John G. Shell (abt 1843 - December 22, 1886) served as a corporal in Company G, 13th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry.
Personal life[]
John Shell was born about 1843 in Carter County, Tennessee to William and Mary Ann (Gourly) Shell. He married Susan E. Angel (1844-1926); they had no children.[1]
Civil War service[]
Shell enlisted as a private in Company G on September 24, 1863 in Carter County, Tennessee for a period of three years and mustered in October 28, 1863 at Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. He was appointed corporal on October 20, 1863 by order of Colonel Miller.
He is described as 21 years old, 5' 8" tall, fair complexion, blue eyes, dark hair, and by occupation a farmer.
Shell is listed as present for duty until November 27, 1864 when he is listed as absent sick at Asylum General Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is also listed as wounded on December 2, 1864 and still absent from the regiment as of January 1865.[2]
Shell mustered out with the regiment on September 5, 1865 at Knoxville. He had last been paid to August 31, 1864, owed $40.61 1/2 to the government for clothing in kind or money advanced, had been paid a $25 bounty, and was owed a $75 bounty.
Post-war life[]
Shell applied for an invalid's pension on January 22, 1873. His later occupations included blacksmith and butcher. Shell also became a speaker for the Temperance movement and was the Prohibition candidate for the Tennessee Legislature in 1884; he was not elected.[3]
He died December 22, 1886 in Elizabethton, Tennessee and is buried there at Green Hill Cemetery. His wife applied for a widow's pension on September 13, 1887.