Charles Mills Sheldon (24 June 1866 – 14 March 1928) was a war correspondent, artist, and book illustrator, born in the United States, who moved to Europe in 1890.
Sheldon was born inLawrenceburg, Indiana, on 24 June 1866[1] to George Wilbur Sheldon (11 November 1843 – 3 January 1922) and Jeanette Mills (c. 1847 – 2 February 1929). He was educated at public schools in Lawrenceburg andDes Moines.[2] The 1880 census found him living at home with his parents at age 14, inDes Moines,Iowa. While Hogson states that his father was a publisher, the census return for both 1880 and 1910 gives his father's trade as a Tinner, in a Tin shop.[3]
He was a war correspondent forBlack and White, and later for Leslie's for a number of conflicts including:
TheJameson Raid (1895–1896), for which he famously packed and left within 17 minutes of getting notice.[4] The Raid was long over even before Sheldon set out, and his dispatches home included things like a large picture of a gold mine in the Transvaal.[5]
Kitchener's campaign in theAnglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan in 1886. This time he got 3 hours notice to pack as a cablegram had got lost in the Post Office in Johannesburg for seven days.[6] This campaign was also notable for the libel case between two war correspondents Knight and Attridge. In a letter home, Knight had accused Attridge of cowardice, and of abandoning the man he was sharing a hut with to death by cholera. Attridge sued and won damages of £1,000, an enormous sum at the time. Sheldon gave evidence at the trial.[7]
The following illustrations were drawn by Sheldon as War Correspondent forBlack and White forKitchener's campaign for theAnglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan.[9] The days of the illustrator war correspondent were already numbered. Hodson notes that photography was becoming the dominant art and that this, and the redrawing of war correspondent's sketches to be more dramatic and photography-like was already leading to a falling-off in the quality of illustrations.[10]Black and White was already redrawing some of Sheldon's sketches in this way. By the time of the campaign in Cuba, Sheldon was providing photographs for publication as well as sketches.
Press correspondents working in the shade at Ferkeh
Lord Kitchener (then Sir Kitchener) working at a folding table in Sudan.
The outbreak of cholera at Kosher in Sudan
Cavalry charge in Sudan
The logistics railway for the Sudan Campaign approaching Ferkeh
Most of the books he illustrated were boys' adventure books and this illustrations frequently show fighting and conflict. Among the books he illustrated were:.
1886:True to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of Independence byG. A. Henty
1899:Won by the Sword: A Tale of the Thirty Years' War byG.A. Henty
1899:The Four Miss Whittingtons by Geralding Mockler
1900:In the Irish Brigade: A Tale of War in Flanders and Spain byG.A. Henty
1900:Under the Rebel's Reign: A Story of Egyptian Revolt by Charles Neufeld
Sheldon married Grace Mary Garland (1868–1935), a childhood friend, atSt George Hanover Square on 26 November 1896.[11] He had just returned from the Sudan where he had been a war correspondent.[12] Grace was the daughter of Eugene Fitch (1846–1918) an inventor, who invented, among other things an early mechanicaldigital clock.[13][14] and Fannie Garland (1848–1902).
The couple had at least two children:
Grace Jeanette Sheldon (1899–1915).
Eugene Fitch Mills Sheldon (1905–1991) who married Jean Raymond (1914–) in Paris on 27 July 1934. The couple had a son, born inZug, Switzerland in 1936.[15] His mother died at his home in Zug in 1935. She was probably living with him there as her most recent passport had been issued inZürich on 17 May 1934.[16]
The 1901 census found Sheldon with his wife and daughter at 3 Bath Road inChiswick, London, which was still his address on the electoral register some 12 years later.
[note 2]Sheldon dies on 14 March at Chiswick Hospital in Chiswick, London. He was living at 45a Fairfax Road,Bedford Park, Chiswick, London at the time. His effects were valued at £1,417 12s 5d.[17] His widow was still living at this address in 1930.
^As thePall Mall Budget was a weekly compendium of stories from thePall Mall Gazette it is not clear if the illustrations were used only for theBudget or also for the Gazette
^"A Handless Clock".Scientific American. Munn & Company. 6 August 1904. p. 94. Retrieved15 April 2020.
^Sheldon, Eugene M. (24 April 1936). "Charles Mills Sheldon".Report of Birth: U.S., Consular Reports of Births, 1910-1949 for Jean Raymond Sheldon. Zürich: US Embassy.
^Spalding, Francis L (3 February 1936). "Grace Mary Sheldon".Report of the Death of an American Citizen. Zürich: US Embassy.
Note searches for the work of Charles M. Sheldon generally return the work of the ReverendCharles Monroe Sheldon rather than that of Charles Mills Sheldon.
Books illustrated by Sheldon at the Internet Archive. This list is not complete as Sheldon often used a middle initial rather than his full middle name.
Books with illustrations by Sheldon in theJisc Library Hub Discover. There is some overlap between the two searches but searching in this way avoids filling the list with books by Charles Monroe Sheldon.
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