City Directories and History: “The Shell house on the Princeton Road was typical of the homes built some 150 years ago. The cellars were bricked or rocked in; chimneys, and often times double chimneys, graced each end of the rectangular structure and the first floor windows were long and narrow. The base boards in this particular house were twenty inches wide, the claim being made by old timers that the material was sent to England to be dressed.
The house was always known as the Washington (Wash) Shell home. Persons prominent in the political issues of that day were often guests in the house, and the upstairs room to the far left is said to have been the room where the Shell Manifesto, or the Tillman Creed, was written. Benjamin R. “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman, of Edgefield, led the Farmers’ Movement to victory in the governor’s race in 1890. Tillman wrote the manifesto, or campaign platform, but it was called the “Shell Manifesto” in honor of G. Wash Shell, president of the Farmers’ Association. Mr. Shell was a staunch supporter of Tillman.
Mr. and Mrs. Sloan Mahon owned the house at one time, buying it around 1918. Later, it became a part of the Gary Wallace estate and from that family it was purchased by A. D. Mitchell. Horace Mitchell, a son of A. D., has torn the house down and is presently erecting a new home on the site.”
Information from: The Laurens County Sketchbook, Author – J.S. Bolick, 1973
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