John H. Shelley's Death Certificate Born: 1880

Died: November 20, 1918

Married: about 1902, Maude Shelley

Children: none as of 1910

John Henry Shelley was a founder of the Shelley Tool Company at 135 Broadway. He died of pneumonia in 1918, shortly after returning from a ship bound for France that was turned back when the Armistice was signed at the end of World War I. He is buried in Pine Ridge Cemetery.

His brother, Nathan Shelley, and his widow, Maude Shelley, were killed in a tobogganing accident in 1924.

In the 1910 Census he was listed as a machinist in his own shop.

Malone Farmer, Wednesday, May 2, 1917

John H. Shelley, formerly ranking sergeant of Co. I., Second N. Y. Inf., national guard, has been delegated by Capt. Ballard, chairman of the committee on Home Defense organizations, to organize a home defense corps of 75 men in Saranac Lake. As matters stand now it is expected that each member of a home defense corps will furnish his own uniform and equipment. The details have not yet been worked out. It is thought that these organizations may be armed with Krag rifles, of which the U. S. government has a large quantity which were formerly used in the regular army and militia. The weapon is nearly as efficient as the new army Springfield. The training of young men from 16 to 19 years of age, too young to be called to the colors as yet, may be undertaken by the home defense organizations.

Malone Farmer, Wednesday, August 28, 1918

Capt. John H. Shelley, of the N. Y. Guard Company at Saranac Lake, has decided to go into the army and has accepted an appointment as second lieutenant in the ordnance department. He asked for 10 days to arrange his private affairs and is to report at the Raritan arsenal at Metuchen, N. J.

Malone Farmer, November 27, 1918

Lieut. John H. Shelley, a prominent Saranac Lake business man, who before entering war service had charge of the mechanical department of the Shelley Tool Co. there and who organized and was commander of Co. B of the New York Guard before securing a commission in the federal army for overseas duty, died of pneumonia in New York city on Wednesday last and was buried with military honors at Saranac Lake on Saturday. He was 38 years of age. Lieut. Shelley was attached to the ordnance department. He sailed for France just before the armistice was signed but his vessel was recalled because of peace and he was stopping at Hotel McAlpin awaiting orders. While ill there he was overcome in the hotel lobby and went to his room after calling for a physician, but died before receiving medical aid. Two army officers accompanied the body from New York to Saranac Lake. Lieut. Shelley was a native of Lyon Mountain, but had resided at Saranac Lake since 12 years of age. In 1908 he enlisted in the Spanish-American war and at its close saw active duty in the Philippines during the insurrection there. At the outbreak of the Mexican trouble he helped to form a section of Co. I of the National Guard, composed of Saranac Lake men, and served with the company as ranking duty sergeant during the summer of 1916, but was discharged for ill health when the company went into federal service for the war in Europe. He had not then fully recovered from the illness contracted on the Mexican border. His widow, one brother and two sisters survive him. His brother is active head of the Shelley Tool Co. and one of his sisters is Mrs. Joseph Brunell, of Malone.

Comments

2011-11-30 10:24:52   Wouldn't Maud Shelley have been John Shelley's widow at the time of her death, not his sister-in-law? —MaryHotaling

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