William Shepard

General William Shepard
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1803
Preceded by	William Lyman
Succeeded by	Jacob Crowninshield
Massachusetts Governor's Council
In office 1792–1796
Personal details
Born	(1737-12-01)December 1, 1737 Westfield, Massachusetts
Died	November 16, 1817(1817-11-16) (aged 79) Westfield, Massachusetts
Resting place	Mechanic Street Cemetery
Political party	Federalist
Spouse(s)	Married January 31, 1760 Sarah Dewey[1]
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain  United States
Service/branch	British Army Continental Army
Years of service	1754–1763[2] 1775–1777
Rank	General
Commands	4th Massachusetts Regiment
Battles/wars	French and Indian War American Revolutionary War Battle of New York Battle of Monmouth Battle of Princeton Battle of Trenton[3] Battle of Yorktown Shays' Rebellion

William Shepard (December 1, 1737 [O.S. November 20, 1737]^{[Note 1]} - November 16, 1817) was a United States Representative from Massachusetts (1797–1802), and a military officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. As a state militia leader he protected the Springfield Armory during Shays' Rebellion, firing cannon into the force of Daniel Shays and compelling them to disperse. He was also served in town and state government and was a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council.

Life

Born in Marquis de Lafayette, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, General Henry Knox and other illustrious founding fathers.

Col. William Shepard was at the Battle of Trenton, N.J. with George Washington, and his likeness appears in the painting Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, by John Trumbull at the Yale Univ. Gallery of Art, Chapel St., New Haven.^[5]

Shepard was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1785 and 1786 and was selectman for Westfield from 1784 to 1787. In this time local farmers and veterans of the war began to rebel after months of destitution and taxation they believed to be unfairly levied by the powers from Boston. Many were consigned to debtors' prison. Shepard, then a major general in the state militia, called to duty the Fourth Division of the Massachusetts militia in 1786 and defended the Springfield Armory during what became known as Shays' Rebellion (after one of its principal leaders, Daniel Shays), ordering defenders of the arsenal to fire cannons at attacking the rebels at "waist height" with cannons filled with anti-personnel grape shot. Two of the insurgents were mortally wounded. Messages to Governor James Bowdoin express his deep regret at the shedding of blood. He kept in constant contact with Governor Bowdoin, Sam Adams, John Hancock, and General Benjamin Lincoln, who arrived in a blizzard from Boston just after the Springfield arsenal attack to pursue Shays and his men into the surrounding towns. That order would earn Shepard a lasting reputation as the "murderer of brethren." The local neighbors were so angry that they mutilated his horses, gouging out their eyes, to his horror. He was a member of the Governor's council of Massachusetts from 1792 to 1796, and was appointed in 1796 to treat with the Penobscot Indians and, in 1797, with the Six Nations. Shepard was elected as a Federalist to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Congresses, serving from March 4, 1797 to March 3, 1803; he resumed his agricultural pursuits and died in Westfield, essentially penniless. Interment was in the Mechanic Street Cemetery. A statue of him stands in Westfield, sculpted by Augustus Lukeman. Each year on Patriots' Day, a ceremony is held in Westfield, wherein his descendants and those of four other founding families of Westfield join city and state government representatives, members of the armed forces, clergy, local school children and residents in giving prayer and remembrance of the town's history. From a mid-western paper c.1928 he was reported to have been quoted as saying, "Hang On! If the motherhood of America ever lets go, it will serve us right if America turns to the saloon or its equivalent. But the motherhood of America will not let go."

Notes

References

Bibliography

• William Shepard at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• "A Little Rebellion" by Marion L. Starkey c.1995, Pub.by Alfred A.Knopf, L.o.C. cat # 55-9292
• Lockwood, John Hoyt (1922). Westfield and its historic influences, 1669-1919: the life of an Early Town., Volume 1. Springfield, MA: Rev. John Hoyt Lockwood, D.D. 
• Massachusetts, Office of the Secretary of State. (1906) Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the revolutionary war. A compilation from the archives prepared and published by the secretary of the commonwealth in accordance with chapter 100, resolves of 1891. Boston: Wright and Potter Printing Co., State Printers.
• Westfield (Mass.) 250th Anniversary. Committee of One Hundred (1919). The History of the Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of Westfield Massachusetts. Concord, NH: Rumford Press. 

External links

• General William Shepard Collection at the Westfield Athenaeum
• Letters to Militia General William Shepard at icollector.com
• A sermon, delivered at Westfield, November 18th, 1817; at the funeral of Maj. Gen. William Shepard, aged eighty at the Internet Archive
• Shays' Rebellion - Person: William Shepard at Springfield Technical Community College
• General Shepard Park at Westfield, Massachusetts
• Statue of Major General William Shepard in The History of the Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of Westfield Massachusetts
• Shepard genealogy in Genealogical and Family History of Western New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation, Volume 2

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts 1st district F Ames Dexter Goodhue Holten Sedgwick Skinner Sedgwick J Bacon Eustis Quincy Ward, Jr. Mason Gorham Webster Gorham Appleton Gorham Lawrence Fletcher Lawrence Winthrop Appleton Winthrop S Eliot Appleton Scudder T Eliot Hall T Eliot Buffinton Crapo Davis Randall Wright Lawrence Treadway Heselton Conte Olver Neal 2nd district Goodhue Foster W Lyman Sedgwick Ward Sr. W Lyman Shepard J Crowninshield Story Pickman Reed Pickering Silsbee Barstow B Crowninshield Choate Phillips Saltonstall D King Rantoul Fay Crocker Buffinton O Ames Harris Long E Morse Gillett Churchill Bowles Kaynor Granfield Clason Furcolo Boland Neal McGovern 3rd district Gerry Bourne Coffin Lyman Mattoon Cutler Nelson Livermore White Pickering Nelson Varnum Nelson Osgood Cushing Abbott Duncan Edmands Damrell C Adams Thomas Rice Twichell Whiting I Pierce Field B Dean Field Ranney L Morse J Andrew Walker JR Thayer R Hoar C Washburn JA Thayer Wilder Paige F Foss Casey Philbin Drinan Donohue Early Blute McGovern N Tsongas 4th district Sedgwick Dearborn Thatcher Wadsworth Foster Lincoln Hastings Varnum Richardson Dana Stearns Fuller E Everett Sa Hoar Parmenter Thompson Palfrey Thompson Sabine Walley Comins Rice Hooper Frost Abbott L Morse Collins J O'Neil Apsley Weymouth Tirrell Mitchell Wilder Winslow Stobbs P Holmes Donohue Drinan Frank Kennedy III 5th district Partridge Bourne Freeman L Williams T Dwight Ely Mills Lathrop Sibley Davis Lincoln Hudson C Allen Appleton Burlingame Appleton Hooper Alley Butler Gooch Banks Bowman L Morse Hayden Banks Sh Hoar Stevens Knox B Ames J Rogers E Rogers B Morse Cronin P Tsongas Shannon Atkins Meehan N Tsongas Markey Clark 6th district Thatcher Leonard Reed Sr. J Smith Taggart S Allen Locke Kendall Grennell Alvord Baker Ashmun G Davis Upham T Davis Alley Gooch Banks Butler Thompson Loring Stone Lovering Lodge Cogswell Moody Gardner Lufkin A Andrew G Bates W Bates Harrington Mavroules Torkildsen Tierney Moulton 7th district Leonard Ward Sr. Leonard Bullock Bishop Mitchell Barker Baylies Turner Baylies Hulbert Shaw H Dwight S Allen Grennell Briggs J Rockwell Goodrich Banks Gooch Boutwell Brooks Esty E Hoar Tarbox Butler Russell Stone Cogswell W Everett Barrett Roberts Phelan Maloney W Connery L Connery Lane Macdonald Markey Capuano 8th district Grout Thatcher F Ames Otis Eustis L Williams Green Gardner Green Reed Baylies Sampson Hobart Lathrop Bates Calhoun J Adams Mann Wentworth Knapp Train Baldwin G Hoar JMS Williams Warren Claflin Candler Russell CH Allen Greenhalge Stevens McCall Deitrick Dallinger H Thayer Dallinger Healey Goodwin Macdonald O'Neill Kennedy II Capuano Lynch 9th district Varnum Bishop J Dean Wheaton Reed Folger Reed H Dwight Briggs Jackson Hastings H Williams Hale Fowler Little Dewitt E Thayer Bailey A Walker W Washburn Crocker G Hoar Rice T Lyman Ely Burnett Candler G Williams O'Neil Fitzgerald Conry Keliher Murray Roberts Fuller Underhill Luce Russell Luce Eliot Gifford Nicholson Keith McCormack Hicks Moakley Lynch Keating 10th district Goodhue Sewall Read Hastings Upham J Allen Brigham Wheaton Morton F Baylies Bailey HAS Dearborn W Baylies Borden H Williams Borden Burnell Grinnell Scudder Dickinson Chaffee Delano Dawes Crocker Stevens Seelye Norcross Rice Russell J Walker McEttrick Atwood Barrows Naphen McNary O'Connell Curley Murray Tague Fitzgerald Tague Douglass Tinkham Herter Curtis Martin Heckler Studds Delahunt Keating 11th district Bradbury Bartlett Cutler Stedman A Bigelow Brigham B Adams Russell Hobart Richardson J Adams Reed Burnell Goodrich Trafton Dawes Chapin Robinson Whiting II Wallace Coolidge Draper Sprague Powers Sullivan Peters Tinkham Douglass Higgins Flaherty Curley Kennedy O'Neill Burke Donnelly 12th district Dearborn Parker Lee S Thatcher Skinner Larned Bidwell Bacon Dewey Hulbert Strong Kendall L Bigelow Baylies Hodges J Adams Robinson F Rockwell Crosby E Morse Lovering Powers Weeks Curley Gallivan McCormack Keith Studds 13th district Wadsworth Seaver Ruggles Dowse Eustis Reed Randall Simpkins Greene Weeks Mitchell Carter Luce Wigglesworth Burke 14th district G Thatcher Cutts C King J Holmes Lovering E Foss Harris Gilmore Olney Frothingham Wigglesworth Martin 15th district Wadsworth Ilsley Whitman Widgery Bradbury Whitman Greene Leach Martin Gifford 16th district S Thatcher Cook Tallman Davis Brown Orr Hill T Thacher Walsh Gifford 17th district Bruce Chandler Gannett F Carr Wood J Carr Wilson Kinsley 18th district Wilson Rice Parker 19th district Parker Conner Gage Cushman 20th district Hubbard Parris Lincoln At-large Cobb