The Shepards
of Escambia County,
Florida
EVIDENCE THAT HENRY SHEPARD WAS THE FATHER OF DANIEL SHEPARD
The 1820 Spanish Census of Pensacola in the section covering Escambia River lists Henry Shepard as a widower with four children between the ages of 11 and 16. This would mean all of those children were born between 1804 and 1809.
I have researched the birth years of two
brothers, Daniel Mack Shepard and Albert Shepard from the 1850 and 1860
censuses of Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, Florida respectively. Daniel was born in 1807 and Albert in
1810. I know these two are brothers
because Daniel was listed in a Notice of Alfred Shepard’s Probate in the 12 Oct
1868 West Florida Commercial. Daniel was
also in the 1830 censuses of Escambia County.
Notes left by Mabel Wilkinson McPhail, great-granddaughter of Daniel Shepard, list four
sons of Henry Shepard: Henry, Green, Daniel and Alfred. The residence of Daniel and Alfred in the
Escambia River area in 1830 and their fit to the ages of the four children of
Henry Shepard in the 1820 Spanish census are a powerful inducement to believe
they are Henry’s sons. Further proof
comes from the censuses which list their state of birth as Georgia. That would mean Henry Shepard would have had
to have been in Georgia between 1807 and 1810.
In the Records of Laurens County, Georgia by Allen Thomas are the
following entries for Henry Shepard:
08-00-1808 Named to work on the Oconee
River - Little Rocky Road.
02-00-1809 Named JP for District 2.
10-07-1809
Witnessed deed of Robt. Halton.
01-15-1810 Mentions “Magistrate Henry
Shepard”.
02-28-1810
Appraised John Green estate.
07-00-1811 $2500 bond secured for
guardian of Thos. Manning.
07-26-1811 George
Shepard wit. Henry Shepard’s deed from Drury Mannin.
08-00-1811 Replaced as JP by Neill
Monroe.
07-17-1813 Dublin Commissioner
09-07-1813 Posted
$1000 bond for orphan (Elizabeth) of Travis Fenn.
10-12-1813 Bought
lot #295 for $325.
01-00 1814
Involved in estate of Willis Brazeal.
01-00-1817 Paid
funds from John Price estate.
Georgia Tax Records list Henry Shepard
paying taxes in Jefferson County, Georgia in 1799, 1802 & 1805 and Pulaski
County, Georgia in 1816.
So Henry was in Georgia during the period
the two brothers Daniel and Alfred were born in Georgia. He was the only Henry Shepard listed in
Georgia or Florida during this period.
In addition, Daniel Shepard donated the land for the Gonzalez Methodist Church and is included in the History of the Gonzalez Church. That history states that Daniel’s father was Henry Shepard who died of Yellow Fever and was buried at Olive. There is a 5 April 1823 notice of the estate of Henry Shepherd, deceased, in the Pensacola Floridian (also on 12 and 26 Apr and 3 May.) There were at least 20 similar notices of others who had died suddenly so this fits with the Yellow Fever cause of death listed in the Gonzalez Church History. Inventory and appraisal records of Henry’s estate are dated Apr 1823.
Probate of Henry Shepard
|
Inventory of 3? articles belonging to the estate of Henry
Sheperd Est
Henry
Shepherd Clark
Jackson Ad filed 22’ Sept r 1823 We
the undersigned having been appointed by the -?- Circuit
Court of the County of Escambia to appraise and
make an inventory of the personal Estate of the deceased Henry Shepherd have accordingly to the best
of our judgment agreed upon the following valuations -?-
all the slaves & effects -?- produced VA 1
Feather Bed worn -------------------------------- $4 ----- 1
Bed stead ----------------------------------------- 3 ----- 1
pine table ----------------------------------------- 1 --- 50 1
Wheel -------------------------------------------- 3 ----- 1
empty Trunk -------------------------------------- “ --- 50 1
Violin --------------------------------------------- 1 ------ 4
Borers -------------------------------------------- 1 --- 25 1
Compass ------------------------------------------ ---- 12 1/2 1
Square bowl 1 drinking glass 1 bowl -------------- ----
37 1/2 1
old Blanket ---------------------------------------- ---- 25 1
Tub ----------------------------------------------- ---- 18 3/4 1 Chissel 1 Axe without handle ----------------------- ---
75 1
Jack plane 1 Saw 1 Tin pot ----------------------- 2 ------ 3
Chairs -------------------------------------------- 1 --- 25 1
Iron pot ------------------------------------------- ----
37 1/2 1
Sieve 1 earthern pot ------------------------------- ---- 37 1/2 1
Negro woman and Child ------------------------ 650 ------- _____________ $669.93 3/4 _____________ Pensacola,
4’ April 1823 Octavious Mitchel H Michelet |
NOTE: Octavious Mitchel was a Commissioner of the City of Pensacola
Henry Michelett owned the Auction Store
where the Slave and
her child
were sold on the 3rd Monday of Sep 1823 at 9:00 AM
Clark Jackson was the administrator of Henry’s intestate estate.
|
TERRITORY
OF FLORIDA, } Escambia
County, To
all whom these presents shall come Greeting. KNOW
YE, That whereas of the
County and Territory
aforesaid hath this day obtained letters of administration on the estate of Henry Shepherd deceased, and whereas it is required
that appraisers be appoin- ted to
examine and report an inventory of the personal estate of the said deceased.
NOW KNOW YE,
That ????? Daniells,Octavious Mitchel
--- Henry Michelet -------------------------- are appointed to view, appraise and make an inventory of all the
personal estate to them pro- duced, belonging to the estate aforesaid, witness the Honbl. Judge of the Circuit
Court, for the County aforesaid this 1st day of April 182
3 indecipherable name Clk |
This now allows us to move on to Daniel Shepard.
Next Generation
Daniel Shepard
of 1819 Escambia
County, Florida
Ten years later in 1830 Daniel is shown
in the census in Escambia County with his wife Mahala Townley whom he married
27 Jan 1827 and four children under ten.
(Mahala’s parents were Luke and Rebecca Townley. Luke died in 1826 and is buried in Pine
Barren Cemetery. Rebecca remarried to
William Richburg and lived to be 100.
She is buried next to Luke.)
Daniel and Mahala had eight children:
Malinda, William Green, Martha, Edmund Ratio, Julia Ann, Frances Jane, Eujenia
and Mary Ethelia. Malinda, my direct
ancestor, married John Wesley Bowman 29 Jan 1852 in Escambia County, Florida.
The Civil War
greatly impacted Daniel’s family. On 22
Jul 1864 Union forces attacked Fort Hodgson, a Gonzalez stronghold. The Confederates were outnumbered and forced
to flee. The Union forces burned the
little fort, as well as Daniel Shepard’s home nearby. In addition,
Daniel’s son, William Green Shepard was shot through the head with a
minié ball during his service with the Confederacy. Though he survived the wound, it affected
him for the rest of his years. And
Daniel's son-in-law, Bynum Jordan, was killed.
Mahala died in 1868 and is also buried in
Pine Barren. In 1870 Dan married
Mahala’s widowed sister, Welthy Townley Hobbs.
Daniel and Welthy were married for 15 years until his death 1 Jun
1885. Together they helped found the
Gonzalez Methodist Church. During the
first year of its existence, the church was known as Shepard's Church but in
1877 was given the name of Powellton Church. I have autograph books from the early
1880s with entries made by Daniel. He
had a strong, graceful writing style and expressed in the entries he made into
his grandchildren’s’ books a deep and abiding faith in God.
Church records state, “In Gonzalez the
significant pre-1900 gifts were provided by the Shepards. Recall that their first gift of land was for
the school. In the mid-1880s they made
their second gift, this time directly to the church. Daniel and Welthy gave land, "in consideration for
the love we bear for the cause of Christ."
Wealthy left her mark on the deed Professor Tate had written out. Daniel, in his 77th year, left a shaky,
feeble-looking signature. Six months
later Daniel Shepard passed away.” He is
buried in the cemetery at Gonzalez. The
committee for the Shepard Church entered into the church record a set of
resolutions which read in part:
Therefore be it Resolved:…
That in the death of Brother Shepard, the community has lost one of its best citizens; a family consisting of
four generations its patriarch, and the church one of its most devout members….
Resolved: That these resolutions be transcribed in the church register and that these pages
be sacred to the memory of Daniel Shepard.
A photograph of his second wife, Welthy,
still hangs in the library of that church.
