reformed the troops, and inflicted upon the In- dians a severe defeat, with the loss of only two men badly wounded. This battle, and John Se- vier's defence of Watauga, frustrated the rear at- tack by which the British hoped ti> envelop and crush the southern colonies. Soon afterward Gov. Patrick Henry promoted Shelby to a captaincy, and made him commissary - general of the Vir- ginia forces. When Sevier, in 1779. projected the expedition that captured the British stores at Chiekaraauga, Shelby equipped and supplied the troops by the pledge of his individual credit. In this year he was commissioned a major by Gov. Thomas Jefferson, but. when the state line was run, his residence was found to be in North Caro- lina. He then resigned his commission, but was at once appointed to the colonelcy of Sullivan county by Gov. Caswell. He was in Kentucky, perfecting his title to lands he had selected on his previous visit, when he heard of the fall of Charles- ton and the desperate situation of affairs in the southern colonies. He at once returned to engage in active service against the enemy, and, crossing the mountains into South Carolina, in July. 178(1, he won victories over the British at Thicketty Fort, Cedar Springs, and Musgrove's Mill. But, as the disastrous defeat at Camden occurred just before the last engagement, he was obliged to iviiv;it across the Alleghanies. There he soon concerted with John Sevier the remarkable expedition which resulted in the battle of King's Mountain, and turned the tide of the Revolution. For this im- por:unt service he and Sevier received the thanks of the North Carolina legislature, and the vote of
- ( -w i n'd and a pair of pistols. Having been elected
to the general assembly, Shelby soon afterward left the army to take his seat, but, before he left, sug- gested to Gen. Horatio Gates the expedition which, carried out by Morgan under Gen. Greene, resulted in the victory at Cowpens. Being soon afterward recalled to South Carolina by Gen. Greene, he marched over the mountains with Col. Sevier and 500 men, and did important service against the British in the vicinity of Charleston. In the win- ter of 1782-'3 he was appointed a commissioner to survey the lands along the Cumberland that were allotted by North Carolina to her soldiers, and this done, he repaired to Boonesborough, Ky., where he settled as a planter. He was a delegate to nil the early conventions that were held for obtaining the separation of Kentucky from Virginia, and suc- ceeded, in connection with Thomas Marshall and George Muter, in thwarting the treasonable scheme of Gen. James Wilkinson and his associates to force Kentucky out of the Union and into an alliance with Spain. When, in 1792, Kentucky was ad- niilird as a state, Shelby was almost unanimously elected its first governor. During nearly the whole i if his administration the western country was in a Mate of constant irritation, in consequence of the "elusion of the Mississippi by Spain ; hut, by his firm and sagacious policy, this discontent was kept trom breaking out into actual hostilities. Finally, by the treaty of 20 Oct., 1795, the Spaniards con- ceded the navigation of that river; and Shelby's term of office expiring soon afterward, he refused to be again a candidate, and returned to the culti- vation of the farm which he had reluctantly left at what he deemed the call of his country. He subsequently refused all office except that of presi- dential elector, to which he was chosen six times successively under Jefferson, Madison, and Mon- roe; but, on the eve of the second war with Great Britain, his state again peremptorily demanded his services. Our first western army had been cap- tured, Michigan was in the hands of the enemy, and the whole frontier was threatened by a strong coa- lition of savages, armed by Great Britain. In- stinctively the people turned to Shelby, and he consented to serve as governor " if there should be a war with England." Organizing a body of 4,000 volunteers, he had them mounted on his own re- sponsibility, and at the age of sixty-three led them in person to the re-enforcement of Gen. William Henry Harrison, whom he joined just in time to enable that general to profit by the victory of Perry on Lake Erie. For his services in this campaign Shelby received a gold medal and the thanks of congress and of the Kentucky legislature. In March, 1817. he was tendered the post of secretary of war by President Monroe; but he declined, and never again held any office except that of commis- sioner for the purchase from the Chiekasa n - < if their remaining lands in Tennessee and Kentnckv.
SHELDON, Alexander, physician, b. in Suf-
field. Conn.. 23 Oct., 1766 ; d. in Montgomery coun-
ty. N. Y.. 10 Sept.. 1836. He was graduated at
Yale in 1787, settled in Montgomery county, N. Y.,
took an active part in politics, was speaker of the
New York assembly in 1804, 1806, and 1812, and a
judge of the county court. He was graduated at
i In- New York college of physicians and surgeons
in 1S12, and became eminent in his profession.
He was a regent of the University of New York
state, a member of the convention that framed the
State constitution in 1820, and chairman of the
committee on the executive departments. In the
presidential contest between John Adams and
Thomas Jefferson he warmly espoused the cause
of the latter. He was the last of the speakers of
the New York assembly that wore the cocked hat,
the badge of that office. His son, Smith, publisher, b. in Montgomery county, N. Y.. 13 Sept., 1811 ; d. in Nyack, N. Y., 30 Aug., 1884, was educated at Albany academy, acquired a fortune in the dry-goods trade in that city, and, removing to New
York in 1854, established the publishing-house of
Sheldon and Co., of which his son. Isaac E. Shel-
don, is now (1888) the head. His latter life was
devoted to benevolent enterprises, especially to the
education of the colored population of the south,
to which cause he gave liberally and for which he
collected large sums of money. He was an original
corporator of Vassar college and chairman of the
executive committee, a trustee of Rochester, and
an incorporate!- of Madison university.
SHELDON, David Newton, b. in Suffield. Conn.,
20 June, 1807; d. in Waterville, 4 Oct., 188!). lie
was graduated at Williams, studied in Newton theo-
logical seminary, and was pastor of Baptist churches
in Maine till 1856, when he became a Unitarian.
In 1843-'53 he was president of Waterville college
(now Colby university). Brown gave him the de-
gree of D. D. He published sermons and " Sin
and Redemption" (New York, 1856).
SHELDON, Edward Austin, educator, b. in. Perry Centre, N. Y., 4 Oct., 1823; d. in Oswego, 16 Sept., 1897. He studied at Hamilton, but was not graduated. In 1869 that college gave him the degree of A. M. He was superintendent of public schools at Syracuse, N. Y., in 1851-'3. occupied the same post in Oswego in 1853-'69, and since 1862 had been principal of the Oswego state normal training-school. He was the first to introduce into this country a systematic course of objective instruction in the public schools, and in 1861 organized the first training-school for teachers, and his system was subsequently adopted by the normal schools of New York state. He published "First Reading Book and Reading Charts" (New
