James T. Shell; Jackson and Morehouse Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller


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James T. Shell has practiced law at Bastrop since 1909, and has combined a
very successful law practice with much activity in public affairs. He was
twice elected a member of the Legislature and some of the important
legislation of recent years is associated with his name, Mr. Shell was born
in Jackson Parish, Louisiana, in 1870, son of W. P. and Millie (Hearne)
Shell, who were born in Georgia, their respective families being early
settlers in Jackson Parish.

James T. Shell was liberally educated in private and boarding schools, and
was a teacher for several years. He also had some mercantile experience at
Ouachita City and Mer Rouge, vir. Shell was admitted to the bar in 1908. On
January 1, 1909, he engaged in private practice at Bastrop, the parish seat
of Morehouse Parish, and his activities as a lawyer have been continuous
since that date.

Mr. Shell was elected a member of the Legislature in 1912, representing
Morehouse Parish in the House of Representatives for the four-year term, He
was re-elected without opposition in 1916. However, he resigned midway in
his second term in 1918. In 1914 Mr. Shell led the prohibition fight in the
Legislature, and had charge of the "near beer bill." In 1916, as vice
chairman of the ways and means committee, he had charge of the first
conservation bill, including the modern provision covering the natural gas
industry in Louisiana. He was on a number of other important committees.

Mr. Shell has been a member of the Bastrop School Board since 1914, being
elected to that body without opposition. While a lawyer with a very large
practice, his time and effort have been bestowed upon educational and other
movements for the general advancement of the community. Mr. Shell is a
Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, and is chairman of the Board of Stewards
of the First Methodist Church. By his marriage to Miss Jessie Matheny he has
two children, Mildred and James Thomas, Jr.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), p. 238, by Henry E. Chambers. Published by
The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.