USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume IV > Part 21
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Ether Shepley was united in marriage in the year 1816 with Anna Foster, whom he knew while a student at Dartmouth. Her death occurred in 1867. They were the parents of the following children: John R., a student of Bowdoin College, from which he received the degree of LL.D. and afterwards became one of the most prominent at- torneys of St. Louis, Missouri; George Foster, whose sketch follows; and Leonard D.
GEORGE FOSTER SHEPLEY-The career of George Foster Shepley is one of those of which the State of Maine has the greatest reason to feel prond and he is deservedly ranked by his fellow citizens with such men as James G. Blaine, Thomas Reed and others, the greatest of her sons. His service at the bar and on the bench, a service rendered particularly to his State, and that rendered by him during his brilliant career as a soldier and military governor during the Civil War and the difficult period of reconstruction that followed, were such as to awaken the spon- taneous admiration of his fellow citizens, while his virtue and fidelity as a man and a Christian were well attested by his fruitfulness in good. His personal traits of character were such as to endear him to his great multitude of friends and professional associates, and the handsome memo- rial tablet erected in his honor in St. Luke's Ca- thedral at Portland, Maine, by a group of men who had known and come into constant rela-
tions with him is an eloquent if silent tribute to this most genuine veneration and affection.
General Shepley was a son of the Hon. Ether and Anna (Foster) Shepley and a member of a distinguished New England family, his descent being traced in the sketch of his father precedes this. That father was for many years one of the best known jurists of Maine and a man who stood for all that was best and noblest in the traditions of the American bar, while his mother was a woman of the highest type of New England gen- tlewoman, so that the home atmosphere in which the lad, and afterwards the youth, was reared, and where his impressionable character was formed, was well calculated to bring out and foster all that was purest and strongest in his nature.
He was born January 1, 1819, at Saco, Maine, and his childhood was spent in his native town and in attendance upon the local schools. His father had been a student at Dartmouth College, and had the strongest kind of associations with that great institution, so that when, at an un- usually early age, the youth was ready for col- lege it was there that he was sent. He was grad- uated after the usual academic course with the class of 1837, when only eighteen years of age. It was quite natural that the young man, brought up in the atmosphere of the law and with the shining example of his father before him, should desire to follow in the elder man's footsteps and adopt the law as his profession. This, indeed, was true and after his graduation from Dart- mouth he entered the Harvard Law School, where he had the privilege of studying under such brilliant teachers and complete masters of the law as Judge Story and Professor Greenleaf. He com- pleted his law studies in two years, and upon graduating from Harvard in 1839 he was admit- ted to the bar of Maine, though but twenty years old at the time. He first made his headquarters at Bangor, Maine, where he commenced practice in association with Joshua W. Hathaway, after- wards associate justice of the Supreme Court of Maine. In 1844 Mr. Shepley came to Portland and there became a partner of the Hon. Joseph Howard, a distinguished member of the Portland bar. Judge Howard had already developed a large legal business which attained even greater proportions during the existence of the firm of Howard & Shepley. In the year 1848 Chief Jus- tice Whitman died and Justice Ether Shepley, al- ready an associate of the Supreme Court, was appointed to fill the highest judicial office within the gift of the State. This left a vacancy in the court and Mr. Howard was chosen to fill it. It
George .F. Shipley
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thus happened that the whole weight and respon- sibility of the large practice of the firm fell upon the shoulders of young Mr. Shepley, who proved himself quite capable of managing it. Not long afterwards he associated with him John W. Dana, now deceased, and the firm of Shepley & Dana rapidly assumed a place in the front rank of the profession. The bar of Maine at that time numbered among its members such men as Gen- eral Samuel Fessenden, William Pitt Fessenden, Edward Fox, Thomas Amory Deblois, R. H. L. Codman and others of like standing, yet among these brilliant attorneys young Mr. Shepley took his place as an equal, proving himself a worthy successor to his father. In 1853 he was appointed by President Pierce United States district attor- ney for Maine, and in 1857 was reappointed by President Buchanan. Until 1861 he continued in this office, trying many difficult cases for the gov- ernment and acquitting himself with the utmost ability. At the same time he was engaged in his private practice, which increased from year to year until it was one of the largest in Maine.
The story of Mr. Shepley's participation in the political upheaval of the time is an interesting one. His father, Justice Ether Shepley, had al- ways been a staunch Democrat in his affiliations, and the younger man had grown up with the same strong sympathies, founded on a very clear understanding of the great principles involved. In spite of his firm convictions, however, he was re- luctant to take part in the political activities, pre- ferring to devote his attention to his chosen mis- tress, the law, for which he had much the same pure devotion as his father. It was impossible for a man of his prominence and reputation to re- main entirely aloof, however, for he was con- stantly being invited to support this or that can- didate or policy, and he naturally felt a certain obligation to defend and urge his principles and beliefs. In 1850 he was the successful candidate of his party for the State Senate, and in his ca- pacity as legislator he was irresistably drawn into the conflicts then raging. In each case where he appeared as an advocate for some purpose or aim of his party, he won further laurels as a sincere and eloquent speaker, and in the ranks of his opponents became an adversary to be feared. In the year 1860 he was a delegate-at-large for Maine at the Democratic National Convention at Charlestown, South Carolina, and afterwards at the postponed sessions of that body at Baltimore. He was a prominent figure there and his speech in reply to the call for the State of Maine won him national fame. The principal candidates at
the convention were Judge Douglas and Mr. Guthrie, and it was for the latter that Mr. Shep- ley cast his vote, his being one of the three out of eight Maine delegates so cast. With the nomi- nation of Judge Douglas he put aside his own preferences and lent his powerful aid in the cam- paign that followed, yet it was known that he was not in entire accord with a large faction of Doug- las supporters. The Democratic party was very much split up into factions at the time, and many of its members were uniting with the new Re- publican party, organized on the issues of aboli- tion anti-slavery and the preservation of the Union. While Mr. Shepley did not then leave the ranks of the Democratic party, he was wholly in accord with the Republicans upon both of these then paramount questions, and when Abraham Lincoln was elected was among the first of the leaders of his party to uphold the President's hands.
His support was of the practical kind of ac- cepting a commission as colonel of the Twelfth Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, September 27, 1861. His appointment to this responsible post was largely due to the representations of General B. F. Butler in command of the New England Division raised in this region and of which the Twelfth Regiment was designed to form a part. After spending a few months at Camp Clase, near Lowell, Massachusetts, he em- barkd from Boston on the steamer Constitution in command of a detachment of General Butler's division consisting of his own regiment, the Thir- tieth Massachusetts Regiment, two companies of mounted rifles and one section of a battery. After other delays he finally arived at Ship Is- land, near New Orleans, having, in the meantime, joined his commanding officer, General Butler, with the rest of the division. So efficient had Colonel Shepley proved himself in the difficult matters of transporting and caring for the large body of troops so entrusted to him that on March 22, 1863, by general order No. 2, Department of the Gulf, he was placed in command of the Third Brigade, which consisted of the Twelfth, Thir- teenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Maine Regiments, the Thirtieth Massachusetts, the First Maine Bat- tery and Magee's cavalry. This was a prelimin- ary step to an office which he was later to fill and in which he was destined to do a very great service to his country. Not long after his in- creased responsibilties, General Butler occupied New Orleans, and Colonel Shepley was made military commander of the city in charge of the troops there and at Algiers. The difficulties and
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responsibilities of this post were soon after ma- terially increased, for, the confederate mayor be- ing arrested by General Butler for disloyalty, he was ordered to assume the civic duties of ad- ministration. In this most delicate position, Col- onel Shepley displayed the most praiseworthy combination of respect for the lives and rights of the civil population with the sternest determin- ation to suppress any attempt at disorder or in- fraction of the military rule. He at once issued a proclamation assuring the people of protection, but warning against any interference with the sol- diers in the discharge of their duty. He retained in force all the city ordinances that it was pos- sible to do under the changed circumstances and endeavored to make the burden of military occu- pation as light as was consistent with security. He rightly believed that this policy was best cal- culated to serve the ends of his government and allay the bitter feeling entertained against it by those who had felt its force. The condition of the city was not only maintained at an equality with what it had previously been, but actually im- proved so that what had gained the name for a somewhat unhealthy community became under his rule, highly sanitary and clean. So great was his success that on June 3, 1862, upon the recom- mendation of the Secretary of War, President Lincoln appointed him military governor of the State of Louisiana with almost absolute powers, and on July 26 of the same year he was appointed brigadier-general. General Shepley at once put into force the same splendid regulations obtaining in New Orleans throughout the entire State, ap- pointed acting mayors to administer the affairs of cities, reopened the courts under loyal judges appointed by himself, and in general brought or- der out of confusion and restored the normal ac- tivities of the community in as great a degree as was possible in war time. He continued to ad- minister the affairs of the State for nearly two years and then, upon the election of a civil gover- nor elected by the people, he was, at his own request, relieved by the President and ordered to report to the adjutant-general for service in the field. How far General Shepley had overcome the prejudices of the people over whom he had been set to rule and how much he had done to restore confidence and trust in the purposes of the United States Government on the part of many of the Confederates, may be seen in the address signed by many of the leading men of New Or- leans at the time of his retirement from office over them. It began in the following words and was an eloquent tribute to his firmness, his mercy and justice :
We, citizens of New Orleans, avail ourselves of the opportunity afforded us by the close of your official career among us, to give expression to the sentiments of regard and esteem with which your character and conduct have inspired us. For nearly two years you have performed the delicate and arduous duties of Military Governor of Louisiana in a manner beyond all praise, winning in your official capacity the respect of the whole community, and by your social virtues converting all who have enjoyed the pleasure of your acquaintance into warm personal friends.
General Shepley was next ordered to report for duty in the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, at the personal request of the general commanding, and was placed by him in command of the military district of Eastern Virginia in which were included the important posts of Fort- ress Monroe, Newport News, Yorktown, Wil- liamsburg, Norfolk and Portsmouth, with the line of defences known as Getty's Line, the eastern shore of Virginia and that portion of North Caro- lina north of Albemarle Sound. Later he once more engaged in field operation as chief of staff to Major-General Weitzel, and for a time during the absence of that officer commanded the Twen- ty-fifth Army Corps. He continued with the Army of the James during the remainder of the war and was with General Weitzel's troops when they were the first to enter Richmond upon the fall of that city. He was then appointed the first military governor of Richmond, but upon the peace agreement becoming effective, he resigned his commission and returned to civil life. Gen- eral Shepley, convinced by the facts of the situ- ation as he had observed them throughout the desperate struggle from which the Nation had just emerged, had changed his political affili- ations and was now staunchly Republican. In 1865 he was offered an appointment to the Su- preme Court of Maine as associate justice, but de- clined, although in the year following he ac- cepted the Republican nomination to the State Legislature. At the close of the session he once more took up the practice of his profession, in association with A. A. Strout, under the firm name of Shepley & Strout, but this association did not last long, for in 1869, when the judicial system of the United States was amended by an act providing for the appointment of circuit judges, he was honored by being selected for the first judge of the First Circuit. His commission was dated December 22, 1869, and from that time until his death, July 20, 1878, he continued to dis- charge the duties of that high office with a pains- taking zeal and a brilliant comprehension of his function that made his interpretations of the law memorable to his associates. The contemporary estimate of him and his powers is to be found in the tributes paid him at the time of his death by
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friends and professional colleagues with which this sketch closes.
While General Shepley was a man of strong religious beliefs and feelings, he did not join with any religious body or church until a short time before his death. In the spring of 1877, however, he became a member of the Episcopal church and from that time until his death, about fifteen months later, attended divine services at St. Luke's Church at Portland. A few weeks before his death he received from Dartmouth College the honorary degree of LL.D.
General Shepley married (first) Lucy Hayes while residing at Bangor, and they were the par- ents of four children. One of the daughters be- came the wife of Commander T. O. Selfridge, United States Navy, and another married a Mr. Tiffany, one of the leaders of the bar of St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Shepley died in the year 1869, and in 1872 Judge Shepley married (second) Helen Merrill, a native of Portland, and a daugh- ter of Eliphalet Merrill. Mrs. Shepley survives her husband.
The character and achievement of George Fos- ter Shepley might well form the subject of a long and eulogistic article, for they were of so noteworthy a kind that he must indubitably be classed among the greatest of Maine's citizens, but the most convincing praise is that which springs from the men who are personally ac- quainted with the subject of it and who conse- quently speak with the authority of actual knowl- edge. It will, therefore, be appropriate to con- clude this brief sketch with the words of some of Judge Shepley's associates of the bench and bar of Maine, who, at a meeting called to honor his memory at the time of his death, had an oppor- tunity to express themselves concerning him. The lawyers of the Circuit Court of the United States over which Judge Shepley had presided for so many years passed the following resolu- tions :
Resolved, That the public and private character of the late George F. Shepley commands the highest esteem and admiration. Endowed with the inspiration of genius for the law, he came early to the Bar, and acquired rare excellence as a counsellor, advocate and jurist. As a counsellor, he was judicious and wise; as an advo- cate, logical and eloquent; as a jurist, learned in the various branches of the law, and in some pre-eminent ; as a judge, dignified, courteous, impartial and incor- ruptable. When his country was in peril he left the forum for the field, and as military governor of Louisi- iana displayed marked executive ability in the per- formance of his difficult duties, and by firmness mingled with kindness secured the confidence and high regard of the people of the State. Peace restored, he resumed the duties of his profession, and soon after was appointed to the high judicial position that he
filled at the time of his decease. His domestic and social virtues are embalmed In the hearts of his family and friends.
Resolved, That the attorney of the United States be requested to present these resolutions to the Court, and ask to have them entered ou the records of the Court :
In seconding these resolutions the late Judge Nathan Webb said:
The resolutions which have been read convey the sentiments of this Bar at his departure, and their high appreciation of his personal and judicial worth.
Fully impressed with the many relations in which he was conspicuous, and held in high esteem, this place and occasion admonish us that it is with his profes- sional and judicial life and characteristics that our thoughts and words will most appropriately be occu- pied.
When he came to the Bar, at a very early age, he found the front ranks crowded with giants in the legal profession. In Penobscot connty, where he first appeared, were Rogers, MeCrillis, Kent and Cutting, Hathaway and Appleton, four of whom have since illustrated the judiciary of Maine, In Cumberland, whither in a few years he moved, were the Fessendens, and Preble, and Davies, Deblois and Codman; in the central part of the State, Boutelle and Williams, and Paine and Evans. The profession in York was learned and well disciplined, counting among its members many a distinguished lawyer, with the foremost of whom stood one whose long continued labors on the bench of the highest national Court almost make us forget the power he wielded at the Bar.
Turn which way he would, enter any Court in Maine, State or National, he was sure to encounter formidable adversaries, whose fame alone would dis- courage feeble spirits.
But this youthful counsellor knew his own strength, and was confident that he was well prepared for the struggle before him, and that he was able to make good his claim against any opposition. But few essays of his power were required before his position and success were assured. While in years hardly more than a boy, he was the admitted peer of the most mature and wisest of the profession. From the begin- ning he was entrusted with business of diffienlty, mag- nitude and responsibility. This manifestation of belief in him called upon him for his best effort, and he performed an amount of labor that few young men are willing to attempt and fewer still can sustain.
A description of Judge Shepley's methods and manner in court and in professional relations with his clients and opponents is furnished in the speech of Mr. A. A. Stront, on the same occa- sion. He said:
Possessed of physical endurance, which enabled him to withstand severe and protracted labor and anxiety in the trial of causes, he was able to give to his client and his case the benefit of his great learning and splendid abilities in unstinted measure. He possessed a memory so tenacious and ready, that he rarely lost sight of any material part of the evidence in the case on trial, however complicated and protracted it might be. His great powers of analysis and exact compari- son enabled him to determine, with a rapidity and certainty which seemed like intuition, the controlling facts developed by the testimony, and the rules to be applied in their just decision. Although he availed himself of all his learning, whether acquired from books or observation, he did not trust to this alone, but before he entered upon a trial in matters of dif- ficulty or novel impression, he carefully examined each proposition of law and fact, and fortified his positions
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with the authority of decided cases. And while he recognized and availed himself of the reported decisions, he knew that their conclusions were frequently depen- dent upon the provisions of local law and the fact peculiar to the causes in which the opinions were rendered, and he was accustomed to invoke those rules of human conduct which, founded in justice, and recog- nized as the common law of society, were adapted to its varying wants and conditions.
To the discussion of these fundamental principles he brought a clearness of statement, a cogency of argument. a breadth and wealth of thought and sug- gestion, and an earnestness born of conviction, which at times rose to the loftiest heights of the purest elo- quence. and which. while he was at the Bar, always delighted and instructed those who gathered to hear bim speak. In the general conduct of a trial he ob- served the unvarying fairness and kindness which charcterized all his relations with the Bar and Court.
Ile was particularly successful in the examination of witnesses, and with skillful hand stripped falsehood of its disguises, and exposed fraud and wrong doing. He was at times impetuous, and his spirit kindled with aggressive energy at the discovery of attempted fraud, or deceitful practice, or in the vindication of the rights of those whom it was his duty to defend. But never- even in the sharpest rigor of forensic conflict-did he forget the duty of respect which he owed to the Court, or the courtesy which he felt to he due to his opponent.
It was left to the Hon. Nathan Clifford, asso- ciate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ,to speak wtih most authority and elo- quence concerning Judge Shepley's qualifications in the high office that he held at the time of his death. Mr. Justice Clifford remarked:
Delicate and responsible duties were devolved upon him in all these sitnations, and it is only simple justice to say that in every position he occupied he performed his duty with integrity and ability, and met the highest expectations of his most ardent friends. Admit all that, and still the position in which Judge Shepley's faculties were called into their exercise, was in the judicial position which he filled at the time of his lamented death. Soon after the close of the war the business in some of the circuits had so immensely increased, that it hecame no longer possible that the duties should be performed by a single Judge, who was also charged with the performance of the duties devolved upon a Justice of the Supreme Court. Con- gress interposed and provided for the appointment of one Circuit Judge for each of the nine circuits, and Judge Shepley, with the full concurrence of the Bar. was accordingly appointed to fill that important posi- tion in the First Circuit. Even judicial appointments are frequently the subject of contests, but it is not going too far to say that the appointment of the late incumbent was considered by all who knew him, as it was in fact, only a just and proper recognition of his abilities and acquirements as a lawyer. Since his first entrance into the laborious and complicated duties of the responsible office to the day of his sudden and lamented death, we all know how faithfully, impartially and ably he met all the requirements of duty, and how satisfactorlly he presided over the administration of Justice in the several Districts of the Circuit. None who ever saw him presiding in the Court will deny that the clear nd penetrating qualities of his mind, and his quick and powerful comprehension, fitted him in a remarkable degree for promptly approaching and grasp- ing the vital and esential points of a case when pre- sented for his adjudication, and for formulating the inquiry upon which the decision would depend in cases where the issue was to be submitted to the jury. . .
In speaking of Judge Shepley. my mind is, by force
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