Michael Shellens was born in Belgium in 1854 and moved to the United States at a young age, becoming a ship's cabin boy in his teen years. He developed a close relationship with Captain George Wilson while working for him as a cabin boy on the Castine, and from that beginning Shellens became a steward for two voyages, one from April 1, 1872 to July 3, 1873 that journeyed to Calcutta via Boston and New Orleans, and one from July 14, 1873 to February 3, 1875 that journeyed to England and the East Indies.
Shellens joined Captain Wilson in 1877 as the third mate of the Daniel I. Tenney and made two consecutive voyages to Calcutta, and a later voyage to Manila. He transferred to the Susan Gilmore in late 1877 upon being promoted to second mate, and traveled from November 8, 1877 to October 15, 1878. Upon his return in 1878, Shellens became naturalized in Portland, ME as a citizen of the United States.
Shellens joined Captain Wilson on the Daniel I. Tenney in 1880 and made two more voyages, one to Calcutta from May 16, 1880 to June 19, 1881, and another to Manila between August 21, 1881 and November 1, 1882. He then joined the Lizzie H on November 6, 1882 as first mate. He joined the Agenor in August 1887 and became its captain in 1892. Shellens made a number of voyages aboard the Agenor, including trips to San Francisco, Hong Kong, England, and Australia.
The Agenor collided on June 1, 1895 with an Italian ship, the Giovanni, off Cape San Antonio in the Mediterranean Sea. The Giovanni sank but all of its crew survived, and Captain Shellens, to considerable acclaim, rescued and fed the Italian crew, and dropped the men off in Gibraltar. More acclaim came for Shellens in 1897 when he piloted the Agenor to victory in a race against the Lucille from New York to the port of Melbourne. Shellens made his last voyage to Hong Kong and then retired from the Agenor in 1898. The Agenor was lost off the coast of Japan in 1906 under another captain.
Shellens married Ella Mabel Collamore (d. 1944) in Brooklyn in 1899 and lived with her at 291 24th Street in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The couple moved in that same year to 342 52nd Street in Sunset Park upon the birth of their first child, Marie, who died at the age of 11 months. The Shellens had three more children: Marshall (b. 1903), Ruth (1905-1987), and Hazel (b. 1909). Shellens became active in various social and professional organizations, including the Royal Arch Masons, Masons of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and the Marine Society of New York.
Shellens made several unsuccessful attempts to find suitable opportunities in seafaring from 1899 through 1902, due reportedly to his lack of experience with steamer vessels. He then became a marine surveyor and at the same time began to acquire property in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. His real estate venture became notably successful and in 1905 he bought a block of 25 lots in Bay Ridge, from whence his substantial estate derived.
Shellens died on April 22, 1944, just a month after the death of his wife, and he left his personal and business papers to his daughter, Ruth Shellens, along with his property at 371 73rd Street in Bay Ridge, where she resided until her death in 1987. Upon her passing, Ms. Shellens bequeathed this collection, along with a substantial monetary sum, to the Brooklyn Historical Society. The monetary portion of her donation was subsequently used toward the renovation of the Society's first floor gallery space, which is now named the Shellens Gallery in honor of the Shellens family's generosity.