USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Vol. I > Part 78
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DAVID SHEPPARD, (2), eldest son of David (I) and Eve, is not referred to in his father's will as a minor, as is the case with the third son Joseph, from which it is to be inferred that he was already of legal age. However he does not seem to have married until about the year 1719, and his eldest son was born in the year 1720. He inherited, as above shown, a part of his father's plantation on the Cohansey, and seems to have spent his whole adult life there. He took a more or less prominent part in public affairs and was one of the committee appointed to build the first county court house for Cumberland county in 1760. He died soon after the latter date. By his wife Sarah he had five children, Philip, ( 1720-1797) who was twice married and had eight children; David Sheppard, (3) (born 1745) had seven children; Ephraim, who was three times married and had ten children; Joseph, of whom presently; Phebe, born 1729.
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JOSEPH SHEPPARD, fourth son of David and Sarah Sheppard, born on the Cohansey plantation in 1727, was one of the most eminent men of his section. New Jersey was one of the first of the American colonies to take active meas- ures for the preservation of the rights of the Colonists against the oppressive measures of the British ministry and Joseph Sheppard was one of the foremost patriots in the organization of the citizens of Cumberland county, first to pro- test against an infringement of those rights, and second to take measures for their defense. He was selected at a meeting of the inhabitants of his county, held December 22, 1774, as one of the first Committee of Safety for Cumberland county, to carry into effect the resolutions of the Continental Congress that had recently met in Philadelphia, and he continued to act with the Provincial Com- mittee and Council of Safety, in whose hands rested the supreme authority, until the formation of the new state government, and took an active part in formulat- ing and carrying into effect measures for the prosecution of the war for inde- pendence, and lived to see independence practically achieved, dying August I, 1782. He built the first brick house in Back Neck. He and his family were members of the old Cohansey Baptist Church, of which his grandfather David Sheppard had been one of the organizers, but he and his wife and his daughter Lydia, lie buried in a family burying ground, laid out by him on the homestead farm, where the tombstones at the head of their graves can still be seen. Joseph Sheppard married Mary Sayre, (b. 1732, d. Jan. 23, 1790), daughter of David and Ruth Sayre of Cohansey; granddaughter of David Sayre who came from Southampton, Long Island, to Cohansey, great-granddaughter of Daniel Sayre, and great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Sayre one of the founders of South- ampton, Long Island, in 1740.
The ancestors of Mary (Sayre) Sheppard, were resident in the little hamlet of Hynwick, parish of Poddington, thirteen miles northwest of Bedford in Bed- fordshire, on the borders of Northamptonshire in the sixteenth century.
William Sayre, of Hynwick, purchased lands there in 1545, and died there in 1564. By his wife Alice Squyre, he had sons William and Thomas, and daugh- ters Alice and Agnes.
William Sayre (2), inherited his father's lands at Hynwick, and died there prior to 1581. By his wife Elizabeth he had four sons, William, of Hynwick; Robert; Thomas; and Francis; and daughter Alice.
Francis, third son of William and Elizabeth Sayre of Hynwick, parish of Pod- dington, Bedfordshire, removed to the parish of Leighton Buzzard, Hundred of Manshead, Deanery of Dunstable, Bedfordshire, on the border of Bucking- hamshire, thirty miles south of Hynwick, and his name appears on the tax- rolls of that parish from 1609 to his death in 1645. He married at the parish church of Leighton Buzzard, November 15, 1591, Elizabeth Atkins, and the rec- ord of the christening of their children appears on the parish registry of that church. They had fourteen children, nine sons and five daughters. At least three sons, Thomas, Job and Tobias, and a daughter Mary, who married Ed- ward Tynge, and probably others of this large family, emigrated to Massachu- setts Bay, before middle life.
Thomas Sayre, the emigrant ancestor of Mrs. Sheppard, was the third son and fourth child of Francis and Elizabeth (Atkins) Sayre, and was baptized at the parish church of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, July 20, 1597. He probably
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remained in Bedfordshire until after his marriage and the birth of his eldest children. We find his name and that of his brother Job Sayre on a list of the proprietors of Lynn, Massachusetts, made in 1638, for the purpose of dividing the lands between them. Lynn was settled in 1629, but whether Thomas Sayre was one of the original settlers, there or elsewhere in New England, we have no means of determining. Thomas and Job Sayre were each allotted sixty acres in the division above referred to. In 1639, both were contributors to the fund for purchasing a sloop and transporting themselves and others to Long Island, where they had purchased, by deed dated August 20, 1639, from James Farrell, deputy of the Earl of Stirling, all the land from Taconick and the easternmost end of the Island, "with the whole breadth thereof."
The Lynn colony, including Thomas and Job Sayre and their families removed to Long Island early in 1640, and May 10, 1640, pulled down the arms of the Prince of Orange from a tree at the head of Schoute's Bay, on land purchased by them. This act brought them into conflict with the Dutch authorities at New Amsterdam, and Job Sayre and five others were arrested and carried to Fort Amsterdam, where they were discharged, May 19, on condition that they "prom- ise to depart forthwith from our territory and never return without the Director's express consent." The little colony therefore gathered up their effects and leav- ing the few houses they had erected, sailed through the sound, around the eastern end of the Island, and landed about three miles from the present village of South- ampton, and there founded the "Old Town" of Southampton.
Thomas Sayre built a house on the main street of Southampton on land appor- tioned to him in 1640, which was occupied, or owned by his lineal descendants until 1892, and is still standing, being the oldest house erected by the English in the State of New York. He was one of the rulers of the town, or "towns- men" as they were called, for many years and one of the overseers of highways and bridges, and served on the most important committees of the town for vari- ous purposes. He died in 1670, leaving a will dated September 16, 1669, which was probated April 1, 1671. The name of Thomas Sayre's wife is unknown. He had four sons, Job, Francis, Daniel and Joseph; and three daughters, De- mairs, married David Atwater; Mary, married Benjamin Price, of New Jersey ; Hannah. Francis was the ancestor of Stephen Sayre, who sold his beautiful estate at Bordentown to Joseph Bonaparte. Joseph, the youngest son was one of the proprietors of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1665.
Daniel, third son of Thomas Sayre, was probably born in Bedfordshire, but may have been born at Lynn, Massachusetts. He accompanied his father to Southampton, Long Island, in 1640, and his name appears on the list there as an adult in 1657. One of the principal industries of Southampton was whaling, and Daniel Sayre was in the "whaling squadron" from 1657 to 1667. In the lat- ter year, January 13, 1667, he received a grant of land in Bridgehampton, on which he resided until his death in 1708, having outlived all his brothers. His will, dated August 21, 1707, and probated April 13, 1708, mentions his sons, Nathan, Joseph, Daniel, Samuel, David and Ephraim, and his daughter Han- nah, who married Captain Josiah Topping. Nathan removed to Connecticut, and Joseph, David and Ephraim to Cohansey, New Jersey.
Daniel Sayre married (first) Hannah, daughter of Christopher and Frances Foster, and sister to Nathaniel Foster, of Cape May, referred to elsewhere in
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these volumes. He married (second) Sarah -. David, fourth son of Daniel and Hannah (Foster) Sayre of Bridgehampton, Long Island, removed to Cohansey, New Jersey, prior to 1709, in which year he was overseer of the poor there. In 1714 he with others refused to pay taxes because assessed by a Roman Catholic, and were indicted therefor. His will, dated February 16, 1741, and proved December 8, 1744, mentions sons, David and Job, and daughters, Dorothy, wife of Thomas Paget, who is named as executor; Hannah Plummer ; Rebecca Gillespie; Christina Mulford, and Anne Sayre. The name of his wife is unknown.
David (2), son of David (1) Sayre, was a drummer boy in the militia of Salem county, New Jersey, in 1715, and was constable at Cohansey in 1730. He did not long survive his father, his will being dated February 21, 1742, and pro- bated April 26, of the same year. It mentions his wife Ruth, sons, David, Daniel, William, Thomas and James, and daughters, Hannah Dayton, Elenor, Ruth, Mary, and Prudence. The widow, Ruth Sayre, married (second), the Rev. Na- thaniel Jenkins, of the Cohansey Baptist Church, April 21, 1743.
Mary, daughter of David and Ruth Sayre, married Joseph Sheppard. They had six children, David, born 1758; Lydia; Ruth; Isaac; Mary; Lucy.
ISAAC SHEPPARD, son of Joseph and Mary (Sayre) Sheppard, was born at Cohansey, Cumberland county, New Jersey, September 30, 1766, and died there, December 16, 1815. He married (first) Sarah, daughter of Captain Jeremiah and Sarah (Berryman) Bennett. She died in 1797, leaving four children, Isaac, Henry, Joseph and Sarah. He married (second) Jane ( Harris) Westcott, widow of Henry Westcott, and daughter of Ephraim and Jane Harris, of Fairfield, Cum- berland county, whose two daughters by her former husband, Charlotte and Ma- tilda Westcott, married respectively, Josiah and William Sheppard, the former a grandson and the latter a son of Philip Sheppard, a brother of Joseph Shep- pard who married Mary Sayre. The mother of Josiah was a daughter of John Westcott hereafter mentioned. Isaac Sheppard married (third) Abigail (Bish- op) Husted, widow of Henry Husted and daughter of Ichabod Bishop.
Ephraim Harris, was one of the most prominent men of Cumberland county. He was appointed Judge of the Common Pleas court in 1774, was a member of Assembly in 1776, and assisted in formulating the first State constitution adopted in that year. He was elected a member of the Supreme Executive Council in 1778; was again returned to the Assembly and was its speaker or president in 1782. He was selected as a member of the first Committee of Safety, at a meet- ing of the inhabitants of Cumberland county held at Bridgeton, December 22, 1774, being a colleague of Joseph Sheppard in that organization. He resided at Fairfield, Cumberland county, and was an elder of the Presbyterian church. Isaac and Jane (Harris) Sheppard, had one son Ephraim.
EPHRAIM SHEPPARD, only child of Isaac Sheppard, by his second wife Jane (Harris) Westcott, was born August 15, 1801, and died near Bridgeton, New Jersey, July 9, 1848. He married (first), October 16, 1819, Jane Westcott, daugh- ter of Jehiel and Mary Westcott, by whom he had two children, Ephraim Har- ris, who died at Bunker Hill, Illinois, September 24, 1845, aged twenty-five years, and Elias, who died at the age of two months. Ephraim Sheppard married (second), August 20, 1823, Mary Westcott (b. March 14, 1798, d. March 3, 1842), daughter of John and Mary (Bennett) Westcott; granddaughter of Sam-
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uel and Hannah (Shaw) Westcott; great-granddaughter of Ebenezer and Bar- bara Westcott; great-great-granddaughter of Daniel and Abigail Westcott, of Stamford, Connecticut, and great-great-great-granddaughter of Richard and Joanna Westcott.
Richard Westcott, whose ancestry has been traced back to 1170, in Devonshire, England, and his brothers Strickly and William Westcott, came to Salem, Mas- sachusetts, prior to 1636, and were members of the church there, of which Roger Williams was pastor. Strickly Westcott was one of those named with Roger Williams in the decree of banishment from the colony of Massachusetts Bay, made by the General Court March 12, 1638. Richard Westcott removed from Salem to Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1639, and in 1644, to Fairfield, Connec- ticut, where he died in 1651. By his wife Joanna, he had children : John, Daniel, Joanna, and Abigail.
Daniel Westcott, second son of Richard and Joanna, settled in Stamford, Con- necticut, was selectman of that town for five years, and represented it in the General Court at Hartford in 1691 and 1692. He served in King Philip's war, and was voted town lands in 1676 for his military services. In 1696 he sold his land in Stamford and soon after removed to that part of Salem county, West Jersey, later laid out as Cumberland county, purchasing land on the south side of the Cohansey river, near the Sheppards. Here he died about June 1, 1703, the date of the inventory of his personal estate, being June 10. His will, dated November 30, 1702, and probated February 17, 1703-4, makes his wife Abigail, Captain Joseph Seely and Nicholas Johnson, executors, and devises his estate to his children, Samuel, Daniel, Ebenezer, Mary, Joanna Foster and Abigail Lummas. It further provides that the children, Daniel, Ebenezer and Mary, shall be sent to his cousin Jonas Weed, of Stamford, Connecticut, "if their mother can- not decently maintain them in this country." Letters testamentary were granted to the widow only.
Ebenezer Westcott, son of Daniel and Abigail, born in Stamford, Connecticut, was a minor at the death of his father in 1703. His will probated in Salem county, New Jersey, March 24, 1748, mentions his wife Barbara, sons, Eben- ezer, Foster, Samuel, Jonathan, David and Joseph; and his daughters Abigail, Rhoda, Phoebe, and Joanna.
Samuel Westcott, of Fairfield, Cumberland county, son of Ebenezer and Bar- bara, was Captain of a company in the First Battalion, Cumberland county militia, commanded by Colonel Elijah Hand, during the Revolution. He was a free- holder of Cumberland county, in 1786 and 1788, and filled other muni- cipal offices. He died at Fairfield Cross-Roads, in 1792. His will, probated March 20, 1792, devises his lands to his sons Samuel and John, and his personal estate to his daughters, Hannah, wife of Amos Sheppard, and Mary and Louisa Westcott. Samuel Westcott married, about 1760, Hannah, daughter of Carll and Hannah Shaw, of Fairfield, Cumberland county, granddaughter of Edmund Shaw, of Fairfield who died in 1719, and his wife Rachel, daughter of Abiel Carll, of Cohansey; and great-granddaughter of Richard Shaw.
John, second son of Samuel and Hannah (Shaw) Westcott, was born at Fair- field, Cumberland county, New Jersey, March 1, 1766, and died October 8, 1819. He was prominent in the public affairs of his county, serving many years as a justice of the peace, (commissioned 1810 and 1816), and was captain of a
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troop of horse in the war of 1812. He married (first), January 1, 1787, his cousin Rebecca Westcott, who died June 17, 1788, leaving a son David, born December 0, 1787. He married (second), November 2, 1789, Mary Bennett, (b. June 29, 1770, d. Jan. 14, 1850), daughter of Captain Jeremiah Bennett, (b. Jan. 23, 1736, d. Nov. 21, 1807), and his wife Sarah Berryman, (b. Feb. 21, 1738, m. Nov. 23, 1759, d. Feb. 9, 1798), daughter of John and Sarah (Bateman) Berryman.
Captain Jeremiah Bennett, (1736-1807), above mentioned, was in active ser- vice during the Revolutionary war as captain in the First Battalion, Cumberland county militia, and Colonel Enos Seeley's battalion, New Jersey state troops.
Mary (Westcott) Sheppard, wife of Ephraim Sheppard, was the fourth of the ten children of Captain John and Mary (Bennett) Westcott.
Ephraim and Mary (Westcott) Sheppard had three children: Mary Jane, born December 18, 1824, married Charles Campbell of Bridgeton, New Jersey ; Isaac Applin Sheppard, of whom presently; La Fayette Sheppard, born Jan- uary 29, 1831, died of yellow fever in New Orleans, October 19, 1859. Ephraim Sheppard, being several years younger than his half brothers and sisters, they had married and found homes of their own before he became of age and the care of the old Sheppard homestead at Back Neck, Cumberland county, largely devolved upon him while he was yet a minor, his father having died when he was in his fifteenth year. He continued to conduct the farm until the death of his stepmother, his father's third wife, and then, at the solicitation of the other heirs, purchased it at a high price and mortgaged it to secure the shares of his broth- ers and sisters therein. The tremendous money stringency and business depres- sion caused by President Jackson's withdrawal of the government deposits from the United States bank, in 1832, and the destruction for the United States bank- ing system, induced the mortgagee to demand immediate payment, and the impos- sibility of either securing a purchaser for the farm or funds to pay the mortgage, resulted in foreclosure and the utter financial ruin of Mr. Sheppard. The old farm of his ancestors was sold at a great sacrifice and after a few years spent in his native county as a renter, he secured a position, in January, 1839, in Phil- adelphia and removed with his family to that city, but was stricken down with a severe sickness in the autumn of the same year, which deprived him of the use of his limbs. In this condition he remained for several months and never fully regained his health. He died July 9, 1848.
ISAAC APPLIN SHEPPARD, son of Ephraim and Mary (Westcott) Sheppard, born on the Sheppard homestead in Back Neck, Cumberland county, New Jer- sey, July II, 1827, rose to the position of one of the most honored, valued and wealthy citizens of Philadelphia, under the most adverse circumstances. His parents removed from the old homestead, March 25, 1835, when he was in his ninth year, and March 25, 1837, took up their residence at Fairfield. Isaac, then less than ten years of age found it incumbent upon him to earn his own living, and went to live with a Mr. Howell in the neighborhood, returning home in the fall to attend school at Sayre's Neck, four and a half miles distant, again taking a like position with a Mr. Ogden at Cedarville, the following spring, and return- ing home for school in the fall. With the removal to Philadelphia in 1839, and his father's sickness, he was thrown almost wholly upon his own resources at the age of twelve years, and with the death of his mother in 1842, his home was also broken up. He first secured a position as errand boy in a shoe store, then
Conpollo af graving . N.Y.
Grace A Shepards
Franklue L. Shephard
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for about a year as packing boy in a cracker factory, followed by a like period in a candy manufactory. In July, 1843, he secured an apprenticeship in a brass and iron foundry with a view of learning the trade of a moulder, but the death: of the proprietor and consequent closing of the works six months later necessi- tated another change and, in January, 1844, he entered on a three years' appren- ticeship with Charles W. Warnick & Co., stove and hollow ware founders, and at. the close of his apprenticeship, was retained by them as a journeyman, their sat- isfaction with his services and his proficiency as an apprentice being such that he was assured that he could have employment as long as they had work for any one. His schooling, from the first, confined to four months each year, ended entirely at twelve years of age, and his education was mainly acquired by even- ing study, after a hard day's work in the foundry. These studies were conducted systematically, and he was enabled to stand well with men who had received much better educational advantages. He became a charter member of Welcome Lodge No. 229, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in 1847, and was made sec- retary thereof, which enabled him to acquire some knowledge of book-keeping. Carefully husbanding his earnings, he acquired a small capital, and in 1848, with a number of his associates formed a savings and loan association, on practically the same plan, as the now popular and numerous building and loan associations, the share holders paying in one dollar per month, per share, and the shares maturing at $200. In 1849, he purchased a lot on North Sixth street and built the house in which he lived the remainder of his life, a period of nearly a half century ; and, February 5, 1850, he married Caroline Mary, (b. Feb. 5, 1826), daughter of John Holmes, a native of Yorkshire, England, and his wife Mary Hooper, a native of Devonshire, England. The former died in Philadelphia, January, 1828, and the latter April 9, 1879. Mrs. Sheppard was a fit helpmate to the struggling and ambitious mechanic and shared lovingly his joys and sorrows. for over a half century. In 1860, Isaac A. Sheppard, having accumulated a modest capital, decided to engage in business on his own account. He pur- chased a property on Girard avenue between Seventh and Marshall streets, and in partnership with four of his fellow workmen, under the firm name of Isaac A. Sheppard & Co., started the Excelsior Stove Works and Hollow Ware Foundry. The firm soon gained a high reputation for the excellence of its pro- ducts and the business increased rapidly. In 1866 they established a branch in Baltimore, Maryland, for the manufacture of goods for the southern market. Mr. Sheppard having the financial control and general management of both establishments. With a steady increase in the business, greater facilities were required, so in 1871, he purchased the property bounded by Third, Berks and Fourth streets and Montgomery avenue, belonging to the Frankford and South- wark Passenger Railway Company, and erected additions to the buildings and fitted the plant with machinery, increasing the capacity of his Philadelphia estab- lishments to a making and melting capacity of forty tons of iron per day. Dur- ing the financial panic of 1873, his was one of the few industrial establishments that were run up to their full capacity. Of his four original partners, one died in 1878, one in 1882, another in 1883 and the last in 1886. Mr. Sheppard pur- chased successively their interest in the business, and associated with him his two sons, Franklin L. and Howard R. Sheppard, who still conduct the business under the old firm name of Isaac A. Sheppard & Co. Mr. Sheppard's associations with
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and interest in the welfare of his employees was such that there was always the closest co-operation and good feeling between employer and employed. On the fiftieth anniversary of his engaging in the foundry business, in July, 1893, he gave a banquet to the workmen at the Baltimore and Philadelphia works, and the employees, unknown to him, arranged to present to him a loving cup, in appreciation of the many kindnesses received at his hands, the presentation being made by Mr. Lawrence a life-long friend and shop-mate.
Notwithstanding the engrossing care of the building up and maintaining the mammoth business establishment's under his personal supervision, Mr. Sheppard found time to devote to public, charitable and benevolent enterprises, and his ability, zeal and indomitable energy, easily brought him to the fore-front in pub- lic as in private affairs. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1858, and twice re-elected, serving three years. His three terms covered an eventful period in the history of the states and union, and business of vital importance came before the legislature. Among the earlier measures, which he advocated and successfully carried through, was a law regulating building and loan associa- tions, in which he was much interested, as furnishing means whereby working men could procure their own homes. He was chairman of the ways and means committee in 1861, and as such had charge of measures for sustaining the national government when it was threatened with disruption by the civil war, preparing and reporting the "Act to create a Loan for Arming the State", under which the fifteen regiments of Pennsylvania reserves were organized and did valiant service during the war. He was a warm supporter of the federal author- ities and freely contributed his personal service and influence in every way pos- sible during the war.
In 1861, by reason of the protracted illness of the speaker of the house of representatives, it was necessary to elect a speaker pro tem and Mr. Sheppard was unanimously elected to the position and exercised the functions of speaker with dignity, credit and marked ability, during more than one-third of that memorable session, in addition to filling the position of chairman of the ways and means committee. In 1867, Mr. Sheppard was unanimously elected by the councils of Philadelphia, to represent the interests of the city in the board of trustees of the Northern Liberties Gas Company and served the city in that trust for over thirty years, being successively re-elected by acclamation. In 1879 he was chosen a member of the Board of Education of the First school district of Pennsylvania in which he served until December, 1896; and one of the most enduring monuments to his memory is the work he accomplished for the better- ment of the public education of boys. He was one of the committee that estab- lished the School of Industrial Art Education, and of the committee that organized and established the Central Manual Training School. He was always active and ag- . gressive in advancing the educational interests of the city. In January, 1889, he was elected president of the Board of Education and was annually re-elected to and including the year 1896. November 24, 1896, he sent a letter of resignation to the board, and the judges of the Court of Common Pleas that had appointed him, his continued ill health demanding his relinquishment of the duties of the office. His letter to the Board of Education recites the accomplishment of his seventeen years of service on the board, in the betterment of the night schools, the estab- lishment of the superintendency and a well-graded course of study; better meth-
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