Strength In What Remains Behind, July 19, 2011

Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.

~William Wordsworth

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from Indiana, where Cindy have been on a genealogical journey that is nearing its end. Among the places we visited were Wabash, Indiana, the home of GGgrandfather William Shepard and birthplace of his son William Elmer Shepard; and Spencer, Indiana, the birthplace of my grandmother Bura Davis Shepard and home to many of our Davis kinfolk.

The first picture shows me and a Davis second cousin Ruth Fortner, who still lives in Spencer. She and Cindy and I spent an afternoon visiting some ancestral graves in the civil New Union Cemetery outside Spencer last Sunday.

William Shepard in the Civil War. I mentioned in my last post that GGgrandfather William Shepard's Civil War service began when he enlisted in Wabash, Indiana, September, 1861. As part of the 2nd Indiana Cavalry he traveled to Indianapolis, then Louisville, then Bowling Green, Kentucky where they saw their first fight with the rebels. The 2nd Cavalry then went on to serve bravely in other places until 1865 when the war ended. William's service was cut short, however, with an injury sometime in the winter or spring of 1862. The historical record does not say exactly where or when he was injured. But since he was hospitalized in Evansville, he probably was injured at Bowling Green, Kentucky in February, 1862 when Union forces (including him) stormed that city and drove out the confederates. Evansville was the closest military hospital to Bowling Green. Had William been injured any later in the war he would have been taken to some other hospital.

In an Evansville Hospital. So he was hospitalized in Evansville, probably in February, 1862 and began his recovery from a serious arm injury. Back home in Wabash, also in February, 1862, his wife Mary Shepard gave birth to William's son and named him William Elmer Shepard. (More about his wife Mary Shepard in my next post.) I wonder: sometime that spring, when little William and she were able to travel, did she make the 265 mile journey from Wabash to Evansville to see her soldier-husband in the hospital and show him his new child? It would not have been an easy journey, and may not have even been attempted.

In any case it must have been a difficult and painful time of recovery for William. Infection and disease were rampant. Many more Civil War soldiers died in hospitals than died on the battlefield. William hung on as long as he could, but after 5 months in the hospital he succumbed to Typhoid Fever on July 22, 1862 and was buried in the historic Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville.

At Oak Hill Cemetery. We visited his grave earlier today. (See the second picture of William's grave, and the third picture of a cemetery angel presiding over the graves.) It is in a beautiful section of the cemetery with hundreds of other Civil War graves, a solemn, well-kept place that holds memories of love and family, of pain and heartbreak that we will never know, but can only imagine. It was sobering to realize that William's remains still lay beneath that weathered, 149 year old headstone. But it was inspiring to ponder how something of his spirit resides in those of us descended from him. What part of his courage and bravery, his love of family and country, his longing for home, do we carry within us?


Happy Birthday Desiree. Earlier this month on July 6, Desiree Ortiz celebrated a birthday. She is the wife of Jeremy Ortiz and lives with her family in Blue Springs, Missouri. Birthday wishes to Desiree!
- - -
Steve

Shepard Family Update, August 21, 2009

.

I came up out of those chilly waters
a bearcat for the Lord,
and have remained that way ever since!
-Carrie Nation
(19th Century activist)

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings from the cool, green mountains of the High Sierra in Northern California. Cindy and I are looking forward to a pleasant weekend here with Nathan and Chenda.

I begin on a somber note. Today would have been the 59th birthday of my younger sister Linda Shepard, who died in 1971. It has been 38 years since the car accident that took her life, but the impact of her 21 years remains indelible on those who knew her. The first picture I am including was taken in 1970 and was one of the last family pictures with all 6 children. It shows Eugene and Maida Shepard on the back left. Seated next to them are Gary, me and Linda. In front are Darrell, Russell and Barbara.

We all make mistakes. Last week I sent a family picture from the 1940s in which I identified the young man in the picture as Rex Russell. The other child in the picture -- Thelma (Shepard) Boyd -- emailed me to say that the boy in the photo was NOT Rex. Instead it was Norman Getz, who was Rex's second cousin, and about the same age. (One has to work very hard to put something past Thelma!)

More About the Davises. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Lucy Davis, the daughter of Tom Davis, and cousin of Bura Davis, all of whom were members of the New Union Church of Christ, near Spencer, Indiana about 100 years ago. Lucy had been baptized in 1916 in frozen Rattlesnake Creek, where the ice had to be broken to get her in the water. When I first heard that story, I must admit I was a little skeptical. Not just because I tend to be skeptical, but because I know how family stories DO get exaggerated sometimes! However, I have since learned that years ago, being baptized in a frozen creek was not all that unusual. For some, it even became something of a badge of honor, a point of pride. The following true story illustrates this. (I heard this in Indianapolis last month, told by TCU Church historian Newell Williams. This is my recollection and not a direct quote.)

Carrie Nation (1846-1911) was a 19th century temperance crusader adamantly opposed to the evils of drinking alcohol. She was also a member of the Stone-Campbell Movement (the movement that gave birth to the Churches of Christ, the Christian Church and the Disciples of Christ). Carrie Nation was in the habit of storming into a bar, with hatchet in hand (see her picture, hatchet and all), and driving out the drinkers and tearing up the place -- the tables and chairs, the bar, even the picture of the half naked lady behind the bar -- all "in the name of the Lord". Later a reporter asked her about such extreme behavior. She proudly reported that when she came to the Lord and was baptized, it was on the coldest day of the year. They had to saw a hole in the ice to get her into the river for baptism. "I came up out of those chilly waters a bearcat for the Lord, and have remained that way ever since!"

Call me a sissy, but I'm proud of my immersion in the heated waters of the indoor baptistry of the Linda Vista Church of Christ in San Diego (50 years ago last month!). Even so, you have to admire the spunk of a young person like Carrie Nation or Lucy Davis, who responds to God's call and is baptized outdoors, in the Midwest, in winter. Bura Davis was much more sensible. She had the good sense to be baptized in August! (See picture at left of Rattlesnake Creek near the New Union Church of Christ, taken this summer. This is the creek where they did their baptisms.)

I'd like to think that cousin Lucy Davis' icy December baptism in Rattlesnake Creek was something that she, like Carrie Nation, was proud of all her life. But no matter how full of pride Lucy may have been in her private moments, she would never have acted in such a rash, albeit purposeful manner as Ms. Nation. Our family has always valued modesty and decency too much for that. Lucy may have thought highly of that crusader, and may have even felt a kinship in spirit, but I doubt she would have acted with such abandon.

Even though Lucy may not have thought of her baptism as making her a "bearcat for the Lord", she was a devout Christian. Five years after her baptism, she married Frank Wheeler, who had been a fellow teen with her in the New Union Church. He had actually begun preaching at age 16, the same year as Lucy's icy baptism at age 13. (Hmm. A connection perhaps?) Their dream of a life together was cut short, however, when Frank died after just two years of marriage at age 24 of Typhoid fever while preaching for the Linton (Indiana) Church of Christ. Two children were born to that short marriage: Lloyd Wheeler (who also became a Church of Christ preacher) and Ruth (Wheeler) Fortner, who Cindy and I had the pleasure of spending time with recently in Spencer, Indiana.

Happy Birthday, Amanda. This coming Tuesday is the Birthday of Amanda Ortiz, one of Will and Bura (Davis) Shepard's 20 Ggrandchildren. Amanda lives in Blue Springs, Missouri with Jeff and (her mother) Kim Clark. She was part of Thelma (Shepard) Boyd's family who attended the family reunion in Oklahoma last month. In the picture surrounding Amanda are Desiree Ortiz on the left, Cindy Shepard and Barbara Shepard in the back, and on the right are Kori Boyd (in purple) and Kim Clark. Amanda is holding her niece Ashlyn Ortiz.

Have a great week. And as these long, warm days of August continue, let the thought of an icy baptism keep you cool. And full of spunk!
--
Steve

Shepard Family Update, July 31, 2009

.

In every conceivable manner,
the family is link to our past,
bridge to our future.
-- Alex Haley

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

This past Tuesday, as Cindy and I drove up a tree lined country lane near Spencer, Indiana, it was as if we were going back in time. Earlier that day we had left Indianapolis where we are attending the General Assembly of the Christian Church, a fellowship that I have served as a minister for over 30 years now. From Indianapolis we made our way west on I-70 and then south on Hwy 231 to Owen County. It was about an hour's drive, but it felt like going back several generations in time.

As we drove that county lane, our guide in the back seat said, "Slow down, it should be just up ahead." Our guide was Ruth Wheeler Fortner, an octogenarian from Spencer whose Ggrandfather, Charles Edward Davis, is my GGgrandfather. We had been introduced to her earlier that day, and after a short visit she had agreed to show us the way.

I slowed down as we came up over a rise and rounded a slight curve, and there it was on the right, at the corner of Rattlesnake Creek Rd. and Shepard Patrick Rd. (You read that right: Shepard Patrick Rd.) We were looking for the New Union Church of Christ, which had been the spiritual home to several dozen of our Davis kinfolk, including Bura Davis Shepard (1896-1986), for the first 14 years of her life. What we found instead was a beautiful, grassy, but empty corner lot.

The New Union Church had started in the 1850s. Among its very first members was my GGGgrandfather Robert Alexander Davis (1819-1866). The church had served families in these back woods for 100 years until it finally died in 1956. That's when the last few members -- including our guide Ruth Fortner -- closed the doors and joined the Spencer Church of Christ, 5 miles away. The Spencer church still has New Union's old membership book in which one can read name after name of Davis relatives, including Bura Davis ("received by immersion Aug 10, 1908" the record says), her mother and father, both her grandmothers, and her uncles Thomas and Mort (who was the minister of the New Union Church in 1924).

On arriving at the old Church's location, we parked the car and walked out onto that grassy corner lot. We could only imagine what the Church once looked like, because nothing of it remained, not a foundation, not the steps, not a plank or brick. I have an old picture of it from a book, a modest, white wooden structure with a chimney on the right side and two entrances in front, one for the men and one for the women, which was typical back then. But none of that was here now, it was simply a vacant, grassy expanse. The emptiness of what had once been a thriving country church reminded me of the transient nature of all life. One day there will be emptiness where we each now stand, and others will follow us to ponder our lives.

Even though we found nothing of the old church building, we did find the well-tended New Union Cemetery, which adjoins the area where the Church once stood. In the cemetery we found the final resting places of several Davis relatives. Since the church never had an indoor baptistry, nearby Rattlesnake Creek was where Bura Davis and many others were baptized during those 100 years. "Sometimes," Ruth told us, "they even had to break the ice to do baptisms. That's what they did when my mother Lucy was baptized." (Sure enough. I checked the record book: "Lucy Davis, received by immersion, Dec 11, 1916." Brrr!)

After a peaceful time at New Union, we found our way farther back into the woods (wishing I had 4 wheel drive!) to an even more secluded Pleasant Grove Cemetery, near the junction of Fish Creek Rd and Bandy Rd. Set in a quiet, sacred-feeling forest of tall green trees, it is a beautiful resting place for several other relatives, including Bura's Ggrandparents John Pouty Williams (1806-1898) and his wife Sarah Richardson Williams (1801-1877) (see picture above).

With gratitude for her help, we took Ruth back to her home in Spencer, where she has lived for nearly all of her 86 years. We then retraced our steps and found our way back to the 21st century in Indianapolis. We felt fortunate to have spent some quality time with relatives of long ago.

The closest link within our Shepard clan to our relatives in Indiana is Elmer Shepard, second child of Bura Davis Shepard, who was born in 1918 just 8 years after she moved with her family to Oklahoma. The second picture I am including today shows the two surviving children of Bura Davis and Will Shepard: Elmer Shepard and Thelma Shepard Boyd. Thelma is holding her Ggrandson Damian, son of Desiree and Jeremy Ortiz of El Cajon, California. This picture was taken at the recent family reunion in Newcastle, Oklahoma, where Damian and Elmer were recognized for being the oldest and youngest persons in attendance at 2 and 92 years old.

- - -
Steve