Remembering Sadie Shepard, January 27, 2019

I've learned that regardless

of your relationship with your parents,

you'll miss them when
they're gone from your life.

~Maya Angelou

As January draws near its close the time is right to remember my great aunt Sadie Shepard Pruett (1892-1980). The younger sister (and only sibling) of my Grandfather William Shepard (1888-1976), Sadie was born January 27 (127 years ago today), and died January 29 (39 years ago). 

Sadie and William Shepard, 1892

Remembering Sadie Shepard Pruett. Sadie's father William Elmer Shepard (1862-1915) had a terrible falling out with his parents as an older teen in Indiana about 1880. We don't know the details of the conflict, just that it had something to do with his relationship to his step-father William Ragsdale who was his mother's second husband. Theirs was a blended family of his 9 kids from his first marriage, her 2 sons from her first marriage, and their 3 children together. Even though they lived on a farm outside Ladoga, Indiana, it was a stressful living arrangement, especially for William Elmer, one of the only two in the entire family who had the last name Shepard.

So with great anger in his heart, this hot headed young man left home, and ran away 350 miles to Madison County, Illinois. From all indications he never reconnected with his Indiana family. It was a bitter family conflict that had long term ramifications. First of all William Elmer's wife Elvira Owens, who he met and married in Illinois, never got to know her husband's Indiana family. It also meant that their children William (my Grandfather) and Sadie, who were born in Illinois, never got a chance to meet their paternal grandparents in Indiana or any of their relatives on that side of their family. 

Frances (Flossie) Shepherd, about 1920

The Family They Never Knew. That Indiana family dispute also meant that Sadie and William Shepard probably never knew their father's only biological brother, their uncle Frank Shepherd or his wife, their aunt Leona. Nor did Sadie and William realize that uncle Frank had taken a different spelling for his last name, one of those anomalies not uncommon in post Civil War America. Furthermore Sadie and William probably never knew that they had just one first cousin on the Shepard side of their family, a young woman named Frances (Flossie) Shepherd who was nearly the same age as Sadie. One can only imagine the wonderful relationship cousins Flossie and Sadie might have shared.

And perhaps most regrettable, Sadie and William never knew their grandmother Mary Sprague Shepard Ragsdale (1840-1919) and her remarkable life story. She became a Civil War Widow with two babies at 22 years old. She remarried at 25 years old and went on to be mother/step mother to 14 children. She was widowed a second time at 47 years old but persevered nonetheless. At 61 years old -- 39 years after the war ended! -- she finally received a modest Civil War Widow's pension. And she lived her final 15 years comfortably in Indianapolis where she died at 79 years old in 1919.

Sadie Shepard Pruett (left) in 1942, with brother 

William Shepard and William's daughter Thelma

Sadie Shepard and her brother William Shepard migrated as teens with their parents from Illinois to Beaver County, Oklahoma in 1905. And they both went on to have families of their own and make good lives for themselves. But somewhere inside each of them there must have been a sense of loss, a longing to know their father's family of origin. But because of their father's conflict with his own family, it was not to be, to the great misfortune of his descendants.

The Miracle of the Digital Age. I continue to be amazed that in the early 20th century, my grandfather and his sister Sadie Shepard Pruett could live their lives and never know their father's family. Yet here we are 100 years later and we have a wealth of information about those people who were unknown to them. The Internet has made possible research that helps us know ancestors like never before. For that I am very grateful. Unfortunately the Internet cannot change our susceptibility to conflicts and disputes within families. We will always have to deal with that, and the fall out that comes as a result. 
- - -
Steve Shepard

Memories From A Half Century Ago, January 17, 2019

No one can ever take your memories from you - 

each day is a new beginning, 

make good memories every day.

~Catherine Pulsifer

Last month I shared some memories from 50 years ago when Cindy and I were married. But there were a lot of other memories being made in our family at that time as well. In this post I am including family scenes from half a century ago. It was a wonderful time for our Shepard, Gower and Harris families of San Diego. There was a great amount of family harmony and life was good. The following are four memorable scenes from life in our families back in 1969.

Cindy and me, Mom Maida, Grandmother Nola Gower,

and Russ and Barbara Shepard, in Abilene, Texas, 1969

Newlywed Students. In 1969 Cindy and I were newlywed college students at Abilene Christian. It was a rare but pleasant occurrence when family from San Diego would visit us in what at the time was the faraway land of West Texas. This first picture shows Cindy and me with members of my family when they came to visit us on N.E. 16th Street in Abilene, Texas. This was taken in front of our apartment across the street from Abilene Christian University.

This picture shows Cindy and me on the left looking spry and well dressed. We were all so well dressed that this picture must have been taken on a Sunday. We may have just returned from attending worship at the Minter Lane Church of Christ in Abilene where we attended. On the right in the back are my mother Maida Shepard and my grandmother Nola Gower. In front are my youngest siblings, brother Russell and sister Barbara.

Jerry Clark, Linda Shepard

Lubbock, Texas, 1969

Jerry Clark - Linda Shepard. While Cindy and I were in school in Abilene Texas in 1969, my sister Linda was enjoying her first year of college just a few hours drive up the road at Lubbock Christian University. She and boyfriend Jerry Clark from Albuquerque, N.M. were classmates and were getting to know each other quite well. They would marry in August of 1970 in a happy celebration at the Linda Vista Church of Christ in San Diego. This second memorable scene from 50 years ago shows Linda Shepard and Jerry Clark on a swing in the backyard of Jerry's Grandmother in Whitesboro, Texas.

Joe and Paula Harris. Though Cindy and I lived in Texas where we went to college in 1969, our heart and our home was still in San Diego. This third picture shows Cindy's parents Joe Harris (1922-1999) and Paula Harris (1923-2018) in the Harris home on Burgundy Street in the Allied Gardens community of San Diego. It is the home they purchased in 1957, and is where Cindy and I live today.

Joe and Paula Harris, 

San Diego, California, 1969

In this particular picture Joe is dressed in his ever present business suit, while diligent homemaker Paula is dressed more casually. They were a wonderful couple. As my in-laws for many many years they could not have been more loving and supportive of Cindy and me. 

In this picture, behind Joe and Paula is their fancy new Console: a wonderfully monstrous Television - Radio - Record Player combination, which was state of the art half a century ago. It was advertised as the "Magnificent Magnavox Stereo Theatre" and proudly graced their living room for many years. It was an impressive purchase for 1969, the envy of many.

The Gower Clan on Lynne Street. This final scene I am including today shows my mother's Gower Clan from 50 years ago. My Gower Grandparents Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower are in the middle of this picture. This image is from a photo taken in front of their home on Lynne Street in San Diego where they had lived since 1951 when the house was built. It was a common gathering place for our family for nearly the entire second half of the 20th century.

Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower and family

San Diego, 1969

Standing in the center of this picture is a happy and healthy 65 year old Grandma Gower in white hair and glasses, the matriarch of this impressive brood. Sitting in front of her is 69 year old Grandpa Gower whose eyesight was so poor he had a hard time looking at the camera. He would live just another 5 years. In his lap are the first two Gower Great Grandchildren, Shaun Gower and Kerri Shepard, both about a year old. Also in this picture are my Grandparents' three children, Hank (and wife Starlene), Maida (and husband Eugene), and Vicki (and husband John). Also shown here are 9 of the 12 Gower Grandchildren: Hershell (and wife Janet), Jimmie, Gary (and wife Jackie), me, Linda, Darrell, Barbara, Russ and Michael. One of the most remarkable things about this photo is that the face of almost every single one of the 21 people in it can be seen.

Life has changed in many ways for our Gower, Shepard and Harris families in the last 50 years. Children, Grandchildren and even Great Grandchildren have been born. Deaths have occurred. Many have moved away from Southern California. Despite all the changes, the memories remain and the values we shared are still with us. And the need remains to share our life and heritage with the younger ones among us.

Happy Anniversary Kim and Jeff! I can't let January come and go without saying happy anniversary to Jeff and Kim Boyd Clark. Tomorrow, January 18, will be their 12th wedding anniversary. Congratulations and best wishes!

May 2019 be a happy and healthy year for all of you. May the love, joy and memories of family be with you this year and always.
- - -
Steve Shepard