He was born September 14, 1847, in Houston County, Georgia, the sixth child and fifth son of William Malachi Shelley and Elizabeth "Betsy" Cloud - a Cherokee. When he was about two, he moved with his family to Henry County, Alabama.
Lum was a mere boy when he went to war. His older brothers, Mark, Reuben and Malachi had gone and he wanted to go. He lied about his age so he could join the Confederate Army. Enlisting at Abbeville, Alabama, August 15, 1864, for three years, he said he was seventeen when he actually was sixteen, and his occupation was as a farmer. He went in as a drummer boy because he was so young. He was tall and had thick, black, curly hair, and he had a dark complexion, dark brown eyes - what used to be called "black Dutch". He could read and write.
He belonged to Company E of the Alabama Infantry (formerly Company A, 3rd Battalion, Hilliard's Legion). There is a document showing that he was in the trenches at Petersburgh. He was captured and surrendered April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. He was paroled there April 10, 1865. Years later, when there was talk about applying for pension, Lum refused to apply. He said that he didn't want any pay for getting "whupped". His widow did apply for, and received, a widow's pension beginning in 1926.
He married Susan Dicey Yates on October 22, 1873, in Brooks County, Georgia. He invested in land in Brooks, Thomas and Colquitt counties, which he farmed, had a turpentine operation and ran a commissary for the six or so Negro families and other families who helped him farm. Of their 10 children, eight lived to adulthood. In addition, they raised two granddaughters from infancy, whose mothers died young. He built a school on his land for the Shelley community.
C. C. Shelley died January 22, 1915 at home in Brooks County, Georgia, and is buried in Lebanon Cemetery, for which he donated land. The cemetery is located just on the edge of Pavo, Georgia.
