”The House of Representatives of the Fifty Third Congress” (detail), The Graphic Chicago, 1893, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

SHELL, George Washington, a Representative from South Carolina; born near Laurens, Laurens County, S.C., November 13, 1831; attended the common schools and Laurens Academy; engaged in agricultural pursuits; entered the Confederate Army as a private in April 1861 and served throughout the Civil War, attaining the rank of captain; resumed agricultural pursuits; member of the State Democratic executive committee in 1886 and 1887; chosen president of the State Farmers’ Association in 1888; clerk of court of Laurens County 1888-1896; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1891-March 3, 1895); chairman, Committee on Ventilation and Acoustics (Fifty-third Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1894; retired to his plantation near Laurens, Laurens County, S.C., and died there December 15, 1899; interment in Chestnut Ridge Cemetery.