Shelley, Hans (died 1880)

SHELLEY

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 3/24/2017 at 17:27:26

The Grinnell (IA) Herald

DIED.

SHELLEY -- At Sweetwater, Aug. 20, 1880, of consumption, Hans Shelley, aged 26.

When, some five years ago, Hans Shelley was compelled to leave Iowa College by reason of failing vision, he was regarded as the rising orator of the institution and one of the brightest members of the class of '70. It was his intention to return to school as soon as health would permit, but again and again he was disappointed. He has spent the intervening years in Chester, teaching in the winter and doing farm work in the summer. A year ago he had a hemorrhage of the lungs, and that decided him to try farming in Nebraska. Accordingly, he took up life in a sod house on his land at Sweetwater. Through the winter and spring his health remained good, but early in July he began to fail and finally passed away last Friday. His sister had been his house-keeper and she came to Iowa with the body, and the funeral was conducted at LeGrand on Wednesday. Mr. Shelley came with his parents from Norway when about five years old and his home has been near Indiantown. In spite of some early disadvantages, he became proficient in the use of English, and attained a command of the language such as many who use it as a vernacular never acquire. Ambitious, with a hungering and thirsting for knowledge, he took a high place in his class and gained the esteem alike of faculty and students. He was a brilliant debater in the Society Hall, and a fluent and rhetorical writer. His forced departure from college did not remove his taste for books and speaking. He was a young man of consistent Christian character--a member, we believe, of the Grinnell Cong'l church. He was active in Sunday school work, both in Chester and at his new home in Nebraska. His father, four sisters, and two brothers were present at the funeral, which was conducted by the Norwegian Friends in their native language. Many also attended from Chester, where he was greatly esteemed.