Hey Glenn, I gave the base another go with medium grit steel wool, and it worked better, but still needs more oomph. The good news is that I'm looking carefully at the area that is now much lighter... where I thought I was removing the shellac AND the stain, I don't think that actually happened. It feels very smooth and clean and still has a finish. So I THINK what needs to happen is that the rest of the base should be cleaned down to that level. What was coming off was not necessarily all of the finish, it was 140 years of crud!
My question is... can you recommend a way to get solution #1 amped up just a little? To finish what I'm doing I think I need some stronger stuff on the remaining cruddy spots. This might happen with coarser steel wool, which I don't have today and probably can't shop for tomorrow (does anyone else have such romantic doings happening on New Year's Eve?)! Let me know what you think, and thanks as always for your really wonderful help!