Shettles, E. L. (Elijah LeRoy), 1852-1940

Elijah LeRoy Shettles was a Methodist minister, magazine editor, publisher, and bibliographer. Shettles was born in 1852 in Mississippi. From 1881 to 1891 Shettles traveled the Southwest as a hard-drinking, cheating, itinerate gambler. In 1891 he felt a calling to the Methodist ministry. Shettles' ministerial career, all of it in Texas, spanned over thirty years. In 1908 he was made assistant editor of the Texas Methodist Historical Quarterly. Shettles retired in 1921 and moved to Austin, where he devoted himself to book collecting. He made significant contributions to the development of the libraries at Rice Institute, Sam Houston State Teachers College, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Texas. Shettles died in 1940.

From the description of Shettles, Elijah L., papers, 1792-1940. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 467392193

Elijah LeRoy Shettles was a Methodist minister, magazine editor, publisher, and bibliographer. Born in 1852 in Mississippi, Shettles spent his eighty-eight years working as a teacher, a farm-implement salesman, a law student, a pressman for a newspaper, a freight agent, a public weigher, a coal supplier, a gambler, a saloonkeeper, an insurance solicitor, a preacher, a church administrator, an editor, a book collector and dealer, and a representative of several university and public libraries. He was also a friend of the governors of two states, companion to men of prominence in business and letters, chaplain of the Texas Senate, publisher of books, and humanitarian.

From 1881 to 1891 Shettles traveled the Southwest as a hard-drinking, cheating, itinerate gambler, who frequently stopped long enough in a town to operate a gambling hall and saloon; most of these years he spent in Texas. In 1891 he felt a calling to the Methodist ministry. Shettles' ministerial career, all of it in Texas, spanned over thirty years. In 1908 he was made assistant editor of the Texas Methodist Historical Quarterly . Shettles retired in 1921 and moved to Austin, where he devoted himself to book collecting. He made significant contributions to the development of the libraries at Rice Institute, Sam Houston State Teachers College, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Texas. Shettles died in 1940.

Source: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Shettles, Elijah Leroy," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/fsh29.html (accessed October 15, 2009).

From the guide to the Elijah L. Shettles Papers, 1792-1940, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)