The members of the Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic were Civil War veterans of the North. General Grant had issued an order that each man of the Union Forces could keep his horse and his rifle, and claim 160 acres of land on the expanding frontier. There were at least 85 of these men in the Shelby community and they were a great influence in its early development. The first one to come was James Hawkins, who lived here before Shelby existed. There were 25 Charter members of the Shelby G. A. R. Post including Hawkins. They met in the Odd Fellows Hall. A Drum Corps, most of whom belonged to the Post, was of much service to the Order.

The Shelby G.A.R. Post was named in honor of Dick Yates for most of its duration. Dick Yates was the name who gave Ulysses Grant his commission in the Army. Richard "Dick" Yates was also Governor of Illinois, and Grant worked on his staff in the 1850's.

Picture taken in December 1895. Members of G. A. R. Shelby. Names listed by rows, left to right.

Front row--39 George W. Newman, 37 William Buckley, 36 Robert Shaffer, 35 J. Clark Mansfield, 34 Sam B. Frum, 33 Nathaniel Lawson, 32 Will Green, 31 George Williams.

Second row--38 J. B. Linn, 24 O. B. Cox, 25 D. E. Morris, 26 H. Gertz, 27 George W. Ickes, 28 Hiram Watkins, 29 H. Reimers, 30 F. M. Kenney.

Third row--23 E. C. Anderson, 22 Otho Means, 21 Joseph Boardman, 20 Phillip Bohlander, 19 S. B. Linn, 18 John McFadden, 17 John V. Watson, 16 Jacob Buckley, 40 Robert C. Brown, 10 Jim C. Hadley, 11 J. H. C. Stuhr, 12 D. C. Cooper, 13 C. H. Atherton, 14 H. C. Nichols, 15 E. Baughman.

Fourth row--1 H. H. Buckley, 2 Alex Adams, 9 S. C. Overturf, 8 Tom Brown, 7 D. W. Green, 6 T. M. Keeney, 5 T. C. Hendricks.

Fifth row--3 William Laughlin, 4 W. H. Brown.