USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Northampton > Representative families of Northampton; a demonstration of what high character, good ancestry and heredity have accomplished in a New England town . > Part 5
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Residence of Thomas Munroe Shepherd
66 Bridge Street as decorated for the Quarter Millennial Celebration with banner stating that the house was built in 1792 by a son of General Seth Pomeroy
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The Shepherd Family
ture of duck, of which Dr. Shepherd made large quantities for the United States government. He was one of the wealthiest men in the county, and among those most public- spirited, as well.
In 1771 Levi Shepherd, as previously mentioned in this sketch, married Mary, a daughter of the famous General Seth Pomeroy. Their son Thomas, who was born in 1778 and died in 1846, was also a merchant and a large land owner. He was postmaster from 1830 to 1841 and again from 1845 to 1846. He married Catherine, a daughter of Judge John Tryon, of Lebanon Springs, New York, a descendant of William Tryon, one of the founders of Middletown, Con- necticut. Her mother belonged to the distinguished Lay family of Lyme, Connecticut. Thomas Shepherd, like his father, Dr. Levi, was eminently public-spirited and enter- prising. These qualities, and more, he transmitted to his son, Henry.
HENRY SHEPHERD
Henry Shepherd is well remembered by many of the older residents of Northampton as a remarkable man in many ways, and as a true representative of the best American family life of the nineteenth century. He was noted for his cheerfulness, unselfishness and loyalty to family, for his honesty and his firmness in exemplifying the highest moral and religious principles in life and conduct, and moreover as possessing a nature of rare poetic sentiment.
After a common school education, something which meant more in those days than it does now, he attended the famous Bancroft and Coggswell school on Round Hill, and then began the work of life in his father's store. He was offered an opportunity to become a New York merchant, but having weighed the pecuniary advantages against the
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Representative Families of Northampton
more independent occupation of agriculture, and having a natural dislike for the hustle and bustle of a city, he elected the country life and began farming, then the prevailing in- dustry of this valley. Starting in the "60's," he was for a long time, superintendent of construction of the Western Union Telegraph Company.
Not content with the education gained in school, he broadened it by means of wide reading and the close ob- servation of a long life. In his day there were few clubs or fraternal organizations, but his membership in the Unitarian Church opened an opportunity to meet his fellow men in religious and friendly association.
In politics he was one of the old time Democrats, as opposed to the Whigs. But he changed his political affilia- tion on the issue of slavery, and became a Republican when that party was formed. Later the evils of intemperance, ob- noxious to one of his pure character and high ideals, allied him in active work with the Prohibition party. Within the twelve months previous to his death, when eighty-nine years of age, he attended as a delegate the National Convention of the party held in Chicago. His ideas on the liquor ques- tion were frequently expressed in the local papers with a virility and pungency which were as delightful to his friends as they were annoying and unanswerable to those who opposed him.
During many of the later years of his life Mr. Shepherd contributed to the Northampton and Springfield news- papers articles of great interest to people in this vicinity. They were principally reminiscent, but often touched on matters of a local character, and they showed rare judg- ment and an enterprise that stamped him as a man of wise progressive mind, most unusual in one of his age and limited opportunities.
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Henry Shepherd 1811-1900
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Henry Shepherd
in his eighty-ninth year, riding "Mr. Fox" at the Three County Fair, which he had attended each year since its organization in 1818
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The Shepherd Family
All of those which are reminiscent and historic are of such value that it is hoped they may be treasured in some public archives and thus become available to students of local history. In his letters he resisted forcefully the ruinous plan of the railroad companies in reference to the grade crossings, and gave unanswerable arguments in favor of the "meadow plan" to place the Union Station near the spot where the residence of Mrs. John L. Draper now stands. But Mr. Shepherd and the local press (the Hampshire County Journal) were too progressive for the time, and a compromise plan was finally adopted by which the railroad tracks were placed over the street, instead of under, and the station allowed to remain where it was with a high embankment dividing the city. This was but one instance of the many astute and timely views he expressed in his old age on matters of local public welfare.
Mr. Shepherd was twice married. His first wife, whom he married February 14, 1838, was Elizabeth M. Strong, daughter of Captain Samuel and Elizabeth (Smith) Strong of Belchertown, Massachusetts. Mrs. Strong was grand- daughter of Dr. Phineas and Abigail (Lay) Smith, of the dis- tinguished John Cotton Smith family of Sharon, Litchfield County, Connecticut, and great-granddaughter of Samuel and Jerusha (Mather) Smith. The latter was a descendant of Richard Mather, first president of Harvard College. Other distinguished ancestors of Mrs. Shepherd were Governor John Haynes and Governor Wyllys of Connecticut.
John Devotion, one of the founders of Brookline, Massa- chusetts, another interesting ancestor, was of the Huguenot family, De Vaution. On the paternal side, Elizabeth (Strong) Shepherd was a descendant through the Hebron, Connecticut, branch, of Elder John Strong. There were three daughters born to this union of the Strong and Shepherd families;
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Representative Families of Northampton
Mrs. Mary E. (Shepherd) Cogill, Mrs. Helen M. (Shepherd) Crane, and Mrs. Catherine (Tryon Shepherd) Smith, wife of Albert E. Smith of Springfield, Massachusetts. Only the last named is living.
Mrs. Smith, who is greatly interested in historical and genealogical research, joined the Northampton (Betty Allen) Chapter, of the Daughters of the American Revolution, some years ago, and she served as vice regent from 1912 to 1915. During almost the entire period of her membership she has been active in the movement inaugurated by her chapter to secure some old landmark of the city to use as a Chapter House.
Henry Shepherd was united in his second marriage with Susan L. B. Munroe of Boston. They had one son, Thomas M. Shepherd, who is now living in Northampton in the old Bridge Street homestead shown in one of the illustrations of this chapter.
Mrs. Susan (Munroe) Shepherd's ancestry on the Mun- roe side is traced to Mary Chilton, a passenger on the May- flower, who, tradition says, was the "first woman to step on Plymouth Rock" when the Pilgrims disembarked from that historic ship. Mary Chilton married John Winslow in 1627, and their daughter became the wife of Miles Standish, Jr. Through the families of Middlecott, Boucher, Foye, and Munroe is traced Mrs. Shepherd's Mayflower line. Her Rev- olutionary ancestor, Ensign Munroe, was the first man killed in the fight at Lexington. His was thus the first blood shed in the War of the Revolution.
In his later years Henry Shepherd became both a fa- miliar and a beloved figure on the streets of Northampton. The remarkable mental and physical vigor which marked him at this time contributed to the interest his appearance aroused. Many now remember the beautiful picture presented
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Shepherd Dining Room
showing all the seven different kinds of tableware used here since the settlement of this country, including silver articles deposited in the family well at Charlestown, to escape destruction when the British burned that place, in 1775.
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Colonial Sleeping Room in the Shepherd Homestead showing family heirloom furniture including high-poster bed-spread embroidered by an ancestor in 1735
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The Shepherd Family
by the old man of handsome and stalwart figure riding his mettlesome Kentucky thoroughbred, "Mr. Fox," in com- pany with his son, and many eyes followed the two as they cantered briskly down the street of an early summer morning.
In his ninetieth year, and only a few months before his death, he shared with his son and John J. Eddy, a Boston banker, a prolonged horseback ride of a hundred and eighty miles through the Hampshire and Berkshire hills. The trip lasted eight days, and yet he returned only slightly fatigued.
He died in the family homestead on Bridge Street, No- vember 20, 1900, at the age of eighty-nine years. The esteem in which he was held was shown by the many prominent citi- zens who gathered at the old home to honor his memory.
The tributes there paid him by his pastor, and by Rev. Dr. Henry T. Rose, his next door neighbor, were most touch- ing and truthful. The fine qualities of his character were well portrayed by Dr. Rose who said in part, as follows:
"He was a son of the morning. I suppose he has seen more sunrises than any man left in the city. He wanted to be out with the wind and the sunlight and under the sky. As he came and went so often on horseback, I heard in the drowsy morning the hoofbeats of his horse as he returned from his early ride, and I knew that he brought back with him the spirit of the opening day, its cheer and its promise and unwasting hope. And so, all day long he was a man of action. His eye was strong with youth. He kept the mind of childhood (and not of second childhood) through to the end of life. The morning lasted all day with him and in his case it was true, that 'at evening time there shall be light.' He believed in the new dogmas as he did in the precious old ones, and he had a simple faith in God and man and the spirit leading unto truth. There was a large and deep re-
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Representative Families of Northampton
ligious life with him that showed itself in a generous and kindly hospitality and openness of heart and manner. He has so often spoken of the cardinal thing in religion as being the love of God. He said, over and over again, we must not get away from that. It is the essential thing. That was the anchor of his philosophy and his life. Now this, in a few words, with no desire of effort to analyze his character, is the impression he made on one of his neighbors, a new comer in his vicinity, but impressed with the quality of the man and his interesting personality. He was a strong man and unafraid, generous and true, who has left a fair name, a most interesting story and a precious memory."
THOMAS MUNROE SHEPHERD
Thomas M. Shepherd, son of Henry and Susan L. B. Shepherd, was born in Northampton, September 18, 1856, inheriting an honorable ancestry. After several years in Miss Wright's private school on Bridge Street, he attended the town schools, and graduated from the high school in 1875.
Beginning life with no financial inheritance, he early decided on a business career and entered the First National Bank of Northampton, where he completed an apprentice- ship of three years. He received no encouragement to re- main in the home town from the business men there, and hence became associate with the banking firm of J. G. Mack- intosh Company of Holyoke. From this firm and others he found business recognition and success.
He had early realized that a discreet reticence, pains- taking detail, and loyalty to his business house, which meant attention to its affairs before indulgence in his own pleasures, were the true foundation stones of success. He later became secretary of the Manufacturers' Trust Company of Holyoke, and on the liquidation of that institution, after having been
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Thomas Munroe Shepherd
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The Shepherd Family
in Holyoke eighteen years, he went into business for himself in Springfield.
While there he was appointed co-receiver of the Taber Prang Art Company, which gave him the opportunity to make a unique record in a position too often used for pecuniary profit to the holder of it. At the beginning of this receiver- ship, had he chosen to adopt such a course, he could have purchased many shares of the company at five cents on a dollar, so disheartened were the stockholders of the enterprise. He was offered stock by one man interested, who told him that he "could feather his own nest," like some other re- ceivers, before he gave the stockholders anything. But Mr. Shepherd advised the shareholders to retain their stock, and then began a long period of hard work. There were law suits to be met, and he was required to furnish the material for the arguments before the United States Court. The case was decided in favor of the company. It was nearly three years before he was able to show results, but these were re- markable ones. In 1901 he announced that every creditor had been paid one hundred cents on a dollar, and that the affairs of the company were placed on a new firm basis, and the property turned back to the stockholders. Probably there is no record of a similar result having been accomplished in this state, and Mr. Shepherd has had the highest satisfac- tion and gratitude expressed by the corporation and their creditors. The compliments paid him by the press of the Connecticut Valley would fill several pages of this book.
Retiring from active business life before fifty years of age, content with having accumulated a modest fortune, he now has the opportunity to enjoy the best of life. He has leisure for travel and pleasant recreation, and the means to assist others, a task which he carries out in quiet methods and in the wisest fashion, by helping others to help them-
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Representative Families of Northampton
selves, as the recipients of his assistance can and do gladly testify.
His fortune has been earned by the hardest kind of labor, intelligent brain work, and persistent application. This state- ment has been made because so many fortunes of these times are gained by "grinding the faces of the poor," and by cor- rupt and questionable means. He does not claim any credit for his own methods of accumulating a fortune, but his friends do for him. When asked what advice he would give young men from his own experience, he said :-
"Avoid tobacco and liquor first of all. Be prompt and cheerful. Make your employer's interests your own. Be not afraid to do more than you are paid for. Learn all parts of a trade. When you reach a position of authority do as you agree and require it of others. Win the confidence of your associates. Do business so that you can do it again with the same people."
NORTHAMP
ON
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NONOTUCK - 1653
CARITAS
EDUCATION
JUSTITIA
The Northampton City Seal designed by Thomas M. Shepherd
One of his most remarkable characteristics is versatility in many directions. His particular branch of the banking profession has given him experience in various manufacturing
Mrs. Thomas Munroe Shepherd
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The Shepherd Family
problems. A native ingenuity and skill in technical work has been aided by close observation of men and things. He has also inherited an excellent ear for music and a great fa- cility with artist's tools, for he is a notable amateur landscape painter in both oil and water colors, and an excellent work- man with pen and ink and etching. Interesting, in this branch, are the designs for the seals now used by Northamp- ton and by Hatfield, as well as various other designs for book covers, monograms, illustrations, and letter heads for business and festive occasions.
This versatility has also carried him into many social affairs, including amateur dramatics and public enterprises. While in Holyoke, he was for ten years secretary and man- ager of the Arlington Club, then the leading social organiza- tion of that city. He was also the Northampton member of the Springfield Annual Charity Ball Committee for many years, and was prominent in the social life of these neighbor- ing cities. His ancestry made him eligible for membership in the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and he is now president of the Seth Pomeroy Chapter of Northampton.
When Northampton celebrated its Quarter Millennial anniversary, Mr. Shepherd was appointed by the mayor a member of the general committee and chairman of the com- mittee on historical collections. He arranged an exhibition in the James house on Gothic Street which drew the attention of antiquarians and the general public from far and near.
Later he figured prominently in the pageant given by the Daughters of the American Revolution in "Wildwood," June, 1911, when many thousand people witnessed the several performances. On this occasion he took the part of his ancestor, General Seth Pomeroy, which necessitated a wild horseback ride across the woodland stage.
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Representative Families of Northampton
He has taken much interest in the Child's Welfare move- ment, and was an energetic worker for the exhibition given in its behalf in the city hall in Northampton early in the winter of 1912.
Mr. Shepherd has never craved nor held any political office, although he has generally affiliated with the Republican and sometimes with the Prohibition parties. His church in- terests have always been with the Unitarian faith, and he has invariably been an active member of the board of trustees. He designed and gave to the new building of the Northampton Unitarian Society in 1905 a memorial window in honor of his father and mother, which he entitled "Service." The central figure against a local landscape is that of a mother caressing her child and pointing upward with her right hand, illustrating the inscription on the window, "Serve the Lord with Glad- ness," and "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help."
He also prepared and gave the contents for the corner stone, and at its laying made interesting remarks. He is now a member of the advisory board of the Children's Home; a trustee of the Cooley-Dickinson Hospital; and librarian of the Northampton Historical Society, as well as vice-president of the Connecticut Valley Conference of Liberal Churches.
His principal service to his fellow men, however, came in an unexpected way to the general public, when he erected and presented to the trustees of the Dickinson Hospital a surgery building which had long been needed, but was utterly beyond the power of the management to obtain with its slen- der endowment. This he was led to do as his contribution to aiding suffering humanity, and as a memorial to his father. He designed the entire building, made the drawings, and had the work done under his own supervision, and paid for it rom money acquired by his own efforts.
The Henry Shepherd Surgery
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The Shepherd Family
It was opened to the public June 3, 1904. Illustrations accompanying this chapter show both interior and exterior views of the building but an inspection is needed to reveal the painstaking care used in the construction and the de- tailed arrangements of the building. Before designing the surgery Mr. Shepherd visited many similar adjuncts to hos- pitals in various parts of the country, and thus was able to design and build an operating room that was not only fitted with the best equipment of the time, but contained many new features anticipating future needs.
This memorial of a son to his father will be better ap- preciated when it is remembered that the latter's humani- tarian ideas were so strong and so constantly expressed in his life and writings, that only to think of Henry Shepherd is to recall his intense interest in anything that was offered for the amelioration of the ills of human beings. If he had been told of this gift he would have said that an aid to human suffering by the most scientific means obtainable was more in accordance with his wishes than any ornate monument could have been. That this also was the view of the general public was soon evident when the building was open for general inspection. Among the many appreciative comments was the following: "If erecting such a building and perma- nently providing for suffering humanity is not a Christian act then I do not know what makes one." The inscription on the tablet bears out the donor's own motives. It reads:
For the relief of human suffering And in loving memory of his father Henry Shepherd For many years a resident of Northampton This building was erected by Thomas Munroe Shepherd, 1901
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Representative Families of Northampton
Having spent more than two years in the erection of the surgery, and having retired from business, Mr. Shepherd felt that he could safely carry out a long wished for ambition. He left his personal business in other hands and started on an extended period of travel. First he visited the beauty spots of our own country, and then those of foreign lands. He spent eight years in these journeyings covering a distance of ninety thousand miles, and visiting fifty different nations, among them remote parts of South America, Africa, and the Orient. He returned with a rare collection of typical and interesting souvenirs. These comprise varied examples of art, technical work and fabrics of all countries visited, and a unique journal illustrated with pen and ink sketches.
On September 15, 1914, Mr. Shepherd married Miss Edith Carpenter of San Francisco, third daughter of George Washington Carpenter, and his wife Elizabeth, who was a great-granddaughter of John Kays, an aid-de-camp of General George Washington in the Valley Forge days of 1777.
After he and his bride had visited nearly all the countries of the Orient they returned to the ancestral Shepherd home in 1915.
Among the old houses of Northampton this home is unique. Without striking architectural features or an ob- trusive display of wealth, it contains the best articles of household use since the year of its erection in 1792. If one should study all its treasures he would be well acquainted with the life of New England people since that time. These be- longings are notable from having been in the possession and use of one family. They include all departments from strange wrought iron farming implements, oxbow, fire box, warming pan, willowware dishes, old pewter, and other uten- sils, to samplers, silhouettes, ivory miniatures, bridal robes, and baby dresses; mahogany sideboard and lowboy, even
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Instrument Room
Sterilization Room
Operating Room
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Sewing Room
Interior scenes in the Henry Shepherd Surgery
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The Shepherd Family
glass decanters, and pestle and mortar used by the old dames when they compounded toddy for the visiting parson and pounded up lump sugar to sweeten the drink. Such a col- lection should be housed in a fireproof building for the in- struction of a new America in the daily events of a vanishing New England life when the necessities of that life were manu- factured within the home.
Evidences of Mr. Shepherd's artistic skill are seen in the many sketches of grand American and foreign scenery, few of which can find place on the walls of the home, and in the rare souvenirs from abroad, and the mottoes displayed over fireplaces and on wall hangings, which were painted by the owner of the house. Some of the treasures are shown in the accompanying photographs, but to realize their attrac- tiveness one must visit the house itself. Such a visit is esteemed a great good fortune by those who gain entrance to its pleasant rooms.
EDWARD H. R. LYMAN Publisher's Note
T HE biographical text, which had been prepared for this volume to accompany the portrait of Mr. E. H. R. Lyman and the view on the grounds of his estate at "Fort Hill" in this city, has been omitted by request of the family. It is hoped that a family memorial book will, in the future, supply the knowledge needed of one of Northampton's most noted families, and of that worthy descendant, Mr. E. H. R. Lyman, who has so endeared himself to all Northampton's citizens.
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Edward H. R. Lyman Father of the Municipal Theater in the United States
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View on the Lyman Estate at Fort Hill
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THE WILLIAMS FAMILY
A family that has had many members of sterling worth both in Britain and America.
T HE name of the Williams family is derived from the ancient personal name, William. The family, which is of great antiquity in the British Isles, had its seat in Flint, Wales, and in Lincolnshire, England. It is said that Oliver Cromwell, the "Great Protector," was a Williams by descent, and that Richard Williams, who settled in Taunton, was related to him. However this may be, these are facts: Alden Cromwell lived in the age of William the Conqueror, and among his ten children was one, born about 1494, named Sir Henry Cromwell, alias Williams. He was called the "Golden Knight of Hinchenbrook." The alias finally came to be used quite generally by the family, so that when Oliver, the "Protector," came on the world's stage it was assumed as a right. He used the alias in his youth and his name appeared later on deeds as "Oliver Williams, alias Cromwell."
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