Evan Shelby

Evan served in Sumter’s Brigade during The Revolution, probably as a surgeon.

• SHELBY, EVAN
• DAR Ancestor #: A102413
• Service:
• SOUTH CAROLINA Rank: PRIVATE
• Birth:
• ANTE 1751 MARYLAND
• Death:
• 4- -1825 MECKLENBURG CO NORTH CAROLINA
• Pension Number:
• R9471V
• Service Source:
• R9471V; SALLEY, DOCS RELATING TO THE HIST OF SC DURING THE REV WAR, PP 6, 61; SC ARCH, ACCTS AUD #6922, ROLL #132
• Service Description:
• 1) CAPT WILLIAM ALEXANDER, LCOL WADE HAMPTON,
• 2) GEN SUMTER

Evan Shelby II was named after his grandfather, Evan Shelby I. He was born about 1748-1749 in "Hunt's Cabin", Frederick, MD. He married Susan Polk Alexander about 1774 in Anson Co., N.C. Some records indicate death Apr., 1825.

• *Many thanks to Suzy & Rob (#46950534) for additional info including the following great bio from her website.

Evan Shelby was born in 1748 in Hunts Cabin, Hagerstown, Frederick County, Maryland, and died in April of 1825 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He married Susannah Polk Alexander in 1774 in Mecklenburg County. She was the daughter of Benjamin Alexander and Susan Polk. She was born in 1759 in Mecklenburg County and died in 1837.

Evan received the following from his father in his will:

I will and bequeath to my dearly beloved son, Evan Shelby, that plantation on Caldwell Creek which I bought from Patrick Gibson together with the wagon and team he now has in his possession, also a Negro boy named Titus."

Evan served in Sumter's Brigade during The Revolution, probably as a surgeon. An application for Pension Benefits on behalf of the children of Evan Shelby was made by Dan Alexander but never carried to completion. This was filed on April 29, 1856 in Mecklenburg County and describes Evan's participation in the Revolution. Sumter's Brigade began when a British party of exiles from South Carolina fled into North Carolina as the British advanced. They chose Colonel Thomas Sumter (left) to be their leader and he took the field against the victorious British at a time when the inhabitants had generally abandoned the idea of independence. Often working with Francis Marion's men, Sumter's Brigade were woodsmen of the frontier upcountry. Neither North nor South Carolina was in a position to pay, clothe, or feed troops so Sumter's men furnished their own horses and brought along their own muskets and rifles. Often "iron tools of neighboring farms were worked up by blacksmiths into rude weapons … bullets were made by melting pewter … furnished by housekeepers." General Sumter was so daring and fearless he earned the nickname "The Gamecock."

Evan Shelby died in North Carolina about 1813. According to legends that have passed down through the John Springs family (another branch of Evan and Susan's descendants), Susan Shelby was left a widow, with a large family of children, who remembered hearing their mother tell of hardships and bitter experiences. She was often annoyed by Indians, Tories and British soldiers and often would go miles with her children to some place of safety, carrying the smaller children on her blind horse, "Old Ball." She never left North Carolina, and spent her last days with her daughter, Harriet.

Evan and Susannah Polk Shelby probably are buried at Poplar Tent Church Cemetery in Mecklenburg County.