Kentucky’s Most Notorious Gunsmith, John Shell of Leslie County ©

Foreword: Several of Kentucky’s better gunmakers were known beyond Kentucky for their work. Benjamin Mills of Harrodsburg and Balthasar Auer of Louisville were known for superb target rifles, Jacob Rizer and David Weller of Bardstown for highly decorated rifles, and the Settles of Barren and Green Counties for durable, accurate hunting rifles. But Kentucky’s best known gunmaker was none of those. Instead, it was John Shell, a backwoods gunsmith from Kentucky’s Appalachian hill county. He made plainly stocked rifles that functioned well but never won a beauty contest. How did an illiterate, part-time gunsmith become Kentucky’s best known gunmaker? His notoriety came from claiming to be the oldest living man in the world.    

Figure No.1: Shell’s best-known gun is a long barreled, full-stocked rifle made in typical mountain rifle style. Stocking is simple, mountings are hand-forged iron, and no decorative elements were used… no inlays, molding lines, or decorative carving. The barrel shows hammer marks from forging and has a slight swell or “swamp” toward the muzzle. Barrel: 46-5/16 inches with .36 caliber bore. Author’s collection, gun photos by J. Jaeger.

John Shell: Shell was born in Warren County, Tennessee, in 1821 or 1822 to parents Samuel and Mary Froy Shell. In the late 1820s the family moved north to Kentucky and settled at Poor Fork in Harlan County. The father Samuel was a skilled gunsmith, millwright, and mechanic and built the first water-powered mill in Harlan County. John worked with his father and learned the trades until 1843 when he began working independently. He then married Elizabeth “Betsey” Nance in 1844 and moved off his father’s homestead to a place “over the mountain” on Little Laurel Creek near Greasy Creek where he and Betsey raised their family. Over the years, Shell was a “scratch” or dirt farmer, miller, gunsmith, blacksmith, millwright, herb and honey gatherer, wood bowl & plate turner, whiskey maker, and market hunter/trapper… plus a myriad of other odd jobs. His gunsmithing was sporadic, done when a need arose in the thinly populated backwoods of Harlan County. Eventually his area of Harlan County broke off to become part of the newly formed Leslie County, where he later gained his notoriety.

Figure No.2: John Shell’s farm in Leslie County, Kentucky, around 1900. Shell owned 300 acres of mostly hilly land of little value, leaving only a few acres that he could farm. His blacksmith shop was under a rock overhang on the hillside above the house. Photo courtesy Leslie County Library.

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Figure No.3: Shell is standing on his front porch around 1920 when he was a national celebrity for claiming to be over 130 years old. His receding hair, gaunt face, and thin stature supported the claim. Photo courtesy Leslie County Library.

Shell’s Rifles: Shell’s surviving rifles are all 1850s and later percussion guns. The author has seen four Shell rifles, three iron-mounted with walnut full-stocks signed “J S” and a later half-stocked gun with brass mounts signed “J Shell.” His initials and name were cut into the barrel iron in block letters showing limited engraving skills. Shell’s best-known rifle is illustrated in Figure No.1 above and Figures No.2 and No.3 below. It is stocked in walnut with iron mountings, the butt plate is attached with nails, and the guard is attached with screws. A hand-forged barrel shows many hammer marks, and two screws through the barrel’s tang attach its breech end to the stock without a tang bolt. The unmarked percussion lock also appears to be made by Shell. The rifle’s most important detail is its exceptional barrel inscription in Figure No.6 that adds historical context to the gun: “No * 35 * 1870 * JS * $16.” The inscription describes the rifle as the 35th gun made by John Shell in 1870 with a price of $16. If Shell began working as a gunsmith about 1843, then he averaged less than one and a half guns a year between 1843 and 1870, a low rate indicating a part-time gunmaker who spent most of his time running a grist mill and doing blacksmithing, woodworking, and repair jobs.

Figure No. 4: A front view of Shell’s best-known rifle shows its simple, two-piece iron guard and iron butt plate, both hand-forged by Shell. The percussion lock also appears handmade by Shell.

Figure No.5: The back of Shell’s rifle exudes simplicity with its lack of a cheekpiece and no washer under the lock bolt. The long tang has two screws with visible heads, but oddly there is no tang bolt.

Figure No.6: The barrel inscription on Shell’s rifle is worn but readable as: “No 35 * 1870 * J S * $16 ***. Shell was illiterate according to census data, but his several known barrel signatures/inscriptions indicate a cursory knowledge of letters and numbers. The lengthy inscription, a rare detail on early rifles, suggests full-stocked rifles were still preferred in southeastern Kentucky as late as 1870. The price of $16 seems a little optimistic in a cash poor, backwoods area of Kentucky where barter was the usual method of payment; it may reflect the gunsmith’s pride more than the actual price.

Local Celebrity: Late in life Shell began exaggerating how old he was and telling yarns about his early frontier days with Daniel Boone, Indian encounters, the 1811-1812 Madrid earthquakes, and similar events, none of which was true. He was a born storyteller and enjoyed captivating his friends and local audiences… most of whom realized he was spinning yarns. In 1918 two local promoters took notice of his yarns and how worn and old Shell looked at five foot five inches tall and 130 pounds with scraggly beard and wrinkled skin. Shell’s declining mental capacity let the promoters convince him that he was really 130 years old and the oldest living man in the Kentucky. With promises of “lots of money” he agreed to let them exhibit him at county and state fairs in Kentucky and Tennessee, where fairgoers would pay money to see the world’s oldest living man and listen to him spin yarns about his early days a hundred years before. Shell was being used by the promoters, but he also enjoyed the publicity and fame that came with it, exciting trips outside the backwoods that had been his home for years, and new clothes and foods. The “root” of the masquerade was an old tax bill Shell had. The promoters noticed a weakly marked date and were able to alter it slightly to “prove” Shell was 130 years old… and display it whenever Shell’s “great age” was questioned by a disbeliever.

Figure No.6: This rare photograph of John Shell [the small, bare-headed man in the middle] is from his 1918-1921 years when exhibited at county and state fairs as the oldest living man in the world. Two local Leslie County, Kentucky, businessmen promoted him, took care of him, paid expenses, and handled finances. This image was taken at the Bluegrass Fair in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1919. Courtesy Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, KY, C. Frank Dunn Photograph Collection.

National Notoriety: Shell became widely known in Kentucky and Tennessee from his fair appearances as the world’s oldest living man. News of “the world’s oldest man” spread to nearby states as early as 1918, and by 1919 eastern papers were picking up his story. In 1921 The New York Times ran a story on Shell, tweaking the interest of easterners including doctors who were fascinated by his longevity. Perhaps in America the years right after World War I, with all the changes and uncertainty about the future, made readers want to believe Shell’s stories/yarns of self-reliance and survival back in the “old days” when life seemed more predictable. Shell was visited by newspaper reporters and doctors in his last years, all trying to verify his age and learn his secrets for a long life. He told reporters his age was due to his diet of “hog, hominy, and honey.” In 1920 an eastern doctor named Nascher visited Shell; through examinations and evaluations combined with questioning family and neighbors, he was able to see through the ruse and establish Shell’s real age, but his findings were not published until well after Shell’s death, keeping Shell’s notoriety alive and well through his remaining days.

Last Days: By 1922 Shell was tired of the travel and long exhibition days and demanded to be taken home to Leslie County. He also demanded the money he was promised by the promoters for putting him on display. Some say he was never paid, but other sources say he was paid the $200 he had initially agreed to, but he was upset and thought he deserved more since he knew the promoters had made over $5,000 from exhibiting him. By then Shell was tired and worn out. He went out hunting and got caught in a cold rain that made him ill. He was 101 years old, weak and frail, and died a few days later on July 14, 1922. Despite the greed of Shell’s promoters and the grief it caused him from feeling cheated, Shell initially knew he was being used and was not really 130 years old. But he enjoyed the new-found publicity and lifestyle it provided, and in his last years Shell seemed to convince himself that he really was 130 years old, making it harder for those who questioned his great age to disprove it. As to his gunsmithing work, it was mentioned briefly in eastern newspaper stories, but he was never described as a great gunsmith, just a good “jack-of-all-trades” mechanic trying to better himself in the backwoods of Kentucky… and find a little enjoyment toward the end of his life.

Sources:

1. Shelby Gallien, Kentucky Gunmakers 1775-1900, Vol. I, “Shell, John,” pp.253-254, Powder Horn Publications, Ft. Wayne, IN, 2012.

2. Shelby Gallien, “John Shell, Legendary Kentucky Gunsmith, the Man and the Myth,” Muzzle Blasts Magazine, (3 parts) November 2011, December 2011, January 2012.