A Birth Day and A Death Certificate, February 18, 2019

There is something unique about the first born.
~Raymond Feist

First the Good News. Tomorrow is the 76th birthday of Hershell Gower, the oldest of the 12 grandchildren of my Grandparents Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. Hershell was the first child in our family to be born in California when he came into the world in San Diego during World War II in the winter of 1943. It was obviously a very happy time for the Gowers when baby Hershell was born into their family, the first of their 12 grandchildren who would be born in the following 19 years. Hershell was raised in San Diego but lives today with his wife Shelly in Bullhead City, Arizona. Best wishes and happy birthday to Hershell!

Maida Gower holding nephew Hershell Gower

in San Diego, California, 1943

My mother Maida Gower Shepard was a senior at San Diego High School when her nephew Hershell was born. Six years ago, when she was still able to post to Facebook, she sent this message to him: "Hi Hershell. This is a voice from your past. I remember the day you were born. I thought you were the cutest baby in the whole world. I said if I had a dozen babies I could never love them more than I do you. Of course I was only 17 at the time! Have a very happy birthday. Love you. Auntie M."

Mom is no longer able to communicate on Facebook and probably does not even remember that post from 2013. But she still loves her family, and given the opportunity would even today speak as glowingly about Hershell and the joy the Gower family felt at his birth 76 winters ago.

A Century Ago. 100 years ago yesterday my Great Great Grandmother Mary Shepard Ragsdale (1840-1919) died in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hers is one of the most fascinating, mysterious, heartbreaking, yet inspirational stories in our entire family tree.

I have written numerous times in The Shepard's Crook about her. Born in Indiana in 1840, she married William Shepard (1835-1862) in 1860. As a mother with 2 baby boys, she lost her husband in the Civil War in 1862. Then in 1880 she lost her teenage son William Elmer Shepard when he left home and never reunited with her and the family of her second husband William Ragsdale. She was then widowed a second time in 1887 and outlived her second husband by 32 years.

1919 Death Certificate of my Great Great Grandmother

Mary Sprague Shepard Ragsdale (1840-1919)

At the turn of the 20th century Grandma Mary Shepard Ragsdale entered her 60s and felt the need to move from the Ragsdale family farm west of Indianapolis into the city. In those days, when one turned 60, it meant you were well into old age and in need of being cared for. Mary spent her last 15 years with her eldest daughter Cora Ragsdale Stevenson and son-in-law Dora Stevenson in Indianapolis.

Recently I found online Mary's death certificate which gives us some important information about her. This copy of her death certificate is not very clear and nearly unreadable. But in it is important information about her that we would not have otherwise. The discovery of this document is typical of what happens in family research. Old documents of this sort are regularly becoming available for the first time, with information heretofore inaccessible to the general public.

This death certificate tells us that she was born Jan 25, 1840, that she died at 79 years old, and that she is buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. It tells us that her mother's maiden name was Chapman, and that she was born in Kentucky. It also reveals that her father's last name was Sprague and that he was born in Indiana. And it also tells us that Mary Shepard Ragsdale was living with her daughter and son-in-law on South Arsenal Avenue in Indianapolis when she died of "Arteriosclerosis" (hardening of the arteries).

Family research is a never ending endeavor. It is always gratifying when new documents like this death certificate become available and one more puzzle piece falls into place. With it the story of our family becomes just a little clearer.

When Mary Shepard Ragsdale died in 1919 she was survived by nine step children that she had helped raise, plus 5 children of her own, all of whom who were married and had their own families. The church where her funeral was held could have been filled just with her descendants -- her children and step children and their families. One of her children we know for certain was not in attendance. Unfortunately, she had not seen her son William Elmer Shepard in 40 years, ever since he had left home angrily about 1880, never to return. Unbeknownst to her, he had actually died in 1915 in Oklahoma. Nor did she know about her two Oklahoma grandchildren William Shepard and Sadie Shepard Pruett who had married and had children of their own by 1919. Mary Shepard Ragsdale had a full life, a difficult life, a life filled with much joy but also more than her fair share of sorrow. She is remembered even today, with humility and great gratitude for all she endured.
- - -
Steve Shepard

Mary Shepard: Civil War Widow, July 22, 2016

Look deep into your heart

and you shall find that it is only 

that which has given you sorrow 

that is giving you joy.

~Khalil Gibran

One of the more fascinating, compelling -- and heartbreaking -- stories in our family tree concerns a woman named Mary Shepard. Not my brother Darrell's wife Mary Medina Shepard. She is the most contemporary "Mary Shepard" in our family. But I am referring today to a different Mary Shepard. This one is my Great Great Grandmother Mary Sprague Shepard.

Here is her lineage:

• Mary Sprague (1840-1919) married William Shepard (1835-1862);
• their son William Elmer Shepard (1862-1915) married Elvira Owens (1863-1931);
• their son William Shepard (1888-1876) married Bura Davis (1896-1986);
• their son Eugene William Shepard (1921-2003) married Maida Gower (b 1924);
• their son Steven Shepard (b. 1948) married Cindy Shepard (b. 1948),
• their son Nathan William Shepard (b 1977) married Chenda Sou (b. 1980),
• their children are Preslea, Logan and William Shepard.

Mary Sprague Shepard was born January 25, 1840 in Montgomery County, Indiana, some 50 miles west of Indianapolis. When barely 20 years old she married a young man 5 years older than her, named William Shepard (the first of several "William Shepards" in our family) on March 11, 1860, also in Montgomery County. Later in 1860 William and Mary moved because of a job opportunity, to Wabash, Indiana, 80 miles north of Indianapolis, where Mary gave birth, in early 1861, to their first child Frank.

In May of 1861 Mary became pregnant with their second child. But before the baby was born, husband William went off to fight in the Union Army. In February, 1862, the very month that Mary's second child William Elmer was born, husband William was injured in battle at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and was sent to a hospital in Evansville, Indiana. There the soldier William languished for 5 long months before he died on July 22, 1862 (154 years ago today), in all likelihood never having seen his second baby boy.

Enough Sorrow and Joy For a Lifetime. So between March 11, 1860 and July 22, 1862 -- a period of just 27 months -- the following occurred in the life of Mary Sprague Shepard: she and William were married, she gave birth to their first child Frank, she got pregnant with their second child, her soldier husband left home for active duty, she gave birth alone to their second child William Elmer, and finally she became a Civil War widow. In just a little over 2 years she experienced enough joy and heartbreak, enough happiness and sorrow, to last her a lifetime. When you take into account that William left for the war in September, 1861, their married life together only lasted 18 months! But what an amazing time it was.

We know almost nothing about Mother Mary after her husband William died, until 1865. That was the year the Civil War finally ended and a new chapter in the life of our nation arrived after incredible destruction, death and sorrow. 1865 was also the year Mary's life changed. On November 12, 1865, back home in Montgomery County, Indiana she married the widower William Ragsdale, a father of 9 children who was 23 years her senior but who provided well for her and her two young boys. Mary and Mr. Ragsdale made a good life together for the next 22 years until he died in 1887 in Ladoga, a farming community of Montgomery County. About 1904 an aging Mary Shepard Ragsdale left the farm and moved into Indianapolis, probably to be near some of her children, and lived there until she died in 1919.

Recent Discovery. The first image (above) is a copy of Mary's death certificate, which I recently found online. Nearly 100 years old, this document fills in a few of the many gaps we have in our knowledge of Great Great Grandmother Mary Ellen Sprague Shepard Ragsdale and her family. It shows she died February 17, 1919 at 79 years old, of Arterio Sclerosis in Indianapolis. It also shows that her father was a native Hoosier, while her mother, whose maiden name was Chapman, was from Kentucky. It also shows that she was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, which I already knew, having visited her grave there in 2011 (see second picture).

2X Great Grandmother Mary only carried the Shepard name from 1860 to 1865, but she remains an outstanding figure in our family history. She is a person whose story needs to be remembered for generations to come, for its pathos and inspiration, and for its direct family connection to a most tragic yet formative time in the history of our nation and our family.
- - -
Steve Shepard

"I Don't Need Google", February 2, 2016

There is something about

reviewing the lessons of the past

that prepares us to face

the challenges of the future.

~L. Tom Perry

On this Ground Hog Day, I am celebrating three different but important celebrations among people within our family tree.

Cindy Ann Shepard. Today is the birthday of Cindy Ann Dillon Shepard, the wife of my brother Gary Shepard, who lives in the town of Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island, Washington. Cindy was actually born in Rhode Island, but was raised in Southern California. She and Gary were married in Orange County in 1979, and then lived in the San Diego area until they retired to Washington in 2003 where they live today. Cindy has worked for several years in nearby Mount Vernon, Washington at Schenk Packing Company. 

Gary and Cindy Shepard

This first picture shows Gary and Cindy and was taken this past Christmas at the home of Maida Shepard in Anacortes, Washington. Happy Birthday to Cindy!

William Elmer Shepard (1862-1915). Today is the birthday of my Great Grandfather William Elmer Shepard. His is one of the more remarkable stories to be found in our entire family tree, that I have written about numerous times in this blog. His father was a Civil War soldier named William Shepard who died just 5 months after William Elmer was born.

The widow and mother Mary Elizabeth Sprague Shepard rebounded by marrying an older man in Montgomery County, Indiana who already had his own family, but was kind enough to take into his household this young widow and her two sons, 3 year old William Elmer and 4 year old Frank. This united family did not blend well and by the time William Elmer was an older teenager he struck out on his own. He hightailed it out of Montgomery County, then out of the state of Indiana, and landed in Madison County, Illinois, where he met Elvira Owens and his wandering days were over. After marrying Elvira and having two children with her, he moved to Beaver County, Oklahoma where he and Elvira lived out their days. He died in 1915, also in the month of February, at just 53 years old.

We know from the stories of his son, my Granddad William Shepard, that William Elmer died from what was diagnosed at the time as stomach cancer. He was a good father, husband and church member (South Flat Church of Christ), and made a great impact on his son. He died just 4 months before his son married Bura Davis. We remember him today for the witness that he was to his family and his church.

John and Sally After 190 Years. Today is also the anniversary of two of my GGG Grandparents, John Pouty Williams (1806-1898) and Sarah (Sally) Richardson (1801-1877). They were married on this day in 1826, 190 years ago. 

John was born in Kentucky but after his father died in 1813 when young John was a child, his mother Lydia Warford Williams took their 4 children and moved them to Indiana where their family settled for several generations. In Indiana young John met Sally Richardson and even though she was 5 years older, married her when he was 19 and she was 24. Sally was originally from Virginia but had moved as a young woman to Washington County, Indiana, where she and John tied the knot. 

Headstone of Sarah (Sally) Richardson Williams

We don't know much about the wedding of John and Sally, other than it took place in Southern Indiana, on this day, the very midpoint of winter, Ground Hog Day (although the Puxtahawny Phil tradition did not even start until some years later). Indiana was still very much frontier America at that time, the state itself was still very young, Indians were still a major challenge, and travel was very primitive and difficult through this rugged, untamed landscape. 

John and Sally's marriage lasted 51 years -- an amazing length of time in those days -- and endured the build up to, the fighting of, and the rebuilding after the Civil War. Their love resulted in 9 children and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren, including Bura Davis Shepard, my grandmother. Sally died in 1877 while John lived until 1898. Grandmother Bura was born just 14 months before the death of her Great Grandfather John Pouty Williams, with the real possibility that the two of them may have actually spent some special moments together.

John and Sally Williams are yet another remarkable couple in our family tree whose lives are worth remembering, and whose love and devotion to one another is deserving of our gratitude. Their final resting place is in the beautiful Pleasant Grove Cemetery in the hills northwest of Spencer, Indiana.
- - -
Steve Shepard

"The Past is Part of the Present", April 3, 2015

We are in time and space

But we are from beyond time and space

The past is part of the present

The future is part of the present

Life and being are interwoven

~John Trudell

Happy Birthday on this Good Friday to our son Nathan Shepard. Nathan was born here in San Diego early on a Palm Sunday in 1977. Today Nathan works for Wells Fargo Bank and lives in the San Carlos Community of San Diego with wife Chenda and children Preslea, Logan and William. An avid Hockey fan and player, Nathan also enjoys hiking in the Sierra and quality time with the family. The following photo presentation is offered in celebration of his 38th Birthday.



          

Happy Birthday tomorrow to Ciara Ortiz of San Diego. Ciara is the oldest child of Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz and the granddaughter of Kim Boyd Clark of Blue Springs, Missouri. She is also a Great Great Grandchild of Bura Davis Shepard and William Shepard, mentioned in the comments below. This picture shows Ciara (top) with her brother Damian, sister Ashlyn and a friend. This was posted to Facebook just a couple of weeks ago.

Desiree: Just wanted to give you a shout out for Ciara. Her birthday is this coming weekend. April 4 she will be the big 13. Can't believe Jeremy and I will have a teenager. It's a little scary, lol! Ciara is adjusting well to being back in San Diego. She is active in school, and a part of the basketball and swim team, as well as the photography team, putting the year book together! She is looking forward to summer so she can spend July in Missouri with Grammy and Grandpa Jeff and attend 3 weeks of Bible camp. 

Three Shepard Cousins. I mentioned in my last post that newly discovered ancestors Frank and Lida Shepherd had a daughter named Flossie Shepherd. From everything we know, and from family stories I have heard, Grandad William Shepard (1888-1976) never knew he had an uncle Frank and aunt Lida, and therefore probably never knew about his cousin Flossie Shepherd (1894-1960abt.). Our best knowledge suggests that when Great Grandfather William Elmer Shepard left Indiana as a young man, he disconnected from his family and was never reunited with them. This was not only due to the fact that they had parted under unpleasant circumstances, but also because travel and long distance communication was difficult in the 19th century, nothing like it is today.

The following picture is an attempt to do something that was never done when these three were alive, and that is bring them together. This tryptic shows my Grandfather William Shepard (1888-1976), his sister Sadie Shepard Pruett (1892-1980), and their first cousin Frances (Flossie) Shepherd (1894-1960abt). The first two, William and Sadie were very close throughout most of their lives, first in Alton, Illinois and then in Beaver County, Oklahoma. But not so their cousin Flossie who lived most of her life in Plymouth, Indiana, some 1,000 miles away.

The pictures of William and his sister Sadie were taken in June 1915 in Beaver County, Oklahoma on the occasion of the wedding of William Shepard to Bura Davis. Flossie's picture was taken in June 1911 when she graduated from Plymouth (Indiana) High School. These three are the only grandchildren of Civil War soldier William Shepard (1835-1862) and his wife Mary Sprague Shepard (1840-1919).
- - -
Steve Shepard

Warm Love and Great Hopes, March 13, 2015

We're all ghosts.

We all carry, inside us,

people who came before us.

~Liam Callanan

Merry Milestones. Happy Birthday today to my brother Russ Shepard and his son Steven Paul Shepard. Steven has lived his whole life in Anacortes, Washington, while Russ has lived there for 37 years now, ever since the Shepards moved to Washington in 1978. Even though it is Friday the 13th, best wishes to both of them as together they celebrate their birthdays, very possibly at Grammie Maida Shepard's home in Anacortes!

The first picture, taken just yesterday, shows father Russ on the right and son Steven on the left. Thanks to sister Linda Shepard for taking the picture.

Happy Birthday tomorrow, March 14, to my brother-by-another-mother Jerry Clark. Jerry lives today with his wife Cathrina Helms Clark in Lubbock, Texas where he has worked for Taylor Publishing Company for many years. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico Jerry attended Lubbock Christian University in the late 1960s, which is when he met and married my sister Linda Shepard (1950-1971) also a student at LCU.

That's when Jerry became a member of our family, and has remained a part of us ever since. The second picture shows Jerry and Cathrina Clark with Jerry's brother Terry Clark and his wife Susan.

A 100th Wedding Anniversary. Later this spring, in early June, we will have opportunity to remember the 100th wedding anniversary of my grandparents William and Bura Davis Shepard. It will be a very special occasion marking a significant milestone in our history.

A 155th Wedding Anniversary. Wednesday of this week marked the 155th anniversary of the wedding of Granddad Shepard's grandparents, William Shepard and Mary Sprague. The story of my Shepard Great Great Grandparents is as heartbreaking as it is important in our family history. Here is a lineage from our Civil War soldier-ancestor William Shepard to his namesake, my grandson William Shepard. 

• William C. Shepard (1835-1862) who married Mary Ellen Sprague
• William Elmer Shepard (1862-1915) who married Elvira Owens
• William Shepard (1888-1976) who married Bura Davis
• Eugene William Shepard (1921-2003) who married Maida Gower
• Steven Shepard (b. 1948) who married Cindy Harris
• Nathan William Shepard (b. 1977) who married Chenda Sou
• William Quincy Shepard (b. 2012)

The third picture shows two of the William Shepards listed above, the one on the left my grandfather William Shepard (1888-1976) and on the right my grandson William Quincy Shepard (b. 2012).

Here is a timeline of the important events of the early 1860s, when William and Mary Shepard were married:

• March 11, 1860: Marriage records for Indiana show that on this day William C. Shepherd (note the spelling of his last name) and Mary E. Sprague were married in Montgomery County, Indiana, 50 miles northwest of Indianapolis. 
• June 1, 1860: U.S. Census records show William and Mary living in Ladoga, Montgomery County, Indiana. (Those Census records show their last name spelled Shepheard.) 
• June 22, 1860: U.S. Census records shows William Sheppard (note yet a different spelling) living some 100 miles away in Wabash County, Indiana in the home of a farming family.
• December, 1860: In late 1860 or early 1861, William and Mary's first child, Frank, was born.
• February 2, 1962: Their second son, William Elmer Shepard, was born in Wabash County, Indiana.
• July 22, 1862: William Shepard dies after being injured in the Civil War.
• November 12, 1865: Mary E. Sprague Shepard marries William Ragsdale and lives the rest of her life as Mary Ragsdale.

William and Mary had what turned out to be a war time romance, with all the drama and tragedy that often attends young people married in war time. Married as the Civil War was ramping up, they had their first child within a year. Another one was on the way when William was drafted into military duty in September, 1861. He died in the summer of 1862, leaving his wife Mary with two young boys, Frank (18 months old) and William Elmer (5 months old). William and Mary were only married 18 months when he left for the war, never to return. What we know about his stint in the military is a story unto itself and you can read about it here.

New Information About Our Shepard Ancestors. For several years I thought that William and Mary's son (Great Grandfather William Elmer Shepard, 1862-1915) was an only child, but I uncovered new information in recent weeks showing that there was another son, Frank J. Shepherd, born to them in late 1860 or early 1861.

Here's how I found out about the TWO sons of William and Mary Sprague Shepard: After Great Great Grandfather William Shepard died in the Civil War, Great Great Grandmother Mary E. Sprague Shepard went back home to Montgomery County, Indiana. 3 years later she married an older widower named William Ragsdale, who had several children already. Together they had several more children and went on to create a blended family. As a result, 19 year old Mary Sprague, who became Mary Shepard for 5 years, became Mary Ragsdale for the last 54 years of her life. Over time, her short but exciting war time marriage to the ill fated soldier William Shepard faded into the background.

An 1880 U.S. Census record, pictured above, lists the family of William and Mary Ragsdale with the 8 children in their household. The two oldest of those 8 children are listed as "step-sons", and are the children of Mary Shepard Ragsdale and her first husband William Shepard. The older child is Frank J. Shepherd, born in 1860 or 1861, and the younger one is William Shepherd, born in 1862. (You may have to click on the picture to see the document better, although at 135 years old it is understandably hard to read!)

Another recent discovery. I have wondered many times over the years why Mary Sprague Shepard Ragsdale never filed for a widow's pension. Who would be more deserving than a 22 year old widow left with two very young boys? As it turns out she did file for a widow's pension. 

I recently uncovered a record in the "U.S. Civil War and Later Wars Index to Remarried Widow Pensions Applications 1860-1934." It shows that "Mary E. Ragsdale", the remarried widow of Civil War soldier "William C. Sheppard" of the Indiana Cavalry, filed for a pension on June 10, 1901. By that time the soldier William had been dead nearly 40 years, and her second husband William Ragsdale had been dead 14 years. Mary was 61 years old and would live another 18 years. 

Civil War pensions were given out for many years, well into the 20th century. And the rules for dispensing them kept changing. Widows who remarried (like our Mary Shepard Ragsdale) were ineligible at first. But in 1901 (the year Mary filed for a pension) the rules were changed and a Civil War widow became eligible for a pension even if she remarried, as long as she was a widow again. That was exactly the situation with Mary and explains why she waited until 1901 to apply. Did she ever actually receive a pension? I will let you know when I find the answer to that question.

Didn't These People Know How To Spell? As indicated above, there were various spellings for the last names of William and Mary and their sons William and Frank: Shepheard, Shepherd, Shephard, Sheppard, and Shepard. Some historical records indicate that many of these folks could neither read nor write, making variant spellings understandable. Even so, the other information about them indicates they are our ancestors. It was not until after the Civil War, that "Shepard" became the common spelling for members of our family.

May Their Memory Live Forever. So this week we celebrate the 155th anniversary of the wedding of our ancestors William Shepard and Mary Sprague in 1860. But we do so realizing that theirs was a short lived marriage filled with warm love and joyful births, great hopes and terrible tragedy -- a story mutiplied half a million times during the conflict of the 1860s.

Though Mary moved on with her life as Mrs. Ragdale, surely the soldier, father and husband William Shepard retained a special place in her heart for the rest of her long life. In a similar way we, their descendants, remember their great sacrifice and honor their love for one another and their place in our family history and our nation's history. May the memory of William and Mary Shepard live among us forever.
- - -
Steve Shepard

The Power and Pathos of Names, Aug 15, 2014

What's in a name?

That which we call a rose

by any other name
would smell as sweet.

~William Shakespeare

Congratulations to my niece Linda Shepard whose 21st birthday is tomorrow, August 16. Linda lives in Anacortes, Washington with her boyfriend Jamie, near her parents Russ and Pam Shepard, and not far from her grandmother Maida Gower Shepard. She is one of the Great Grandchildren of both William and Bura Davis Shepard, and Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower.

Linda: This year has been quite eventful. I moved out from my parents and got my own place in February. I am now purchasing a new car, a 2011 Toyota Camry. Since last year I have been promoted from a caregiver at the nursing home I work for, to a ward clerk. I am registered to finish my last prerequisite for the LPN program, which I will hopefully enter in fall of 2016. The waitlist is quite long so I will be completing my RN and bachelor's in the science of nurse prerequisites. For my birthday I plan to go out with friends and family for a night on the town.

Linda/Linda. Linda Mae Dawn Shepard's aunt and namesake was my sister Linda Rae Shepard Clark (1950-1971). Our 21st century Linda Shepard never knew the 20th century Linda, who died 43 years ago this month in Lubbock, Texas. Her accidental death occurred just weeks before her 21st birthday and just days before her and Jerry Clark's first wedding anniversary. Their intentional name similarities make it certain they will always be inextricably bound in some bitter-sweet way by those familiar with our family's history.

The first picture shows Linda Shepard of Anacortes, at home with her little dog Milo. The second image (right) is one I received recently from Jerry Clark. Earlier this year he discovered this sketch of Linda done in April, 1969 by his father Terrence Clark (1914-1973).

This was not the first instance in our family of using the power of naming to hold on to something lost in the past.

William/William. My GG grandmother Mary Sprague Shepard gave her husband's name (William Shepard) to their new born son in the Northern Indiana town of Wabash in February, 1862. Interestingly she also chose to make his name slightly different, adding the middle name Elmer. Mary named William Elmer Shepard following her husband's departure to fight in the Civil War, and just months before his death in July, 1862 at age 26. Select this link to read more about this story.

William/William Redux. Fast forward 26 years. The aforementioned William Elmer Shepard had run away from home as a young man, never to see his mother again. He then married a woman named Elvira Owens in Madison County, Illinois, and when their first son was born in 1888 they named him William Shepard, after William Elmer's father, the Civil War soldier, whose death had been such a devastating loss. Select this link and this link to read more about this story.

Caroline Matilda/Caroline Matilda. In a completely different part of our family, my GG grandfather William Spear married Caroline Matilda Williams, in Southern Indiana in April, 1861. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl in April of the following year, but the young mother Caroline died shortly thereafter at age 24. In January of the following year GG grandpa Spear then married his dead wife's sister Maggie Williams (on the left in the third picture). William and Maggie's first child was given the name Caroline Matilda (on the right in the picture) after William's first wife and Maggie's late sister. Select this link to read more about this story.

This particular phenomenon of naming a child for a beloved family member who died young, is a tradition with a long history in our family. Those mentioned above are just a few examples. There will surely be others in coming years. It is perfectly understandable and even admirable, and speaks volumes about the incredible strength of familial love, and the powerful need to remember and honor the past.

This weekend of Linda's 21st birthday is a time to celebrate this milestone for a wonderful and bright young woman, someone with a promising future. For those of us who knew the first Linda, it is also a time to remember with love, to ponder with tears, and to wonder what might have been. We cherish deep in our hearts a life well lived, even though it was cut short. It helps to know we are part of a great tradition of folks who did the same.
- - -
Steve Shepard

Remarkable Mothers, May 5, 2014

Heaven is under our feet

as well as over our heads.

~Henry David Thoreau

Happy Anniversary! This Wednesday, May 7, is the first wedding anniversary for Lloyd Gower and his wife Tammy Turman Gower who live in San Marcos, Ca, north of San Diego. The first picture shows Lloyd and Tammy Gower. Happy Anniversary to them!

Remarkable Mothers in our Family. This coming Sunday is Mother's Day making this an appropriate time to remember remarkable mothers in the history of our family. I am thinking in particular about women who outlived their husbands, sometimes by many years. 

Nola Shannon Gower. In my last post I mentioned my grandmother Nola Shannon Gower who died 11 years ago and outlived her husband Leroy Gower by 30 years. Fortunately their children were grown when Leroy died (their youngest child Vicki was 41 at the time), therefore Nola's mothering skills were not missed as much as they might have been had she died at a young age.

Nola was just one in a line of women who outlived their husbands by many years. Nola's mother Finetta Dearien Shannon outlived her husband Sam Shannon also by 30 years. He died in 1930; she in 1960 when she was 99! (The picture below shows Finetta and husband Sam in the 1920s.) Nola's paternal grandmother, however, is one of the most remarkable mothers to be found in our entire family tree.

Peggy Gray Shannon was a Civil War widow who outlived her husband David Reid Shannon by 35 years. (Read more about their story here.) David died in the war at 42 years old when his wife Peggy was just 35 and the mother of 7 children between the ages of 2 and 16! (One of those 7 children was my G Grandfather Sam Shannon, shown in the picture below.)

How does a woman and her children survive something like that? They were simple, poor farming folk in the small town of Sugartown, Lousiana, which was already suffering the hardships of Civil War. When the conflict ended they were on the losing side, meaning government assistance of any kind was virtually nonexistent. Salvation for her and her children came in the form of Peggy's father Richard Gray and her brothers Jim, Sam and Lawson, who made the difficult trek to Louisiana from Stone County, Arkansas and took Peggy and her fatherless children back home with them. They made their home in Stone County where Peggy completed raising her 7 children.

If ever there was a woman whose mothering skills were desperately needed and whose parenting abilities were tested beyond measure, it was my GG grandmother Peggy Gray Shannon. This 35 year old young widow lived 35 more years and died in 1899 in Stone County, Arkansas. On this week leading up to Mother's Day, I can find no woman in all my family tree whose life as a mother deserves more praise and admiration than her. She outlived her husband by 35 long years -- a remarkable fact in itself --  but it only begins to tell the story of her life journey as a mother.

Mary Sprague Shepard Ragsdale. In terms of outliving one's husband, however, none can compare with another Civil War widow in our family, Mary Sprague Shepard (1840-1919), another GG grandmother of mine. She outlived her husband William Shepard by 57 years! He was 26 when he died in Indiana in the Civil War; she was a young 22 year old mother of one infant son. Fortunately she married a second time to a William Ragsdale and had several more children by him (and then outlived her second husband by 32 years!). (See picture of her grave in Indianapolis.)

This coming weekend will be a time to honor and appreciate the mothers in our midst. But we would do well to remember the legacy of remarkable mothers in our family history, women who lived through unimaginably difficult times. Their stories help us to appreciate even more those women who today give of themselves to the joys and responsibilities of being parents.
- - -
Steve Shepard

A Bittersweet Tale of Love and Loss, March 10, 2014

Breed is stronger than pasture.
~George Eliot

Russ and Steve. This coming Thursday, March 13, is the birthday of my youngest brother Russ Shepard of Anacortes, Washington. Russ was born and raised in San Diego but moved with his parents in 1978 to Western Washington where he has lived most of his life now. This Thursday, March 13 is also the birthday of Russ' son Steven Paul Shepard, also of Anacortes. Best wishes to both of them for a very happy birthday!

The first picture shows Steve and Russ in a picture taken yesterday in Anacortes, Washington. Thanks to my sister Barbara for this picture.

Happy Birthday Jerry. This Friday, March 14, is the birthday of my brother-by-another-mother Jerry Clark of Lubbock, Texas. Jerry has been a member of our Shepard clan ever since he married into our family back in 1970 in San Diego. At the time he and my sister Linda were students at Lubbock Christian University. The second picture shows Jerry and his wife Cathrina in a picturesque selfie taken last month in Las Vegas, Nevada. Best wishes and a very happy birthday to Jerry!

March is National Women's History month, an occasion to "recognize the victories, struggles and stories of the women who have made our country [and our family] what it is today." Here is the link to the website with all the details of National Women's History Month.

A Bittersweet Tale of Love and Loss. Tomorrow, March 11, is the wedding anniversary of my GG grandparents William Shepard and Mary Ellen Sprague Shepard who were married 154 years ago. On March 11, 1860 they tied the knot in Montgomery County, Indiana when she was 19 and he was 24 years old. 

This month, being National Women's History month, is the perfect time to highlight what we know about the life of my GG grandmother Mary Sprague Shepard and her place in our history. Soon after their marriage in 1860 Mary and William relocated 100 miles east, to a farming community south of the town of Wabash. In the spring of 1861 she became pregnant, but in the fall her husband William went off to fight in the Civil War. It would not be the last time the most important man in her life left home, never to return.

A few years ago Cindy and I were in Wabash, Indiana doing some family research. I spent one afternoon reading Wabash's weekly Newsletters for the time that Mary's husband William served in the Civil War. In every issue there were reports of the local soldiers who had died, stories of heartbroken mothers and wives, beautiful poems lamenting the horrible losses, tear jerking eulogies, and graphic descriptions of the various conflicts and number of casualties. Week after week, month after month, the headlines continued with unabated sadness, heartbreak and horror. It is hard for us today to imagine what it was like for Mary as the War dragged on interminably. In September, 1862, after William had died in July, his name finally appeared in the list of deaths in the Wabash Newsletter. 

Picking Up The Pieces. Like so many Civil War widows, Mary had to pick up the pieces of her life and somehow move on. There is no record she ever received a military pension, so she was on her own. She took her baby, named William after his father, and returned to her home in Montgomery County, Indiana. Within a few years she met an older widower named William Ragsdale and in 1865 became his wife. She also became the step-mother for his 9 children, the oldest of whom was only 2 years younger than Mary.

With William Ragsdale she had 3 more children, and over the years did her best to hold this big family together. The one casualty of this big blended family was her son William Elmer Shepard, the only child of her short lived marriage to William Shepard. The teenager William Elmer left the family in a huff about 1880 and never looked back.

As far as we know, Mary was never reunited with her son William Elmer. Instead she remained in Indiana as the faithful wife and mother of the large Ragsdale clan. She and her first husband William Shepard had less than two years together. She and second husband William Ragsdale had 22 years together. She then outlived him by 32 years and is buried today in Indianapolis, beneath a headstone where the only description of her is, appropriately enough, the word "Mother".

Endurance and Survival. We cannot imagine what it must have been like to be widowed at 22 with an infant, then suddenly become the step mother of 9 more children at age 25. And then suffer the disappearance of her first son when he was a teen, an experience not too different from the loss of her soldier husband some 18 years earlier. She endured it all and survived as best she could for the nearly 80 years that she lived.

Mary deserves to be celebrated on this National Women's History month. Hers is a life to be pondered, to be remembered, and to be honored. We can be thankful that each of us who are descendants of hers carry something of her spirit of resilience and fortitude within us.
- - -
Steve Shepard

An American Tale, Dec 17, 2013

Happiness doesn't result from what we get, 

but from what we give.

~Ben Carson

As I mentioned in my last post, this Christmas celebrates the 125th anniversary of the birth of my grandfather William Shepard (1888-1976). The first picture (below) shows William with his wife Bura Davis Shepard on Christmas Eve, 1973 -- 40 years ago.

Our Growing Body of Knowledge. The discoveries that have been made about his ancestry since his death have been amazing. We knew that he was originally from Alton, Illinois. We have also known that his father William Elmer Shepard was originally from Wabash, Indiana, but settled in Madison County, Illinois where he married Elvira Owens before they moved to Oklahoma. We have also known that his grandfather William Shepard was from Wabash, Indiana, and died in the Civil War as a young man.

But research done in recent years has filled in many of the gaps in our knowledge of him and his ancestry. We have learned that his great grandparents on the Shepard side were James and Hannah Shepard (Shepherd?), of Eastern Ohio, who migrated to Indiana in the early 19th century. James' grave can be visited in Paint Creek Cemetery outside tiny Camden, Indiana.

William's grandfather, also named William Shepard, was seriously injured in what was probably the first battle of his Civil War regiment at Bowling Green, Kentucky, in February, 1862. The soldier William was taken to a military hospital in Evansville, Indiana where he languished for 5 long months before he died in July, 1862. His grave in the Civil War section of Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville is a solemn, historic location.

Furthermore we have learned the identity of William's grandmother, Mary Sprague Shepard, the Civil War widow who was left with an infant son when her husband/soldier died. Her son was born and her husband was wounded in the same month, February, 1862. The widow Mary went on to marry an older man, William Ragsdale, who she hoped would care for her and her fatherless son. She may have been cared for well, but her son William Elmer Shepard found life in the home of his step father unbearable and left home as a teen, never to see his family again. Mary Sprague Shepard Ragsdale died in 1919 and is buried today in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana.

The runaway teen William Elmer Shepard, in about 1880, ended up in Madison County, Illinois where he married Elvira Owen and made a good life for himself. He, Elvira and their two children moved to Oklahoma in the early 20th century. William Elmer and and Elvira are buried in Sophia Cemetery in Beaver County, Oklahoma.

Most of the foregoing details were unknown to granddad before he died in San Diego in 1976. His story, the elements of it he knew, and the elements he never knew, are all part of our family's history, a history that is important because it is OUR history. These are our people. This is literally our connection to the past, our American tale, a story that deserves to be preserved and passed on.

It is unfortunate that granddad never knew much of his own family's history, but it is fortunate that we have been able to fill in so many of the details in recent years. There is much more to learn. As the years go by we will learn even more about all parts of our family. That knowledge that will become an integral part of our self understanding, that we can pass on to future generations. Ours is a wonderful American story, with both heartbreak and happiness, inspiration and regret, successes and failures. It's a story that we celebrate on this 125th anniversary of granddad William Shepard's birth.

That Was Then; This Is Now. The second picture I am including shows twin Christmas Elves, Dominic and Isaac Ortiz, who are Great Great Grandchildren of William and Bura Davis Shepard. They are sons of Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz of Blue Springs, Missouri. Jeremy's mother is Kim Boyd Clark, and his grandmother is Thelma Shepard Boyd.
- - -
Steve Shepard

Merry Christmas! December 24, 2012

Christmas is the season of joy,

of holiday greetings,

of gift-giving,

and of families united.

~Norman Vincent Peale

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you on Christmas Eve! May this holiday be a joyful one filled with happiness and wonderful family gatherings. 

The first picture shows a couple of the Christmas celebrants at our house this year. In the Santa hats are William Quincy Shepard and his big sister Preslea, in the lap of their mother Chenda.

Tomorrow is the birthday of my Grandfather William Shepard (1888-1976), who was born 124 years ago in Alton, Illinois on Christmas Day, and who died in San Diego in 1976. He and my grandmother Bura Davis Shepard spent 61 years together, during which they raised 4 children, welcomed the arrival of their 12 grandchildren, and were still around to celebrate 6 of their 21 Ggrandchildren. There are 51 branches on our family tree that are the direct result of their life together. 

The second picture shows William Shepard's grave. He and his wife Bura are buried side by side in a beautiful corner of Greenwood Cemetery in San Diego, in a section with a dozen or so other Shepard, Gower and Russell family members.

I mentioned the book Shannon in my last post, written by Dexal Shannon. In its index are 25 different William Shannons. "William" is also a common name on the Shepard side of our family, nearly as common as it is on Gower/Shannon side.

William Quincy Shepard, born this past summer, is a descendant of both the Shepards/Davises and the Gowers/Shannons. His name sakes are his GGgrandfather, his GGGgrandfather, and his GGGGgrandfather, all of whom had the name William Shepard, as you can see in the 8 generation lineage below. The fourth name in the list is the William Shepard whose birthday we remember on Christmas day. Grandad would be proud that his name is being carried on, into the 21st century, by the youngest Shepard among us.

• James Shepard (1813-1887), wife Hannah -?- (1818- 1872)
• William Shepard (1835-1862), wife Mary Sprague (1840-1919)
• William Elmer Shepard, (1862-1915), wife Elvira Owens (1865-1931)
• William Shepard, (1888-1976), wife Bura Davis (1896-1986)
• Eugene William Shepard (1921-2003), wife Maida Gower (b. 1924)
• Steven Dale Shepard (b. 1948), wife Cindy Harris (b. 1948)
• Nathan William Shepard (b. 1977), wife Chenda Sou (b. 1980)
• William Quincy Shepard (b. 2012)

The picture below shows 6 consecutive generations that are included in the lineage above. The William Shepard whose birthday we remember tomorrow is in the middle of the top row.

In the top row, from left to right, are Elvira Owens Shepard (in 1919), her son William Shepard (about 1930), and his son Eugene Shepard (in 1951). On the bottom row are me, Steve Shepard (in 1981), my son Nathan Shepard (in 2011), and his son William Quincy Shepard (in 2012). 

As you can tell, I have taken a liking to this format showing consecutive generations of family members. It gives us a feel for the flow of our family history and enables us to see the similarities (or differences) in appearance over the generations. (Note: the baby in Elvira's lap in this montage is her grandson Elmer Shepard, 1918-2012.)

Blessings to all of you this Christmas!
- - -
Steve Shepard

The Very Act of Remembering, March 10, 2012

We are always adding to the past we remember,

because in the very act of remembering,

we add something new to our past.

~Barbara Mesle

Hello Family and Friends,

I am thinking about my uncle Elmer Shepard whose funeral is today in Henderson, Texas, and about his family who is gathered there to honor him. I have also been thinking recently about Elmer's Ggrandparents, because of some new information I have discovered about their remarkable lives.

An Ill Fated Marriage. Tomorrow is the 152nd anniversary of the wedding of William Shepard and Mary Ellen Sprague, who were married in Indiana in 1860. Theirs was an all too brief, compelling, but ultimately tragic relationship.

These twenty-somethings (she was 20, he was 24) were married on March 11, 1860, in Montgomery County, Indiana, perhaps in the county seat of Crawfordsville, where their marriage record is located today. William's family was actually from Tippecanoe County (to the north) but it was customary for young couples to be married in the bride's county, so they tied the knot in Montgomery County, where her family lived.

A lot of living was packed into their brief 2 year marriage. Here is a quick summary of the events we know about their life together:

• June, 1860: 3 months after their wedding, Census records show William living and working on the farm of the George Baker family near Wabash, Indiana, making good money.
• April, 1861: The Civil War breaks out.
• May, 1861: Mary Shepard becomes pregnant with their first (and only) child.
• September, 1861: William enlists in Company F, 2nd Indiana Cavalry, of the Union Army at Wabash Indiana.
• December, 1861: William leaves home for his military service.
• February 2, 1862: Mary Shepard gives birth to William Elmer Shepard in Wabash.
• Mid-February, 1862: William is injured in battle at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and hospitalized.
• July 21, 1862: William, at 26, dies in a military hospital at Evansville, Indiana, where he is buried today (see first picture of me kneeling at his grave).

Just 2 years, 4 months into their marriage, Mary finds herself a widow with a 5 month old baby boy. The vows and the joys they shared on that second Sunday of March in 1860 must have included some high hopes for a long, happy, productive life together. But those dreams were never realized because of a war that took the life of William and over 600,000 other Americans.

The Rest of the Story.  After receiving word of her husband's death, Mary Ellen packed up little William Elmer and tearfully left Wabash and returned the 100 or so miles to Montgomery County. Like so many other war widows, she returned home for healing and support from family and friends, and to put her life back together. 

After the war ended, Mary Shepard married another William, this time William Ragsdale, an older widower from Ladoga in Mont- gomery County, a man who already had 9 children! With him she bore 3 more children, making a combined family of 13 kids! She went from being a single mother of one little boy, to the Nursery Rhyme mother, who "had so many children she didn't know what to do"!

It was a marriage that took its toll. Not necessarily on her, but on young William Elmer. From all indications she lived with Mr. Ragsdale quite contentedly, and cared for all her, his and their children until they were all raised, and until he died in 1887. Young William Elmer, however, was so out of place in his step-father's home that he ran away as a teenager, never to be reunited with his family.

Mary Ellen Sprague Shepard Ragsdale died in 1919 and is buried today in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. It is not by accident, nor without great meaning, that her headstone has one descriptor for her: Mother. (see second picture of her grave.)

Tomorrow, on their anniversary, I will be saying a prayer in church for my GGgrandparents William and Mary, in gratitude for their lives, and for their willingness to live with courage and hope in a dark and desperate time.

- - -

Steve

Shepard Family From East to West, August 10, 2011

My ancestors wandered

lost in the wilderness for 40 years

because even in Biblical times,

men would not stop to ask for directions.

~Elayne Boosler

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from San Diego, California on this week of our family reunion. This Saturday afternoon at the Anacortes Christian Church (12th and M St) in Anacortes, Washington our family will gather from far and near to celebrate our life together. 

Happy Birthday Jeremy. This coming Friday, Aug 12, is the birthday of Jeremy Ortiz, son of Kim Boyd Clark, of Blue Springs, Missouri. Originally from San Diego, Jeremy and Desiree and their children moved earlier this year to Missouri, where Kim and her husband Jeff Clark live.

Kim: "Jeremy is working like crazy. He has a very busy Pizza Hut store and is looking forward to the Chargers coming to town [Kansas City] Oct 31." The first picture shows Jeremy with their 3 children, Ashlyn, Ciara and Damian.

4th Great Grandparents, James Sr., and Hannah. Recently in this blog I shared about the discovery of my 3rd Ggrandparents James and Hannah Shepard. I would now like to introduce the parents of James Shepard, whose names were also James and Hannah. James Shepard Sr. was born in 1775, the year before the birth of our nation, in Hagerstown, Maryland, just 65 miles from Washington, D.C. His wife Hannah Gatchell was born in 1784 in Calvert, Maryland, in the northeast corner of that state, half way between Philadelphia and Baltimore.

James Sr. and his wife Hannah, followed the lead of most early Americans by moving westward. In the early 1800s, they left Maryland and migrated more than 200 miles, through the Cumberland Valley into southwest Pennsylvania and finally down into eastern Ohio where they settled in Belmont County. That's where their children were born, including their son James Jr., from whom we are descended.

In 1839 Hannah Gatchell Shepard, at only 55, died, leaving her husband James and several children. The very next year, James Jr., who had married his own Hannah, was feeling the same pioneering spirit that had driven his parents westward. The younger James and Hannah left Ohio and migrated some 350 miles further west to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, leaving behind his widowed father James Sr., who died in Ohio a few years later in 1843.

From East Coast to West. With the discovery of the senior James Shepard, and his wife Hannah Gatchell, our Shepard family line has now been traced all the way back to the East Coast, and all the way back to the beginning of our nation. Originally from Maryland, they migrated to Eastern Ohio, where their children were born. One of them, James Jr., migrated to Northwest Indiana with his family, which included William Shepard, a young man who gave his life in the Civil War. He left one son, William Elmer Shepard, who moved to Illinois and then with his own family to Beaver County, Oklahoma. That's where his son William Shepard married Bura Davis. After a move to southeast Colorado, where they lived 12 years, they and their four children made the final jump of over 1,000 miles to the West Coast, settling in San Diego in 1940. 

It took 165 years but the Shepards finally made it from Hagers- town, Maryland in 1775 to San Diego, California in 1940 with stops in Ohio (35 years), Northern Indiana (40 years), Illinois (25 years), Oklahoma (23 years), and Colorado (12 years). If you plot out all these stops from Hagerstown to San Diego (see graphic), you get a fairly direct route that bisects our country from Northeast to Southwest, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Our Shepard ancestors were a wandering people as they made their way across the U.S., but they wandered in a remarkably straight line, at least until they reached the Pacific Ocean.

In San Diego nearly the entire clan lived for more than 30 years until the early 1970s. But in the 40 years since then, many members of our family have "bounced back" to New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. Still others have moved northward to Northern California and Utah. And a large number have moved to Western Washington, in particular Anacortes, Washington where our Shepard Family Reunion will be held this coming Saturday. Only a handful of us Shepard descendants live in San Diego today.

Below is a 9 generation lineage that traces one strain of our Shepard Family from our oldest known ancestor, James Shepard, Sr. of Hagerstown, Maryland, to our youngest family member, Logan Shepard, of Alameda, California (see picture of Logan with his sister Preslea, on granny Cindy's lap).

• James Shepard Sr., (1775-1843) born in Hagerstown, Maryland, who married Hannah Gatchell (1784-1839), the parents of...
• James Shepard Jr., (1818-1887) born in Belmont County, Ohio, who married Hannah (maiden name unknown), the parents of...
• William Shepard (1835-1862)  born in Belmont County, Ohio, who married Mary Sprague (1840-1919), the parents of...
• William Elmer Shepard (1862-1915), born in Wabash, Indiana, who married Elvira Owens (1864-1931), the parents of...
• William Shepard (1888-1976), born in Alton, Illinois, who married Bura Davis (1896-1986), the parents of...
• Eugene William Shepard (1921-2003), born in Logan, Oklahoma, who married Maida Gower (b. 1924), the parents of...
• Steven Dale Shepard, born 1948 in San Diego, who married Cindy Harris (b. 1948), the parents of...
• Nathan William Shepard, born 1977 in San Diego, who married Chenda Sou (b. 1980), the parents of...
• Logan Alexander Shepard, born 2011 in San Francisco, California.

- - - 

Steve