People and incidents

Shull, Harry H. (Captain) (1917)

Unresolved death inquiry

Captain Harry H. Shull of Philadelphia was found shot in his fishing cabin at Fortescue in October 1917; relatives’ robbery concerns prompted a coroner’s inquest.

Research note

Shull’s body was discovered Thursday night in his cabin along the beach at Fortescue, Cumberland County, with a gunshot wound through the head. A rifle lay beside him with one cartridge fired, initially suggesting an accident while cleaning the weapon.

Relatives told Coroner Howard S. Carll of Bridgeton that Shull had $250 that day, while only $11.50 remained in his wallet. They believed he had been killed and robbed and asked Carll to reopen the matter. He summoned a jury and scheduled an inquest for the following Thursday. The surviving clipping, datelined Philadelphia on October 16, does not give the inquest’s finding.

Source

An unidentified newspaper brief datelined Philadelphia, October 16, 1917; masthead and page number are absent.