David S. Shellabarger
Portrait of David S. Shellabarger ( c. 1880)
Born	(1837-07-11)July 11, 1837 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, USA
Died	January 2, 1913(1913-01-02) (aged 75) Red Bluff, Tehama County, California, USA
Burial place	Greenwood Cemetery Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, USA
Occupation(s)	Banker, capitalist
Years active	1851–1900

David Sterritt Shellabarger Jr. (July 11, 1837- January 2, 1913) known as David S. Shellabarger, was an American capitalist, banker, and Republican politician from Illinois. ^[1]

He was known for owning early banking, coal, streetcar, elevator and milling enterprises in the 19th-century. ^[2] The Shellabarger family was one of the oldest milling families in the history of the United States. ^{[3] [4]} In 1900, his business Shellabarger Milling Co. became the largest corn mill in the world and among the largest wheat flour mills in his country. ^[5]

Life

Family and background

David was born on 11 July 1837 as the eldest out of seven children in a farm at Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. ^[6] He was born to David Shellabarger and Catharine Shellabarger (neé Burly) of Swiss-American origin. ^[6] His father was a farmer who have interest in milling, a work his brothers Isaac and John kept on after their grandfather Martin Schellenberg. ^[7] The family was established by his great-great-grandfather who lived near Lucerne, Switzerland and was named in the neighborhood of a mountain. ^[6] His maternal great-grandfather was a German who later settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. ^[6] His grandfather Isaac, also an emigrant from Switzerland during the British colonization of the Americas in 1763 was a Miller. ^[7] He transferred his occupation to his son—Davids father. ^[8]

David started working at 14 helping his uncle, who came to Macon doing his lumber business. ^[6] In 1855 during the westward migration in Pennsylvania, David was eager to travel following the openness of roads by rail workers. He persuaded his father who in return agreed with the migration. His father's siblings were already in Decatur, Illinois doing lumber and wood business. His father prepared him for the movement since he would be the "man of the house". David went to Decatur, Illinois by train though the land wasn't developed. ^[7] He took over his cousin's work in the lumber yards. ^[7]

Personal life and death

Upon working in Decatur, David married Anne E. Krune on January 7, 1862 and had eight children. ^[9] His wife died in Salina, Kansas ^[10] earlier before he died in Red Bluff, California in 1913. ^[9]

Career

Milling and Elevator career

Shellabarger arrived in Decatur, Illinois in 1856 with a loan from his father, a farmer and miller from Pennsylvania. ^[11] He bought one-third milling interest in Henkle, Shellabarger and Co. In 1859, Shellabarger sold his interest and used the proceeds to buy "The Great Western Mill", subsequently changing the name to Shellabarger Mill. He incorporated the business as the Shellabarger Mill & Elevator Co. in 1888 for $250,000, giving each of his three sons a one-sixth interest in the capital stock. ^[12]

Shellabarger was progressive and quick to adopt new inventions with his mills for both increased productivity and safety for his employees. ^{[13] [14]} Setting a standard for integrity, his policy was to buy grain exclusively from the Midwest farmers who raised the produce. ^[15] Furthermore, he was the first in Illinois to adopt the new roller system and the new GEO T Smith purifiers. ^[16]

As more farmland opened in the west, Shellabarger bought elevators and mills across Illinois and Kansas and decreased the milling of wheat to corn. ^[17] By 1901, his practices produced both large milling capacities and elevator capacity for 250,000 bushels of grain and warehouses capable of storing 10,000 barrels of flour and corn products; an annual business of $2,000,000 ^[18]

In 1902, he sold the Decatur mill property to American Hominy Co., which he formed along Cerealine and eight other western millers. Shellabarger and his sons retained a majority of shares in the company and used the proceeds of the Decatur mill sale to continue building their extensive line of elevators; creating Shellabarger Elevator Co. and establishing Shellabarger Grain Products Co. In 1903, Shellabarger and his sons sold their majority capital stock in American Hominy Co. to solely focus on Shellabarger Elevator Co. and Shellabarger Grain Products Co. By 1910, Shellabarger Elevator Co. owned thirty-five elevators in the country, bringing their total storage capacity to 1,250,000 bushels; more than half of which was fireproof. Their product was known as Shellabarger's Big "S". ^[19] Due to a mixture of pests ( chinch bugs) and continued Prohibition, Shellabarger Grain Products Co., switched entirely from grain and corn milling to soya flour. In 1930 they held the first patent on soybean flour known by the trade name "Diataste". This contributed to the foundation for Decatur's moniker "soybean capital of the world". ^{[20] [21] [22]} In 1938, his son W. L Shellabarger sold Shellabarger Grain Product Co. and all its patents to Spencer Kellogg. ^[23] In 1947, W. L. Shellabarger sold Shellabarger Elevator Co. (then Shellabarger Inc.) to International Multifoods Corp. ( The J.M. Smucker Company) and in 1952 the remaining Shellabarger mills were sold to Ralston Purina.

Streetcar and coal businesses

Shellabarger was a pioneer in the streetcar industry, co-founding the first electric streetcar line in Illinois and third in the United States. ^{[24] [25]} In 1883, Shellabarger as President incorporated the Citizens Street Railway Company and in 1889, electrified its first line. In 1895, Shellabarger consolidated Citizens, forming City Electric Railway Company and built the current Transfer House to serve as Decatur's main transfer point for City Electric Railway streetcars and Illinois Traction System interurban trains. In 1899 Shellabarger organized the company under the name The Decatur Traction and Electric Company which would sell to the W.B McKinley syndicate, Illinois Terminal Railroad in 1903.

Shellabarger was also President of the Manufacturers and Consumers Coal Company of Decatur. Since 1902, he acted as President and Director of the Board of the National Bank of Decatur. ^[6] At the time of his death in 1913, he was regarded as the largest stockholder.

Politics and civics

Aside from his business endeavours, Shellabarger took an interest in political and civic matters. He was dedicated to the Republican Party and when of voting age, his first vote for President was for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He acted as alderman in 1869, 1870, and 1871. In 1872 he served as mayor of Decatur, creating the first water works for the city. For two terms in 1880 and 1881 he was elected to represent the Decatur township on the board of supervisors and for fifteen years was member and President of the board of education. ^[26] He was a candidate for Congress in 1904 ^[27] but was defeated for the office by William B. McKinley. Shellabarger was the first to respond when citizens of Decatur were asked to raise $100,000 to meet the offer of James Millikin in establishing the James Millikin University. ^{[28] [29]} In 1910 his home in Decatur was used as an annex for the city high school. ^[30]

References

Bibliography

• Archive, Internet (1926-12-08). "The Shellabarger Sesquicentennial". The Northwestern Miller. 148 (10). Miller Publishing Co.
• Nelson, W. E (1910). City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement. Vol. 1. Pioneer pubs.
• Guillory, Dan (2004-07-21). Decatur. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN  978-1-4396-1504-1.