Edgar Shew, simply put, was a Mountain Man and a legend on Peel Chestnut Mountain. He was an original and there will never be another like him again. He had many friends of all ages and all walks of life. Everyone, including his family, was fascinated by his personality, his speech, and his stories of his experiences. There was always a steady flow of visitors to the Shew Homeplace on the top of Peel Chestnut Mountain.

It is our hope to share some of the experiences, sights, and kinship to Edgar Shew on this website. This page is a tribute, and a memorial, to him.

Edgar Shew was a true Mountain Man. He spent most of his time on Peel Chestnut Mountain in his bibbed overalls, pipe, and hat. He spent much of his time stacking firewood and placing fence posts. And of course, all of his fence posts were of locust wood.

Edgar Shew was a collector of anything and everything old. He owned a large collection of cowboy movie posters, a large collection of guns that were mostly colts, old movie cameras, silent films, license plates from many states, crosscut and hand saws, liquor bottles, Prince Albert Pipe Tobacco cans, old tools, and mining items, newspapers and magazines, and hundreds of books – mostly the cowboy variety such as books by Zane Gray. All of Edgar Shew’s collections are still intact, and it is hoped that they will be wanted in some Museum someday so that all may enjoy.

Edgar Shew was born on January 22, 1910, and lived on Peel Chestnut Mountain until his death in 1999. Although never married, he left behind scores of family and friends that miss him and the way that he lived his life.