John  Shelk

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THE  SHELBY  DEMOCRAT
February 13, 1879
VOL. 1; No. 37
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from the article, SMILING  SHELBYVILLE!

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John  Shelk

Is one of our self-made men.  He was born in the year 1840, in Hessia Darmstadt, Germany, and when but a few years old his mother died.  In the years 1852 and 1853, his two older brothers, Mathias and Peter, came to this country and settled in Shelby county, and in 1854, the father, with the remaining children, some three in number, started for the United States, where he expected to see his children reunited once more.  But Providence had decreed otherwise.  On the trip across the water, the father contracted a disease which proved fatal to him, and he was buried at sea.  In due time, the now orphaned children arrived at New York and came directly to Shelbyville, where John, then fourteen years old, began working at the shoemaker's trade, under Jacob Maser, who run[sic] a shop on Washington street, east of the old Baptist Church.  He served three years apprenticeship receiving, for the first year, ten dollars; for the second twenty dollars, and for the third year, thirty dollars and board, he finding his own clothing.  When he had served his time, he entered the employ of Henry Fastlaben, where he remained until 1860.  In the following year, 1861, he commenced business for himself, in the location of his old employer, on East Washington street, where he successfully carried on business until 1864, when he formed partnership with Henry Hurst and bought out Henry Fastlaben, on the Public Square. They conducted their business under the firm name of Hurst & Shelk, until 1870, when Mr. Shelk purchased his partner's interest, and has since run the business alone.  Mr. Shelk is a quiet, unassuming man, and has, by his honest and upright dealing, suceeded[sic] in establishing a large and profitable trade which extends all over the county.  By his economical habits and close attention to business he has accumulated considerable of this world's goods, and in 1878 completed an elegant, substantial and commodious dwelling on the corner of Broadway and Tompkins streets, which is unsurpassed in the county.  Mr. Shelk's stock of boots and shoes is complete.  He buys all goods from the very best factories in the country, and prices having declined, he is now selling at lower figures than ever before.  It is his intention to fully maintain in all respects, the past reputation of his store, and being convinced that he can offer bargains in all goods in his line, he extends a cordial invitation to all friends and the public generally, to call and examine his goods before buying elsewhere.  He has a very large assortment of ladies' walking shoes and slippers, and boots and shoes of all grades and prices for men and boys.
     Next biography in the "Smiling Shelbyville" newspaper article, George W. F. Kirk.
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