Saguache County CO Archives Biographies.....Shellabarger, Adam December 16, 1846 - ? ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net March 8, 2006, 10:22 am Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Every true man is, according to the measure of his capacities and the loftiness and constancy of his spirit, a cause, a country, an age. All human events in his unclouded vision teach him faith—faith in himself and in the omnipotence of will and of natural law. He finds his guidance in obedience to the instincts within him, and by lowly listening to them hears the right word. Neither vexations nor calamities abate his trust. His natural magnetism selects in the economy of the world’s work what belongs to him, and this without dependence on books or what we call education, for they only copy the language which the field and the work-yard make. He is no vain carpet knight, shunning the rugged battle of fate where strength is born, but walks abreast with his days, and lives every hour of them as it passes. Domesticated in nature, he has her mighty forces for his ministrants, and standing on tiptoe in any circumstances looks over the hilltops of difficulty to the boundless wealth of the future. And, as with him to think is to act, seeing this, he at once sets out to possess and command it. Men of this character have opened the wild West of this country to settlement and civilization, and brought its wonderful resources to the service of the race. Our history shows forth no more heroic, far-seeing or colossal class than our pioneers, whether measured by aspirations, by endurance, or by greatness and permanency of conquest. To this class belongs the modest and unassuming subject of this article. He came to this state in 1869, and from then until now has been actively doing all that came his way for the development and advancement of the section, never dreaming, perhaps, that his efforts were heroic, and worthy of an exalted place in song and story. He came into the state with next to nothing in the way of capital, and all that he has and is has been achieved by himself, and the influence of his example and his work, with all their attendant blessings, must be added to the account in estimating the value of his citizenship here. Mr. Shellabarger was born near Springfield, Ohio, on December 16, 1846, and is the son of Martin and Elizabeth (Sheller) Shellabarger, natives of Maryland who moved to Ohio soon after their marriage, and enacted on the soil of that then western frontier the role he has since repeated with so much credit in this section of the country. The father passed the remainder of his life in Ohio, and after a long course of strict attention to farming and raising live stock, and active participation in public affairs as an earnest Democrat, died there in October, 1894. The mother now lives at Yellow Springs, that state. They were the parents of six children. Of these Anna died in 1868, Mrs. Frank Fulton in October, 1894, and George E. in September, 1897. The three living are Mrs. Charles Lehow, a Colorado pioneer who resides at Yellow Springs, Ohio; Adam and William, the latter living on the Platte river near Plum creek. Adam received only a common-school education, passing his minority on the home farm and assisting in its labors; then, in 1869, he came to Colorado by way of the Union Pacific Railroad to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and from there by stage to Denver. On the Platte canyon near this city he found employment as a ranch hand for six months, then came to San Luis valley November 20, 1869, being employed by Lilly & Coberly, extensive cattle-growers, with whom he remained ten months for the purpose of learning all about the stock industry. During this period he made trips to Texas and New Mexico to bring cattle to Colorado and in the fall of 1870 was given one hundred cattle on shares by Lehow Brothers of Platte canyon, and with this start he began ranching and raising stock on the Rito Alto, on land that is a portion of his present ranch of four thousand seven hundred acres, one thousand of which produce first-class hay. He secured his first tract as a homestead and pre-emption, a total of three hundred and twenty acres, and has added the rest by purchase. He has two hundred acres devoted to grain and the remainder, besides what is given up to hay, is excellent pasture land. Water is furnished abundantly for all necessary purposes by twelve artesian wells, and several ditches. The ranch is seven and a half miles northeast of Moffat and is well located for its best development. It is all fenced and well improved with all the requirements for a valuable and attractive ranch home. Cattle and hay are the chief products, and these are grown extensively and profitably. Horses were also raised in numbers for an active and discriminating market until 1893, when this branch of the stock business was abandoned. Mr. Shellabarger was one of the first settlers in this portion of the country, and for several years after his location here wild game was his principal source of animal food for his table. From his young manhood he has been an energetic and zealous working Freemason. He aided in organizing the lodges of the order at Saguache and Crestone, and is a charter member of both. He is also a member of the order of Elks, with a membership in the lodge of that order at Creede, Colorado. He learned his business from the ground up and is a high authority on all questions touching the cattle industry, his opinion thereon being valued and deferred to throughout a large extent of the surrounding country. He is, moreover, one of the prominent and influential citizens of the country, and has a voice of power and a leading part in all matters of local interest and advantage. In political activity he supports the Democratic party with an ardor and efficiency, being prominent and potential in its councils without seeking any of its honors in the way of nominations to public office. On April 3, 1873, he united in marriage with Miss Abigail Wales, a sister of Wales Otis, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this work. They have had six children. Of these Emma died on November 5, 1896, and the following are living: Charles W., who was the first white boy born in that section of the county; Ralph, Elizabeth C., Ethel, Eloise. Elizabeth has become renowned as a traveler, she having made a trip around the world, starting on December 1, 1903, and returning in June, 1904. Her route was from San Francisco to Honolulu, then across the Pacific to Manilla [sic], through the Indian ocean, the Red sea, Suez canal, the Mediterranean, and across the Atlantic and this continent to her home. She was one month on the water going and fifty-eight days returning. Coming to Colorado before the railroads in the state were built Mr. Shellabarger encountered all the difficulties and inconveniences of life on the remote frontier. When he located on his ranch Denver was the nearest trading point, and this was some one hundred and fifty miles distant as the crow flies, and involved in a trip either way a much greater distance through trackless wilds and over steep and rocky regions. His choice was often one of two evils or discomforts—either to do without desired supplies or make this long, trying and dangerous journey to get them. Additional Comments: From Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A.W. Bowen & Co., 1905 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/saguache/bios/shellaba227gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cofiles/ File size: 7.8 Kb