Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

MS 684
Kate Shelley (ca. 1864-1912)
Papers, 1865-2006, undated


Descriptive summary

creator: Shelley, Kate (ca. 1864-1912)
title: Papers
dates: 1865-2006, undated
extent: 0.84 linear feet (2 document boxes)
collection number: MS 684
repository: Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access: Open for research
publication rights: Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation: Kate Shelley Papers, MS 684, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Biographical note

Kate Shelley (also spelled Shelly) was born in Ireland about 1864 to Michael and Margaret (Dwan) Shelley. The family immigrated to the United States in 1865 and settled on a homestead on Honey Creek near Moingona, Boone County, Iowa.

Michael Shelley found work on the Chicago and North-Western Railway, and was eventually made foreman of a section crew. He died in 1878, leaving his wife Margaret to care for the family. Kate helped her mother maintain the farm and look after her younger siblings.

On the night of July 6, 1881, a strong storm brought extensive flooding and weakened the railroad bridge over Honey Creek. A pusher engine had been sent out to check the tracks for damage, and the bridge collapsed when the engine was crossing it, killing two of the crew and leaving two men stranded in the water. Kate Shelley and her mother heard the bridge go out, and knowing that an express train was scheduled to cross the bridge, Kate decided to warn the station at Moingona to stop the express train. She went on foot and had to crawl across a railroad bridge over the Des Moines River to reach the Moingona station. In addition to bringing the warning that the Honey Creek bridge was out, Kate assisted a rescue party who went after the crew of the pusher engine.

Newspaper accounts of Kate Shelley's heroism brought national attention. She received numerous recognitions including a gold medal from the Iowa State Legislature and a watch and chain from the Valley City Division, no. 58, of the Order of Railway Conductors. In 1901, a new bridge over the Des Moines River was named the "Kate Shelley Bridge." This bridge was the highest and longest double track bridge in the United States and though it still stands, rail traffic was diverted to a new bridge completed in 2009.

In the years following her heroic act, Kate continued to assist her mother with the family farm. She attended Simpson College for one year, and taught in various schools in Boone County. She held the position of Bill Clerk for the Iowa State Senate from 1902 to 1903, prior to taking the job of station agent for the Moingona train station in 1903. She continued in that position until ill health forced her resignation in 1910.

Kate Shelley died on January 21, 1912.

 

Collection description

This collection (1865-2006, undated) contains correspondence, legal documents, teaching certificates, newspaper clippings, and other items related to Kate Shelley and her immediate family.

Materials related to Kate Shelley include correspondence from family, friends, and fans. Additional correspondence documents business dealings with a number of firms that wanted her to promote their products. Of particular interest is the correspondence related to invitations and gifts recognizing her heroism, as well as correspondence regarding her candidacy for the job of Bill Clerk for the Iowa State Senate. The collection also includes her teaching certificates and related items.

Materials related to other family members includes correspondence from relatives in Ireland and the United States. Of note are the letters from Michael Shelley to the family while he was working at the Chapin Railroad Station. Materials from Kate's sisters, Mary (Mame or Mayme) and Margaret (Maggie), include teaching certificates and correspondence. The "important documents" file (box 1, folders 4-6) includes a list of birth dates, Michael and Margaret Shelley's marriage certificate, and Michael Shelley's citizenship certificate. The collection also includes documents related to the Shelley family home and land.

Typed transcripts are available for most of the items in the collection. Printouts of the transcripts are filed immediately following each set of original documents. Transcripts do not exist for Mary (Mame or Mayme) Shelley's correspondence and diary (box 3, folders 13-14) and transcripts are also lacking for a few items such as theatre programs and newspaper clippings. There are transcripts for a few miscellaneous items that were not donated to the Special Collections Department; these transcripts are filed at the end. A CD with electronic versions of the transcripts is also included in the collection.

 

Related materials

Related photographs may be found in the University Photograph Collection, RS 4/8/L (boxes 373, 377, and 380).

 

Organization

The collection is organized in general categories as received from the Shelley family. The files are listed alphabetically.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

General letters to Michael Shelley (also includes letter to Margaret Shelley[?], notice of Boone County Circuit Court hearing, and receipts)

1869-1881

1

2

General letters to Michael Shelley: Transcripts

2005

1

3-4

Important documents: Birth dates, immigration dates, names, Michael/Margaret marriage certificate, family history correspondence, etc.

1865-1905

1

5

Important documents: Transcripts

2005

1

6

Important/significant items sent to Kate Shelley (includes letter re: watch)

1881-1901

1

7

Important/significant items sent to Kate Shelley: Transcripts

2005

1

8

Invitations, birth and marriage announcements

1897-1910

1

9-10

Kate/Mame (or Mayme)/Maggie Shelley teaching items

1885-1900, undated

Map case

C406 D07

Kate/Mame (or Mayme)/Maggie Shelley teaching items: oversize teaching certificates (see photocopies in box 1, folders 11-13)

1891-1893

1

11

Mame (or Mayme)/Maggie Shelley teaching items: Transcripts

2006

1

12

Letters from Ireland

1868-1881, undated

1

13

Letters from Ireland: Transcripts

2005

1

14

Letters from Kate Shelley, also includes letter to Kate from her sister Maggie and a ca. 1881 newspaper clipping about Kate's heroism

1881 circa-1902, undated

1

15

Letters from Kate Shelley: Transcripts

2005

1

16

Letters from Margaret Shelley (Kate's mother), also includes some letters to her from individuals other than Michael Shelley

1865-1887

1

17

Letters from Margaret Shelley (Kate's mother): Transcripts

2005

1

18

Letters from Michael Shelley (Kate's father)

1877-1878

1

19

Letters from Michael Shelley (Kate's father): Transcripts

2005

1

20

Letters from the Vaughns (Michael Shelley's sister and brother-in-law)

1875-1879, undated

1

21

Letters from the Vaughns (Michael Shelley's sister and brother-in-law): Transcripts

2005

1

22-23

Letters to Kate Shelley from fans

1881-1902, undated

1

24

Letters to Kate Shelley from fans: Transcripts

2005

1

25

Letters to Kate Shelley from friends

1882-1890, undated

2

1-3

Letters to Kate Shelley from friends

1882-1890, undated

2

4

Letters to Kate Shelley from friends: Transcripts

2005

2

5

Letters to Kate Shelley re: Iowa Legislature jobs

1901-1902

2

6

Letters to Kate Shelley re: Iowa Legislature jobs: Transcripts

2005

2

7

Letters to Kate Shelley: Donations

1890, undated

2

8

Letters to Kate Shelley: Donations: Transcripts

2005

2

9-11

Letters to Kate Shelley: Love letters

1882-1887, undated

2

12

Letters to Kate Shelley: Love letters: Transcripts

2005

2

13

Letters to/from Kate Shelley re: business deals

1881-1901

2

14

Letters to/from Kate Shelley re: business deals: Transcripts

2005

2

15

Letters to/from Kate Shelley related to her time at Simpson College

1883-1887

2

16

Letters to/from Kate Shelley related to her time at Simpson College: Transcripts

2005

2

17

Margaret (Maggie) Shelley items (Kate's sister)

1878-1892, undated

2

18

Margaret (Maggie) Shelley items (Kate's sister): Transcripts

2005

2

19

Mary (Mame or Mayme) Shelley items (Kate's sister)

1885-1889, undated

2

20

Newspaper clipping: 75th anniversary and Kate Shelley Memorial rededication

1960

2

21

Postcards and letters to Kate Shelley during her hospitalization in Carroll in 1911 (1- 2x3 b/w photograph)

1911, undated

2

22

Postcards and letters to Kate Shelley during her hospitalization in Carroll in 1911: Transcripts

2005

2

23

Shelley land/house items

1872-1889, undated

2

24

Shelley land/house items: Transcripts

2005

2

25

Theatre programs and Dwight's Soda advertisement

1892, undated

2

26

Transcripts: Miscellaneous items [Do not have original items]

2006

2

27

Transcripts (on CD) and correspondence about transcripts

2006

2

28

News clippings

1938-1975