucky — History. Families — Kentucky. Schools — Appalachian Region, Southern.
Date	2018-07-22
Publisher	Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY
Contributors	Cora Richardson, Corbin, KY, 2018; a great-great-grandchild of John D. Shell. Peter Rogers, Pine Mountain, KY, 2018.
Type	Collections ; text ; image ;
Format	Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet.
Source	Series 09: Biography – Community Families
Language	English
Relation	Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: Biography – Families
Coverage Temporal	1911 – 1949
Coverage Spatial	Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ;
Rights	Any display, publication, or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor	n/a
Description	Core documents, correspondence, writings, and administrative papers of the Shell Family ; clippings, photographs, books by or about the Shell Family ;
Acquisition	n/d
Citation	“[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.
Processed By	Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;
Last Updated	2018-08-06 aae ;
Bibliography	Sources ”Shell.” PINE MOUNTAIN VALLEY COMMUNITY RESIDENTS LIST 1910s-1940s ; GUIDE TO BOARDING SCHOOL STUDENTS, 1929-1949. Series 09: Biography – Families. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Internet resource. Bibliography Wallace, L. E. T., & Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio). University Library. Department of Archives and Special Collections. (1993). John Shell of Leslie County, Kentucky: (a compilation of papers useful to researching John Shell). Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. BIBLIOGRAPHY HARLAN COUNTY, KENTUCKY. Print.

Return to BIOGRAPHY – A-Z

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