Biographical Sketch of John W. Shepherd, Johnson County, Missouri, Washington Township >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** John W. Shepherd, a well known and highly esteemed farmer and stockman of Washington township, is one of Johnson county's pioneers. He was born in 1848 in Marshall county, West Virginia, a son of John and Amanda (Sockman) Shepherd. John Shepherd was a son of Nathaniel Shep- herd, a native of West Virginia, and Amanda (Sockman) Shepherd was a daughter of Henry Sockman, also of West Virginia. They came to Johnson county, Missouri from West Virginia in 1865 and settled on a farm of 100 acres of land, located four and three-fourths miles from the present city of Knob Noster. One of the first pupils to attend the Prairie Home school was John W. Shepherd. He recalls among his class- mates and schoolmates, William Clark, Mrs. William Clark, and John McDonald. The school "master" as he was called, was Fred Boyd. As a boy, John W. Shepherd often attended the Pleasant Grove Cumberland Presbyterian church, which was one of the first to be built in Washing- ton township. "Uncle Jack" Whitsett and "Uncle John" Morrow were two of the earliest pioneer preachers, and it was the latter preacher, who organized this church in 1853. William Gerry, Mr. Knapp, and Mr. Means were among the first officers of the church. They were elders and N.B. Shepherd, brother of the subject of this review, was church clerk for many years. People would come for miles and miles, on horseback, to attend this church and the congregations were always large. They lis- tened to the preaching with the greatest interest and respect. Great and enthusiastic revivals were held at Pleasant Grove in those early pioneer days. In 1893, John W. Shepherd was united in marriage with Emma Dunham, daughter of Robert M. Dunham, who came to Missouri from Indiana in 1868. To John W. and Emma (Dunham) Shepherd have been born two children: Mrs. Alice Rhea McConnely, Lamonte, Missouri and Claude M., who resides at home with his parents. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd are valued and consistent members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Shepherd is interested in the poultry industry and devotes much time to the raising of Plymouth Rock chickens, of which she has a splendid breed. She has been remarkably successful. The box house, which was the Shepherd home for many years, has been replaced by a handsome, substantial residence, which is surrounded by numerous farm buildings, making a very pleasant and convenient country home. The Shepherd place comprises 124 acres of land, 40 of which are in grass land. Mr. Shep- herd is engaged in stock raising, raising Poland China hogs and Red Polled milk cows. The large, fine trees in the yard at the Shepherd home were planted when the family first came to Johnson county more than a half century ago. The Shepherd family is one of the oldest in the annals of this country. They settled in the colony of Virginia prior to the time of the French and Indian War, the last struggle of which began in 1756. Their place of settlement was later called Shepherdtown, in honor of the family. The great-great grandfather of John W. Shepherd was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. He settled in Brooke county, West Virginia, after the war had ended, and on the plan- tation in that state was born Nathaniel Shepherd, the grandfather of the subject of this review. N. B. Shepherd, the brother of the subject of this review, served in the Civil War with the union army for three years. He is now making his home with John W. Shepherd. The social conditions in Johnson county were good in the early pioneer days, when the Shepherd family came to make their permanent home here, even if the life was hard and not particularly bright. The young people were not without simple amusements, like houseraisings, corn husking parties, and social gatherings for spinning, quilting, and apple paring. On these occasions there was much genuine fun. There was much open land and Mr. Shepherd often helped break sod, driving a yoke of oxen. Wild game abounded and in those days there were a number of pools, in which there was an abundance of fish. The soil, which was so rich in the early days, has been worn out, and Mr. Shepherd believes that clover must be planted and farms converted into pasture land in order to conserve the soil. He is pursuing this course. John W. Shepherd has been the school director in his district for several years. He is a member of the Democratic party. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: <> Penny Harrell ====================================================================