Henry Shiley was born in Fayette, New York.  After reaching his majority he headed out west to be with his older brother Daniel in Davenport, Iowa.  There they started the Arsenal ale brewery with Fritz Knepper and hotelier Joseph Emerick.  Shiley soon began courting Emerick's daughter, Melinda, and they wed in 1859.  Sadly Melinda would die in childbirth the next year along with their baby Jessie.

Emerick at this point left the Arsenal Brewery and Henry Shiley continued on as controlling partner with Knepper.  The company was renamed the Mississippi Brewery, although the name never really stuck.  Shiley's Ale earned the brewer a reputation over the next few years, so much so that in 1865 Shiley ran for Alderman of the Sixth Ward and won.

In September of 1867 Shiley sold his stake in the Arsenal Brewery to Henry Schlapp.  The 35-year-old Shiley then took the proceeds and invested it in the Buchanan Distillery in Lyons, Illinois and never operated a brewery again.  In 1871 he married once again to Maria James from Wisconsin.

Unfortunately Henry Shiley and the Buchanan Distillery it seems faded from history.  Apparently the next newsworthy event was his death at age 77 on July 24th, 1910.  

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