My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM SHEPPARD, one of the most successful farmers of Plymouth township, resides on the Ridge Road near the Trenton Cut-off crossing. He was born First-month 12, 1842. The Sheppards are descended from Irish ancestry but the family had been originally of English stock, being among the colonists transplanted from England to Ireland by Cromwell, two hundred and fifty years ago.

Charles Sheppard (father), born Eleventh-month 4, 1810; and died Tenth-month 8, 1873, was the son of William and Mary (Thompson) Sheppard. He was a native of Cumberland county, New Jersey, and came to Pennsylvania in 1838, living in Conshohocken until 1850, and then in the vicinity of the farm now owned by William Sheppard, his son locating on it in 1861. He was a prominent member of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting of Friends and a successful farmer. He married Third-month 15, 1838, Elizabeth Jones, of Conshohocken, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Yerkes) Jones. Elizabeth (Jones) Sheppard was born Fourth-month 15, 1809, and died Third-month 8, 1891, in Norristown. Charles and Elizabeth Sheppard had the following children: Susan J., born Ninth-month 14, 1839; William; Mary T., who was born Fifth-month 23, 1844, and died Ninth-month 24, 1891; Emma M., born Twelfth-month 21, 1846, and married Ezra H. Brown; Isaac J., born Twelfth month 3, 1849, who married Clara T. Shannon. Ezra H. and Emma M. Brown had the following children: Elizabeth S., born First-month 24, 1874, married George Lane, belonging to an old Poughkeepsie, New York, family. They have two children, Eleanor Brown Lane, born Eighth- month 11, 1896, and George Lane, Jr., born Second-month 26, 1900. Clayton Lippincott Brown (second child of Ezra H. and Emma M. Brown), born Twelfth-month 26, 1877, is a member of the Philadelphia bar. The children of Isaac J. and Clara Shannon Sheppard: Elizabeth Shannon, born Seventh-month 11, 1875, married Charles H. Rile, Third-month 2, 1898, their children being, J. Clarence, born Twelfth-month 17, 1898, Josephine Craft, born Fourth-month 6, 1901, William Sheppard, born Sixth-month 1, 1902. Susan Jones Sheppard (second child of Isaac and Clara Sheppard) was born Tenth-month 25, 1880. Charles H. Rile, husband of Elizabeth Rile, is the son of Albert G. and Mary (Craft) Rile, his mother being deceased. Some account of the Rile family is given in the biographical sketch of Lewis J. Stannard elsewhere in this work.

William Sheppard (grandfather) was the son of Mark and Mary (Craven) Sheppard. He married Mary (Thompson) Hall, widow of Ebenezer Hall and daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Thompson. He was not a member of the Society of Friends. He was a native of New Jersey, as well as his wife. The couple had five children as follows: William L. married Abigail A. Davis; Mary married Zebedee Clement; Charles married Elizabeth Jones; Richard married (first wife) Ann Stewart, (second wife) Martha Holmes; Casper married (first wife) Emma Mulford, (second wife) Emily Smith.

Mark Sheppard (great-grandfather) was the first of the family who was a Friend. He became a member of the Society when he was a young man. He married Mary Craven. The couple resided at Bacon’s Neck, New Jersey. He died Fifth-month 16, 1780, aged fifty-two years. Mark Sheppard was the son of John Sheppard. He was born in 1728 and married Mary Craven in 1760. The couple had four children, as follows: Thomas, born Eleventh-month 12, 1764; Sarah, born Fifth-month 2, 1769; William (grandfather), born Second-month 7, 1772; Josiah, born Fourth-month 5, 1774.

John Sheppard (great-great-grandfather) was the son of Dickinson and Eve Sheppard.

Dickinson Sheppard (great-great-great-grandfather) was born in 1685. He and his wife, Eve, had seven children: Patience, Stephen, Dickinson, John, Jonadab, Ann and Eve. In 1722 Dickinson Sheppard purchased fourteen hundred acres of land on the south side of Antuxet creek, and in 1723 he purchased sixteen hundred acres more, adjoining the other tract, all the land being located in the township of Down, Cumberland county, New Jersey.

John Sheppard (great-great-great-great-grandfather) was the immigrant. He and David Thomas, members of Cleagh Keating Baptist church, in Tipperary, Ireland, came to America in William Penn’s time and settled for a short period at Shrewsbury in East Jersey. In 1683 they removed to what is now Cumberland county on the lands lying between Cohansey river and Back creek, naming it Shrewsbury creek. They were among those who organized the first Cohansey Baptist church, in 1690, at Shrewsbury Neck. John Sheppard married and had several children, of whom the eldest was Dickinson. It is probable that his wife’s surname was Dickinson.

William Sheppard, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the public school in the neighborhood in which he now lives and learned thoroughly the business of farming, which he has followed ever since. He is a Republican in politics, with Prohibition leanings, but has never sought or held office. He was for a number of years a director in the Peoples’ National Bank of Norristown. He, like all others of his family, is a member of the Society of Friends, and attends Plymouth Meeting. He is a progressive and intelligent agriculturist and is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, of which he was secretary of the Cold Point Grange for ten years. He belongs to the reading and thinking class of farmers. He married, Second-month 22, 1881, Sallie R. Butcher, of Burlington county, New Jersey, at the home of Chalkley Styer, of whom she is a niece, by marriage. Sallie R. Sheppard was born August 3, 1854. She is the daughter of William (deceased) and Franklinia Butcher. The last named married, second husband, William Fridley, who is also deceased, his widow residing in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a son, Lewis Butcher, and another daughter, Caroline, residing with her. Sallie R. Sheppard’s grandparents were Benajah and Abigail (Roberts) Butcher, who lived at Marlton, New Jersey. The children of William and Sallie R. Sheppard are: Emma B., born Fourth-month 21, 1882; Harriet W., born Third-month 4, 1885; Charles W., born Tenth-month 12, 1886; Lewis B., born Ninth-month 17, 1888; Isaac J., born Twelfth-month 21, 1895.

Charles Sheppard (father) was a bricklayer by trade but never followed that occupation. He became a teacher and taught school in the neighborhood of Plymouth Meeting, boarding with Alan W. Corson, and meeting there his future wife, Elizabeth Jones. When they married in 1838, they engaged in farming on the Isaac Jones homestead in Conshohocken. In 1851 they bought the Ramey place and lived there for ten years, purchasing the Streeper farm, where William now resides, in 1861.

The Jones family, for a century or more prominent among the membership of Plymouth Friends’ Meeting, are the descendants of David Jones, who came from Wales, settling on a large tract of land which he purchased in the vicinity of Plymouth Meeting, a considerable part of what is now the borough of Conshohocken having been owned by the Jones family for several generations. David Jones, the immigrant, came to Pennsylvania with his family in the year 1700, about which time there appears to have been a very large accession of Welsh Friends to this section of Pennsylvania. He brought with him the following certificate from the Men’s Meeting in Haverford West, Pembrokeshire, Wales, to which he belonged, dated the Fourth day of the First-month, 1699-1700:

“Whereas, our tender and well beloved friend, David Jones, and his wife and children intend to remove themselves to the province of Pennsylvania, these are to certify to whom it may concern we have a dear and tender love for them, and truly desire their welfare. We certify that we believe them to be clear of debts or encumbrances, the want of which has made truth suffer in many places in this nation.”

This document was signed by James Lewis, Thomas Merchant, Pergryn Musgrave, Andrew Llewellyn, Henry Smith, Arthur Reaves and Pierce Worte. It was recorded at Radnor, Sixth- month 8, 1700.

Isaac Jones (maternal grandfather of William Sheppard) was born in what is now Conshohocken, Fifth-month 20, 1772. He was the oldest child of Jonathan and Susanna (Ashton) Jones. He married Elizabeth Yerkes, daughter of John and Ann (Coffin) Yerkes, in Fourth-month, I793. Elizabeth Yerkes Jones was born Second-month 16, 1772, and died in Eighth-month, 1819. The children of Isaac and Elizabeth Jones were: Polly, born First-month 20, 1794, died at the age of three years; John, born Twelfth-month 18, 1795; William, born Eighth-month 17, 1798, died in 1836; Jonathan, born Third-month 24, 1800; Isaac, born Fifth-month 6, 1802; Ann, born Sixth-month, 18 1804, died Seventh-month 3, 1886; Susan, born First-month 10, 1806, died Eighth-month 2, 1890; Elizabeth, born Fourth- month 15, 1809, died Third-month 8, 1891 (mother of William Sheppard); Charles, born Second-month 2, 1813, died Second-month 14, 1864.

Isaac Jones lived to a great age, dying Sixth-month 12, 1868, being twenty-three days more than ninety-six years of age. He had three wives in all, although all his children were by the first wife. His second wife was Rachel Foster, they being married Sixth-month 28, 1825. She died Fourth-month 12, 1843. His third wife was Martha Lukens, born Eighth-month 18, 1793, married Sixth-month 4, 1845, died Second-month 14, 1883. Isaac Jones sold off a great part of his farm in building lots to meet the demand for the growing borough of Conshohocken. He was president of the Matson Ford Bridge Company for a number of years, and was actively interested in the affairs of the community in which he lived. He was a member of the Society of Friends, as were all his family, from the time of David, the immigrant.

Jonathan Jones (maternal great-grandfather) was the son of John and Catharine Jones, who were married in Plymouth Meeting-house, Fourth-month 8, 1738. John Jones’ wife was Catharine Williams, a widow. Jonathan Jones married Susanna Ashton. Their children were: Isaac Jones, born Fifth-month 20, 1772 (grandfather of William Shepard) ; Mary, born Ninth- month 3, 1774, married Abraham Yerkes; Jonathan married Mary Streeper; Susanna married David Brooke; John married Elizabeth DeHaven; Ann married Charles Jones.

John Jones (maternal great-great-grandfather) and Catharine, his wife, had five children as follows: Jonathan, who married Susanna Ashton; David; John; Abigail, who married Joseph Shoemaker; and Sarah, who married Joseph Ambler. John was the son of David, the immigrant. He was born in Wales, Ninth-month 31, 1697.

Elizabeth (Yerkes) Jones, wife of Isaac Jones, was the daughter of John and Ann (Coffin) Yerkes, whose children were: Abraham Yerkes, who married Mary Jones; Elizabeth; Harman, who married Elizabeth Hagy and lived for many years at what is now known as Harmanville, where he kept a general store; Jonathan, who married Elizabeth Speece; William, who married Deborah Streeper; John, who married Elizabeth Stump; Sarah, who married George Webster; and Ann, who married Maurice Righter. The Yerkes is of German origin, John Yerkes, who married Ann Coffin, they being the parents of Elizabeth Yerkes Jones, was the son of John and Alice (McVaigh) Yerkes. This John was the son of Hermanus and Elizabeth (Watts) Yerkes. Hermanus was the son of Anthony Yerkes, the immigrant, whose wife was Margaret.

By a deed made April 15, 1791, John Jones, of Whitemarsh township, conveyed to his son, Jonathan Jones, for the sum of eighteen hundred pounds, good gold and silver money current in the state of Pennsylvania, a tract of land containing one hundred and ninety-two and three-fourth acres, being part of a tract of two hundred and fifty acres, bought at sheriff’s sale from David Barry’s estate, Twelfth-month 4, 1753, this being the land which formed the homestead in what is now the borough of Conshohocken.

William and Sallie R. Sheppard have five children as mentioned above. Of these Emma B. married, 8th-mo. 12, 1903, J. Russell Hibbs, of Germantown, Pennsylvania. He is a traveling salesman for the Harrison Safety Boiler Works, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Hibbs is a graduate of the George School, at Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Harriet W., the second daughter, is a teacher in a Friends’ school at Sandy Spring, Maryland. She is also a graduate of the George School. Her sister Emma, prior to her marriage, was employed in teaching at the Friends’ School at Plymouth Meeting. Charles W., the third child of the couple, is a graduate of the Friends’ School at Plymouth Meeting and a student of the George School. Lewis B., fourth child, is a graduate of the Friends’ School at Plymouth Meeting. It will be seen that the parents are earnestly devoted to securing a proper education for their children.

Mr. Sheppard was nominated for the office of county treasurer, in 1886, on the Prohibition ticket. As a rule, however, he has preferred to support the nominees of the Republican party.