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Note: Custom Field:<_FA#> 1851Building committee for Emanuel Evangelical Church REFN659 Jacob and Mary Shelly are buried in the cemetery next to a church that Jacob probably helped build. He was on the building committee for the Emanuel Evangelical Church with his neighbors. A Jefferson Co history says they was buried in the cemetery at the German Reformed Church (Possibly only his first wife). The church may also have been called the Steinmetz Lutheran Church. The church probably isn't there anymore. It was just across the Red Bank Creek from Hawthorn Pa. The cemetery is overgrown. Mary evidently was Jacob's second wife. She evidently was the widow of John Haines. Only William and Peter were from this marriage. Jacob Shelly probably lived in an area they called Sugar Valley, on what is now Sugar Valley Road. It is just across the Red Bank Creek from Hawthorn and about 4 miles east of Oak Ridge. The house is on an intersection with a one room school directly across. The school closed in 1944. There is a nearby limestone quary and many farms had coal mines. The farms were mostly pasture lands. Later the land was strip mined for coal. Harold Travis bought the farm in 1954. Cal Copenhaver bought the farm with thirty acres in 1919. I have had e-mail contact with his daughter, Joyce Copenhaver Sherry, where much of this information comes from. Prior to this it was owned by William Gruver. Jacob Shelly died in 1888. I don't know who owned the land before or after Jacob but he may have rented it to his son William. Jacob was listed as a blacksmith and farmer. Jacob Shelly moved to Red Bank Township in Armstrong County before the 1840 Census but after the 1830 Census. In 1840, his household had 2 boys and one girl under 5 years old plus one man and one woman 20-30 years old. The 1950 Census had Jacob but none of his children nor his wife, but a 3 person family called Littlemonger. Jacob's 1st wife may have died by this time. The children might have been with grandparents. The 1860 Census has Jacob at 49 and Mary at 47. Jonas 21, listed as a harness maker, Susana, 18, Andrew J. 14, John C. Hane 12, William 6, and Peter J. 4 are the children in the household. A Jacob Shelly, 15 was listed in the nearby Stallman household. The presence of John C Hane supports Jacob marrying the widow of John Haines as per Lillian Lankard. The 1870 Census has Jacob 60, Mary 57, William 16 and Peter J 14 listed. The Jefferson History says that Jacob was from Lancaster County. Most of the Lancaster Pa Shelly/Shelleys as well as those in nearby counties were related with Jacob being a common family name. There is even a Shelley island next to 3 mile Island where some of them lived. This Shelly group were menonites. Lillian Lankerd However, listed Jacob as being from Bucks County. A June 11, 1867 Land Transfer from the Heirs of Peter Minich lists Jacob and Mary (Minich) Shelly. Charlotte Stricker has indicated that Mary's first husband probably was John Absalom Haines. Minich Family, p 862-863 in Armstrong County, Pa, Her People Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914 says that Polly (Mary) Minich married a Mr Haines 1st and Henry Shelly 2nd. I believe this should read Jacob Shelly as many Will and Land records indicate. I saw 2 different listing of Jacob Shelly marrying a Sarah Hess, from Bucks or Montgomery Co, in 1829. Hess was the maiden name of his wife given in the Jefferson Co History. I do not know if this is the correct Jacob Shelly as several were born in the right time period. Also, Eve is listed as his wife in the 1830s baptismal records.
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