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HENRY
C. SHEPHERD
HENRY C. SHEPHERD, of
Buckingham, was born in that township, and is a son of John Carlile and
Elmina (Shaw) Shepherd.
On the paternal side he is a descendant of the family mentioned in
the preceding sketch, being a grandson of Joseph and Sarah (Carlile)
Shepherd, and great-grandson of Cornelius and Katharine Shepherd,
who migrated from
Baltimore
county,
Maryland
, to Buckingham in 1775.
John C. Shepherd,
the father of the subject of this sketch, was born on the old homestead in
Buckingham, and in early life learned the trade of a shoemaker and
followed that occupation in Plumstead township for several years.
In 1850 he purchased the farm of 126 acres in Buckingham, now owned
by the subject of this sketch, where he resided from that date until his
death in 1883. He was an
active worker in the Democratic party, and served one term as coroner of
the county, 1855-1857. He was
for many years a trustee of the Hughesian Free School, and also a director
of the public schools. In
religion he was a Friend. His
wife, Elmina Shaw, was a daughter of Aaron and Susanna (Brown) Shaw, and was born in Plumstead township,
May 4, 1814
, and was married to John C. Shepherd,
April 4, 1838
. She died April 29, 1886.
The pioneer
ancestor of this branch of the Shaw
family was John Shaw, a native
of
England
, who settled in
Northampton
township in 1697, purchasing in that year 300 acres of land.
By his wife Susanna he had ten children, who have left numerous
descendants in Bucks county and elsewhere.
James Shaw, eldest son
of John and Susanna, was born
January 9, 1694
. In 1724 he purchased of his
father-in-law, Thomas Brown, a
native of Barking,
Essex
county,
England
, 200 acres of land in Plumstead township, a part of which remained the
property of his descendants until 1903, and settled thereon.
He died December 3, 1761. By
his wife, Mary Brown, he had six children; the sixth, Alexander, born
November 24, 1734
, died
January 11, 1790
, was the ancestor of the subject of this sketch.
He inherited the old homestead and lived his whole life thereon.
He married Sarah, the widow of Moses Brown,
by whom he had eight children. Aaron
Shaw, the eighth child of Alexander and Sarah Shaw, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch.
He was born on the old homestead, August 19, 1778, and died
November 3, 1838. He lived on
a portion of the old Shaw homestead. He
married
December 13, 1804
, Susanna Brown, of Plumstead.
The children of Aaron and Susanna (Brown)
Shaw were: Rachel; Amos
B.; Charles M.; Harvey; Elmina, the mother of the subject of this sketch;
John A.; Aaron and Gilbert. Both
the Shaws and Browns
were prominent people in Buckingham and Plumstead township, where they
were large landowners. Both
families were members of the Society of Friends, and there was a number of
intermarriages between them. The
Browns donated the land upon
which the Plumstead meeting house stands.
The
children of John C. and Elmina (Shaw)
Shepherd are: Harvey S.,
of
Chicago
,
Ill.
; John A., of Buckingham; Henry C.; Charles S., deceased, who was
insurance commissioner in Chicago; and Emily, of Buckingham.
Henry C. Shepherd,
the subject of this sketch, was reared on the Buckingham farm and obtained
his education at the
Hughesian
School
. His father was an invalid
for many years prior to his death, and, his two brothers having left home
to seek their fortunes in the west, the active management of the farm
devolved upon him soon after attaining manhood.
In 1884 he purchased the farm, his mother removing to the village
of Buckingham, where she died two years later.
In 1891 Mr. Shepherd was
appointed clerk of the board of county commissioners and removed to
Doylestown, where he resided for four years.
Returning to Buckingham, he again took up the management of the
farm. In 1900 he removed to
the village of Buckingham, but still continues the active management of
the farm. In politics he is a
Democrat, and takes an active part in the councils of the party.
He has served three years as school director, and in 1899 was
elected trustee of the Hughesian School for life.
He is a member of Aquetong Lodge, No. 193. I. O. O. F., of
Doylestown. He married, in
1883, Minnie W. Holloway,
daughter of Henry and Ellen Holloway,
of
Philadelphia
, both deceased. Mr. And Mrs. Shepherd
are the parents of one child, Isabelle Emily, born October 18, 1893.
Text
taken from pages 481-482 of:
Davis,
William W.H., A.M. History of Bucks
County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company,
1905] Volume III
Transcribed
February 2004 by Thera Schwenk-Hammond; tsh@harborside.com;
http:// www..rootsweb.com/~schwenk
as part of the Bucks Co., Pa.,
Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html
Published
April 2004 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/ |
Page was last edited:
11/15/2008