Born in Hagerstown, Maryland. Employed as a surveyor in 1771. In 1774 he was appointed a lieutenant and fought at the battle of Point Pleasant.

In 1791 he served at the Constitutional Convention. Kentucky became a state in 1792 and Shelby was elected first governor. During the war of 1812, recruited forces for General Harrison. He fought at the Battle of the Thames River in Ontario. In that battle Indian leader Tecumseh was killed. Shelby was offered the position of Secretary of War under President Madison but he declined. He died at home at Traveller's Rest, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.

Congress honored Shelby with a gold medal (Julian MI-21) by resolution April 4, 1818, for his service in the Battle of the Thames. The dies were by Furst. Modern copies in bronze (USM 419) were sold by the Mint.

Shelby appears on a $5 note of the Bank of Kentucky at Louisville.

bio:ApCAB; DAB; Drake; Failor; NCAB 3,13; TCBDA; WAB; WWWA-H profile: NUM 103 Dec 1990 p. 1956-1959