William Shepherd

William Shepherd is an enigmatic figure whose life has been difficult to document due to limited resources available from the period and area where he lived. From at least the 1760s onward he seems to have lived in North Carolina, probably in the area that forms the counties along the Virginia border. His family is likely to hail from either of these colonies and there are some candidates described below. His children continued their father's frontier tradition as pioneers in Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, and even Oregon where one branch arrived in 1852.

Married: Elizabeth/Betsy. She might have been a Pendleton since this family name was given to her first born son. Their were several Pendleton families in their area.

There is misinformation circulating that William married an Elizabeth Highsmith in N. Carolina, but her husband was actually a Thomas Shepherd. There was also a Sampson Shepherd in Halifax county, N.C., and some see this connection as proof of William's line. Such proof does not exist, and although there could be some connection with William whose son was a Sampson, the documentation has not been unearthed to prove the family connection..

Children:

- James Pendleton (b. 18 May 1767 in NC; d. 8 Jul 1853 in Jackson Co., Mo.; married Rachel Vaught or Gault before 1785; she was born ca. 1767; died ca. 1835 in Jackson Co., Mo.);

- Sampson (b. ca. 1770 in NC; d. 1845 in Lee Co., Va; married Christina Mooney ca. 1798 in Va; b. 1772 in N, d. after 1820);

- William (b. before 1775 in Halifax County, NC; d. 1828 at Big Stone Gap, Va.; married Elvira Lewis ca. 1795 in Va., b. 1775 in NC; died ca. 1861 in Wise County, Va);

- Martha (b.1776 in NC; d. 1870; married George Blanton before 1795; b. 1775; d. 1860 in Johnson Co., Ky. George Blanton was the cousin or brother of John Blanton whose grandsons John H. Blanton and John W. Blanton married Elizabeth Shepherd and Catherine Shepherd respectively, the grand nieces Martha);

- Rebecca (b. 1779 in Russell County, Va; d. after 1815; married Zachariah Wells, Jr. in 1797 in Lee Co., Va.; b. 1776 in Big Stone Gap, Russell Co., Va.; d. after 1815);

- Nimrod (b. 1782 in NC; d. 1874 in Whitley Co., Ky.; married Jemima/Gemima Smith before 1808 possibly in Lee Co., Va.; Jemima Smith was sister of Elizabeth Smith below);

- Uriah (b. between 1780-6 in NC; d. after 1828, probably in Crawford Co., Ar.; married before 1805 Elizabeth Smith, b. ca. 1791 in Va., d. after 1850, probably Crawford Co.; Elizabeth Smith was the daughter of James A. (Alfred?) Smith and Nancy Mulkey, a full blood Cherokee);

- Elisha (b. before1789; died after 1809).

A report from Ancestry DNA shows Steven Showers ( descendant of William Shepherd through his son Uriah and his wife Elizabeth Smith and their son James) is a 4th to 6th cousin of a descendant of Nimrod Shepherd and his wife Jemima Smith (through their daughter Mary Polly Shepherd who married to Griffin Morgan). Nimrod and brother Uriah married the Smith sisters Jemima and Elizabeth. So this shared DNA is from the parents of Shepherd boys or the Smith girls and confirms the lineage in part.

The birth locations reported for William's oldest children place him in N. Carolina ca. 1765 through 1776, and his widow Elizabeth brought the family back to N. Carolina from Virginia ca. 1790, so it is quite possible William was related to Shepherds found along the NC border counties with Virginia. In particular there are two Revolutionary War officers named William Shepherd found Surry County who could be related (perhaps a father and son, and the younger could possibly be William himself). Our William Shepherd is found in the 1782 Montgomery County, Va tax list (he was living in what would later become the Grayson/Wythe County area).

A family story handed through the generations is that Uriah's son James was given the powder horn that his grandfather carried during the war for his gunpowder, so there is support for military service by the family during the war. The following information provides an area for further military records research.

1) A James Lafoy submitted an affidavit to gain his military pension and described how his 3rd term of service (August 1778) in a company of horse under Captain William Shepherd stationed at the Surry Co. courthouse. They hauled 200 pounds of lead from the Chisels' mines at New River for use in weapons. They also pursued the Torie Col. Roberts who had been attempting to gather support near Flower Gap in the mountains. The principle role of the company was to keep order in the county and keep track of British and Torie movements.

2. William Lovell, who submitted his affidavit for the same purpose, stated he volunteered in Sept. 1781 under a Captain David Humphreys as part of a 600 man force collected at Surry Co. Courthouse under the command of Cols. Robert Lanier and William Shepherd, and Majors James Shepherd and Burks. They were mobilized there through November of the same year.

3. William Boyd's pension affidavit refers to his 2nd tour of duty for six months under Captain William Shepherd in the regiment commanded by James Shepherd and General Rutherford in Surry County. This suggests that the Col. William Shepherd mention by Lovell in #2 is a different man than Captain Shepherd who has a much lower rank in comparison to James Shepherd. It is possible that Capt. Shepherd was the son of Col. Shepherd, and James Shepherd is another relative.

4.The pension application of George Kreiger describes service under Col. William Shepherd in Surry County in April 1779.

5. The pension application of John Fields states he volunteered for three months service in the the company commanded by Capt. William Shepherd in June of 1778 for an expedition against a group of Tories assembling near the "long swamp' at Rocky River. They were joined by several other companies and engaged the Tories in a brief battle. The Tories fled into the swamp where it was thought a bad idea to pursue them. Fields was shot in the leg but was fortunate it did not break a bone. He was left in the care of another officer while the company while the company returned home.

6. Jesse Gordon enlisted in 1776 and served as an Orderly-Sergeant under Captain William Shepherd and Col. Joseph Williams for three months.

7. The text "Historical Sketches of Wilkes County" (1902) reports a confrontation between Col. William Shepherd whose troops came upon Col. Cleveland's detachment which was about to execute a Torie leader named Capt. Tate who was captured with eight others and made prisoners near old Richmond in Surry County. Shepherd initially objected to the summary justice, but Cleveland argued that the prisoner should be hung right then since he had often laid in wait to ambush Col. Shepherd. When he heard it for himself from the Captain who repeated his confession (boast?), Shepherd changed his mind and let the officer swing from a tree. The other eight Tories were imprisoned.

In a parallel story, Col Shepherd was holding two Torie horse thieves in the jail at Surry courthouse, and Col. Cleveland argue that one of them was so notorious that they should not allow him a chance to escape and continue his obnoxious crimes. The man should be hung as an example to others (who might share his politics and criminal enterprise). Shepherd accepted the evaluation and soon the man was dangling from a tree. The other prisoner who was not so odious was given the choice of joining his comrade in the tree or having his ears cut off (a traditional penalty for a horse thief) and banishment from the country. He accepted the latter choice and did the deed himself with a sawing action under military supervision. He then fled with blood flowing down the sides of his head and was never seen again.

8.Record of the 20 June 1780 Battle of Ramseur's Mill (near Lincolnton, N. C.) for Surry County militia with a detachment under Col. William Shepherd, Maj. Richard Goode, and the company of Capt. Joseph Philips. They were under the command of Col. Francis Locke who led 400 N.C. militia against 1,300 Torie militia serving under Lt. Col. John Moore. With no regular troops involved, it was a situation of neighbor vs. neighbor. The patriot forces were outnumbered but won the battle which reduced the morale of the loyalist forces at a time when the British were counting on their support to regain the southern colonies.

9. Another James Shepherd active in the area in addition to the one named above is identified as the son of George and Elizabeth Day Shepherd of Spotsylvania Co. and born in 1730 (his brothers were were John and Robert). According to the text "Early Settlers of Reddies River" by Paul Gregory, General William Lenoir named James Shepherd as a soldier in his company when he was just a captain in 1780. James participated in four campaigns beginning with the Ramsoners expedition of 17 June to 20 Aug. 1780. Just days later he was marching with Capt. Herndon in the expedition to the Catawaba River about 30 Aug. 1780. Follow these episodes he served 7 Sept thought 7 November under Capt. Joel Lewis in a company of light cavalry of the Wilkes Co. militia which participated in the famous patriot victory at Kings Mountain 7. And finally James was again under Capt. Lenoir on 22 Nov. 1780 in the march to New River. James seems to have stayed on in Wilkes Co. after the War and was named in the 1787 county census with 210 acres of land in Judd's District (he owned two slaves). He disappears after this from the area, and some researchers conclude he died ca. 1788.

10. Researcher Carl Blaxton notes that a WIlliam Sheppard/Shepherd.WIlliam was in the Montgomery Co., VA MIlitia in 1782, 1783 and 1785, along with his close friend and probable relative, John Flanary who married Phoebe Boggs and who was a Southern Baptist preacher in Wilkes/Ashe County, NC and Lee COunty, VA and other areas in VA and in Kentucky toward the end. A WIlliam Sheppard owned 840 acres and John Flannary (Flanery etc) owned 200 acres on the property tax lists for 1782 in Montgomery County, VA--the part that later became Grayson County, VA.

Since Elizabeth moved her family back to N.C. in 1790, this could have been done to be closer to William's Shepherd family. Perhaps she needed help as a widow. Ashe County where she lived was not yet formed until 1799, so it was still a region of Wilkes County (which itself was a part of Surry County until 1778). Her proximity to other Shepherds might have been deliberate.

It should be noted that family was important to the Shepherds, and we find that three of William's sons named their children for their brothers. Oldest son James named one of his sons Nimrod. Uriah also named one of his sons Nimrod, and both Nimrod and Uriah named a son James.

Most of what follows is from the research of David Travillion Bunton. Unfortunately we have little evidence for the events of William's life. He is named in the 1782 Montgomery County, Va tax list and living in the region that later become Grayson/Wythe counties. This was on the NC-Va border and family tradition places them there in the 1770s. By 1790 William's widow Elizabeth had moved across the North Carolina border to an area of Wilkes County (later Ashe County which was created in 1799) in the Twin Rivers section near Alleghany Co., NC and Grayson Co., Va. "Betty Shepard" (should be Betsy) is listed in the 10th company of the 1790 Wilkes County, NC census along with her older sons James and William Shepherd, Jr. who have their own families. Betsy Shepard's family included two young males who were Nimrod Shepherd and his brother Uriah Shepherd, and three females, which were Betsy the mother, and her daughters Martha and Rebecca.

By 1795 the family have moved across the border to the mountainous region of Lee County in southwest Virginia where there must have been opportunities for land. The personal property tax list for that year named the household of Elizabeth and also those of her oldest sons James (as Sheperd) and William who had established their own families. Each of them owned two horses. The 1797 county tax list names the households of Elizabeth (with 2 horses) and James (with four horses). William has either been missed or moved to a new location although a William reappears in 1799. On the 1798 tax list Samson (Sampson) is also named along with households of Elizabeth and James (Sampson has one horse while James and Elizabeth each report 2). In 1799 Elizabeth, James, and William are named, and also a Simon which is probably a misspelling of Sampson. The 1800 tax report includes Elizabeth, James, and Sampson. Under the name " Shepard" the households of James (with two horses) Uriah (with one horse) appear on the 1802 personal property tax list for Lee County. A Simon Shepard is also named which might be a misspelling for Sampson. The 1803 tax list for Lee County names the households of Uriah (Sheppard) with two horses, as well as Elizabeth with one horse, James with three horses, and Sampson with one horse (all three are written as Shepperd). The 1804 county list names James (with three males age 12 to 16 ), Nimrod (one male 12-16), Sampson (one male 12-16 ), and Uriah. None of them owned slaves.

The closeness of the family is demonstrated by a Lee County land transaction for 9 Oct. 1804 which records the sale of a parcel to George Blanton and his wife Martha Shepherd Blanton, and the witnesses include his brother-in-law Uriah Shepherd and also his wife's brother-in-law Zachariah Wells (who married Rebecca Shepherd). Other relatives mentioned in the document are John Blanton whose property is adjacent to the piece George purchased, and also William Wells. All must have been neighbors in order to be on hand for signatures.

On the tax list for 1805 William's household is added to the group, but in the 1806 list, James, Nimrod and Samson (sic) are named without Uriah who is absent having migrated west to Knox County, Kentucky. A Jacob, John, and Thomas Shepherd also appear, and they might be relatives. In the 1807 list, the households of James and Sampson are still present, but Nimrod is gone since he too had left for new opportunities for land in Kentucky. Jacob and Thomas are there as well. For the 1809 tax James, Sampson, John, Thomas and William are named. And for 25 May 1810, the tax list shows William, Sampson, and James are living beside each other and Smiths beside them as well who might be related through Uriah and Nimrod whose wives were Elizabeth and Jemima Smith. These tax reports show the Shepherd did not own slaves.

The split up of the family starts from this decade since Nimrod stayed on in Kentucky while Uriah migrated to the Mississippi Indian Territory (later Alabama) and then to Arkansas. James would eventually move from Lee County to Clay County in western Missouri. However, it appears to be that the extended arms of the Shepherds remained in contact since the Blantons who first became in-laws in Virginia were close to their Shepherd relatives in Missouri and were on hand in Oregon in 1852 to recognize and greet the Shepherd branch from Arkansas. Indeed, John H. Blanton married Elizabeth Shepherd and his cousin John W. Blanton married Elizabeth's sister Catherine Shepherd as the families were again united as they had been back in Lee County, Virginia where George Blanton had married Martha Shepherd ca. 1800.

Back in Kentucky where Nimrod settled, his family came in contact with hostile tribes, as reported in 1898 by his great-grandson James Brock (this was found in the diary of Dr. John J. Dickey who recorded stories of the early days of Kentucky, and it was published in the "Kentucky Explorer," Vol. 11, Number 8, February, 1997). Nimrod named one of his sons James in honor of his brother, and James'daughter Barbara Shepherd married Aaron Brock and named her son after her father. The tale Brock related indicated the level of violence that occurred on the frontier (paragraphing added):

"My father's name is Aaron Brock. My mother was Barbara Shepherd. Her father's name was James Shepherd. He was born in Virginia. I do not know what county it was; it was near Fort Yokum and Fort ----, which was taken when he was about ten years old by the Indians who were led by Benge, the white man who was taken by the Indians when a boy seven years old. His capture was as follows: His mother had sent him to gather elderberries for the ducks. A party of Indians came upon him and attempted to kill him. He gathered stones and began to fight them. Pleased with his valor they took him prisoner saying, "He will make a good warrior.

"I have heard my grandfather tell this and many other things, among other things, among them the taking of Fort ---- and the killing of Benge. At the taking of this last mentioned fort, the Indians killed all but two women, the wives of George and Peter Levice (actually Livingston). Among the slain were the aged mother and father of Benge. After the massacre one of the captured women asked Benge if he did not remember an old man and an old woman who were killed. He said he did. She said, "They were your father and mother." He dropped his head and wept. They crossed the Cumberland Mountains at Benge's Gap. One of the women was tied to an Indian chief but the other, led by Benge (Peter Levice's wife), marked the path of their retreat by pieces of her clothing torn and scattered. As the whites pursued, they came to the house of my great-grandfather, Nimrod Shepherd. My great-grandmother was baking bread. It was not more than half-cooked but was divided among them hastily. They took down some dried bear meat and venison saying, "We will use the bear's flesh for meat and the venison for bread."

"The first sight they got of the Indians was an Indian who had been stationed as a picket. He was roasting a turkey and nodding. Peter Levice slipped within 31 feet of him. They feared to shoot, lest the prisoners should be murdered. Springing from behind a tree, Levice, at three bounds, fell upon his victim and dispatched him with his tomahawk. He fell into the fire, and the pursuers first ate turkey and then went on in their pursuit. Peter had lost a wife before this by the Indians and had recently remarried. He swore he would have her if he had to pursue them into Ohio.

[Before they finally came upon them] George Levice's wife was sleeping. Peter Levice's wife was sitting awake. Benge was asleep with his hand in her lap. Only one Indian was awake. A bird hovered over Benge's head, fluttered, and darted off in the direction of the pursuers. The waking Indian shook Benge and told him there was danger. He grunted but fell back to sleep. The bird repeated its performance. The Indian then awakened Benge and told him, "Get up. Bad luck. Bad luck." Benge rose and climbed a black gum tree nearby and got some mistletoe, saying, "I have always gotten mistletoe from this tree when coming to Powell's Valley and have always had good luck." He put it in his shot pouch and they started.

The white men overtook them near Benge's Gap. Mrs. Peter Levice first saw her rescuers, and her husband was the first one she saw. He was peeping from behind a tree. He caught her eye and shook his fist at her to keep her quiet. She went only a few steps, when she broke away and started toward her husband, screaming. Benge made three leaps after her, but seeing his danger, he turned in retreat. Levice fired at him as he was pursuing his wife but feared lest he would kill his wife. As Benge retreated he bounded from side to side to prevent his pursuers from hitting him. Vinton Hobbs saved his load till Benge would get into the narrow gap and then at a distance of 55 yards he put a ball through his head. Benge had a "blackjack" cup tied to his body which he clapped over his forehead, and it filled with blood and brains. He also had a small keg of brandy swung over his shoulder. The white men were so infuriated that they turned the contents of the cup upon the ground and drank the brandy from it. They took three stips of flesh from his back, 18 inches long, saying, "These are for razor strops." They put his skull in the cleft of a rock, and my mother said she had seen it often. George Levice's wife clenched the Indian to whom she was tied and held his arms. He struck at her with his tomahawk over his shoulders but she had his arms pinioned and he could only use them below the elbows. She would dodge his lick as far as her head was concerned but her collar bone received the blows. She held him till her husband came to the rescue and dispatched him. Soon after she died. A party of white men had gone another route in pursuit of the Indians and they killed all that escaped from this party save one and he died after reaching home. This was the last Indian raid into that country. My grandfather died about 20 years ago (1878), he was about 80 (actually 88-94) years old. This would place this event late in the last century (6 April 1794 according to the story told by Elizabeth Livingston)."

Violence in the West was of course not confined to the early days, as demonstrated in the life of Elizabeth's great-grandson Lt. George Washington Shepherd (b. 16 Jan. 1842 in Jackson Co., Mo., d. 1908 or 23 Feb. 1917), a grandson of James Pendleton Shepherd and son of John Pendleton Shepherd. George became infamous as one of the Confederate guerrillas who terrorized northwest Missouri and Kansas in the Civil War. George was a member of Quantrill's Raiders and later rode with the James Gang after the war. He was later reported to have wounded Jesse James at Short Creek (near Joplin, Missouri), in a plot with law officers to gain both revenge the reward money. George is also reported to have killed James Anderson, brother of "Bloody Bill" Anderson by cutting his throat on the lawn of the state capitol in Austin, Texas in revenge for Anderson's role in killing George's nephew Isaac Flannery in which Jesse had some role.

Oliver "Ol" Shepherd, brother to George Washington Shepherd, also rode with Quantrill and the James Gang. He participated in the robbery of the bank in Russelville, Kentucky. Detectives tracked him to Missouri and caught him at one of the family homes (his father's, George's, or his own). Ordered to surrender, one report says he tried to shoot his way out, and was shot seven times and killed. Another report, from eye-witness Margaret Shephard, his granddaughter, said Ol was unarmed, and was shot 20 times and killed by police officers in 1868.