Evan Shelby (1720 – 4 December 1794) was a Welsh-American trapper and militia officer in the
Washington District Regiment of the North Carolina militia on the frontier of the Southern colonies.
Early life
Evan Shelby was born in
Tregaron,
Cardiganshire, Wales, in 1720 (some sources give 1719). His father was also Evan Shelby; his mother was Catherine Davies Morgan. The family moved to the American colonies in about 1734, settling first in
Pennsylvania, but later moving to
Maryland. The younger Evan worked on a farm near
Frederick, Maryland, named "Mountain of Wales".[1]
Colonel in the Washington County Regiment of the North Carolina militia, 1777-1783
Shelby signed the
Fincastle Resolutions[6] and actively supported the war for American independence, serving on a boycott committee and eventually taking the lead in defending Virginia's western frontier. He rose to the rank of colonel in 1777, in raids against the
Chickamauga.[7] In 1787, he became a brigadier general in western
North Carolina, and was even elected governor of the
State of Franklin, a post which he declined.[8]
Personal life
Shelby married twice; his first wife was Letitia Cox, with whom he was the parent of five sons and three daughters. Their son
Isaac Shelby was later the
governor of Kentucky. Letitia Cox Shelby died in 1777. There were three more children born into Evan Shelby's second marriage, to Isabella Elliot, in 1787.[1]
Evan Shelby died in 1794, age 74. His current gravesite is in
East Hill Cemetery in Bristol, Tennessee.[9] The Shelby Family Papers are archived in the
Library of Congress.[10]