Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/349

 SHEFFIELD

SHELBY

SHEFFIELD, Joseph Earl, was born in South- port, Conn., June 19, 1793; son of William and Mabel (Tliorpe) Sheffield and grandson of Capt. Walter Thorpe. His father and grandfathers were wealthy shipowners of Southport. He at- tended the public schools, was clerk in a dry- goods store at Newberne, N. C, 1807-12, and located in Mobile, Ala., in 1813, where he became a large shipper of cotton. He was married in 1822 to Maria, daughter of Col. J. T. St. John, of Walton, N. Y.. He declined the office of presi- dent of the Mobile branch, Bank of the United States, tendered by Nicholas Biddle, settled in New Haven, Conn., in 1835, where he became owner of the New Haven and Northampton canal; a charter member for the New York and New Haven railroad company; constructor of the Chicago and Rock Island railroad, and president of the Northampton railroad. He gave Yale university a building for the scientific depart- ment, and an endowment of $130,000, with which it was reorganized in July, 1861, and named the Sheffield Scientific school. He also built North Sheffield Hall at a cost of $100,000, gave $50,000 to enlarge the library of Yale, and other dona- tions amounting to $950,000. Trinity college and the Northwestern Theological seminary also re- ceived large sums from him. He was a fellow of Yale from July 10, 1872, to June 25, 1873, and re- ceived the honorary degree A.M. from there in 1871. He died in New Haven, Feb. 16, 1882.

SHEFFIELD, William Paine, senator, was born in New Shoreliam, Block Island, R.I., Aug. 30, 1819; son of George Gardner and Eliza (Paine) Sheffield; grandson of Edmund Siieffield of Block Island, and of William L. Paine of Lyme, Conn., and a descendant of Joseph Sheffield, the emigrant, who settled in Portsmouth, R.I., about 1640. He studied at Kingston academy, R.I., and under private tutors, and was graduated from Harvard Law school, 1843. He was a dele- gate to the state constitutiouaj conventions of 1811 and 1842; was admitted to the bar in 1844, and began practice in Newport. He was married in 1847 to Lilias White, daughter of Samuel and Susan Sanford of Boston, and of Jolin Sanford, one of the first settlers in Rhode Island, and their son, William P., Jr., became a lawyer and a rep- resentative in the state legislature. William P. Sheffield, Sr., was a representative in the Rhode Island legislature, 1842-45, 1849-52, 1857-61, 1863- 73 and 1875-84; a Republican representative in the 37th congress, 1861-63; chairman of a select committee to revise the state laws, 1872, and was appointed U.S. senator, Nov. 19, 1884, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry B. An- thony, Sept. 2, 1884. In the election of Jan. 20, 1885, he received six votes, and Jonathan Chase was elected to complete the term. He received IX.— 22

the degree LL.D. from Brown university, 1868. His works include: ^4. Historical Sketch of Block Island and A Historical Sketch of Newport (1876); Rhode Island Privateers (1883), besides various papers and reports for the general assembly con- cerning the constitution of Rhode Island.

SHELBY, David Davie, jurist, was born in Madison county, Ala., Oct. 24, 1847; son of Dr. David and Mary (Bouldin) Shelby; grandson of Judge Anthony Bledsoe and Marian (Wincliester) Shelby, and of William Graves and Bettie (Ham- mond) Bouldin, and a descendant of David Shelby of Sumner county, Tenn., son of Jolin Shelby son of Evan Shelby (born in Wales, whose father emigrated to America, 1730, and set- tled in Maryland), and of CoL Thomas Bouldin of Virginia. He attended school in Meridian- ville, Ala.; studied law in Cumberland university, Lebanon, Tenn., 1869; was admitted to the Ala- bama bar, 1870, and to the bar of the supreme court of Alabama, 1872, practising law in Hunts- ville, Ala,, until 1899. He was married, April 8, 1870, to Annie, daughter of Zebulon and Willia- metta (Eason) Davis of Huntsville. He was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the United States in 1882; was a state senator, 1882- 86; the unsuccessful Republican candidate for chief-justice of Alabama, 1886, and appointed U.S. circuit judge, March 2. 1899.

SHELBY, Isaac, governor of Kentucky, was born near Hagerstown, Md., Dec. 11, 1750; son of Gen. Evan Shelby (1720-1794) and Laetitia Cox of Maryland. Gen. Evan Shelby (son of Evan Shelby, who emigrated from Wales to Prince George's county, Md., about 1730, where in 1739 he owned a large plantation) was born i'l Wales; had the rank of captain in the French and Indian war; served in Braddock's campaigns; laid out the old Pennsylvania road across the Alleghany mountains, and led the advance of the army under Genei'al Forbes, which took possession of Fort Duquesne in 1758. In 1772 he removed to King's Meadows, Fincastle county, Va., near what is now Bristol, Tenn.; was appointed major in the Virginia army, 1776; later a colonel com- mandant of his county, and afterward played an important part as commissioner in arbitrating the difficulties between the state of North Carolina and the short-lived state of Franklin. In 1879 he was appointed brigadier-general, the first officer of the rank on the western waters. Isaac Shelby attended school at Hagerstown; was deputy sheriff of Frederick county, and in 1772 removed with his father to western Virginia. He was lieutenant in his father's company in the battle of Point Pleasant, 1774; was promoted captain and appointed commissary-general of the Vir- ginia forces, 1777; was elected a representative in the Virginia legislature, 1779, and shortly