T A (Shepherd) Sheppard (1904 - 1983)

Born 16 Oct 1904 in Cowee Township, Macon County, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Son of James Thomas Shepherd and Mary Elizabeth (Patterson) Shepherd

Husband of Bertie Ella (Galloway) Sheppard — married 24 Feb 1923 in York County, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 4 Oct 1983 at age 78 in Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Pip Sheppard [send private message]

Biography

T A (Shepherd) Sheppard was an Appalachian.

TA "Bill" Shepherd was born on October 16, 1904 in Cowee Township, Macon County, North Carolina, United States. His parents were James Shepherd and Mary Patterson.

In 1910, census enumerator John E. Rickman found the Shepherd family in Cowee Township, Macon County. TA was six years old and living on his father's farm. The census show that TA and five of his six siblings had attended school that year and could read. Most of the children, including TA, were listed as not being able to write.^[1]

Bill married Bertie Galloway on February 24, 1923. Together they had 8 children:

1. Carl Sheppard
2. Thomas Sheppard
3. Vernon Sheppard
4. Dorothy Sheppard
5. Jackie Sheppard
6. Kenneth Sheppard
7. Hilda Sheppard
8. Marie Sheppard

According to Bill, he was given only initials at his birth. He stated that up to the age of about six, he was called “Jerry,” after his maternal grandfather, but for some reason family members began to call him “Bill.”^[2] However, in the record for the birth of his son, Thomas, the name given was Jerry T A Sheppard.

Bill’s education ended about the third grade. His daughter, Marie, stated that this was because Bill was needed on the farm. This became a particular sore point for him later in life, especially with his brother, Paul.^[3] Evidence for this is found in the 1920 census where Bill, at age 15, was already working in the card room of a mill in Gastonia, North Carolina.^[4] It also states on the census that he did not attend school in the most recent year. Bill’s family, like so many other mountain families from Macon County, had moved to Gastonia for jobs in the textile mills. This was to be his life’s work from which he would retire in the 1970s.^[5]

Bill married Bertie Galloway on February 24, 1923 in York County, South Carolina. This was not quite a "shotgun" marriage, but it was because of a pregnancy.^[6] Bill worked in a textile mill in Gastonia to support a growing family.

A rumor is that Bill was involved in the 1929 Loray Mill Strike in Gastonia, organized and supported by the National Textile Workers Union (a communist labor union). A song he would have been familiar with at the time of the strike was the "Mill Mother's Lament, " written by Ella May Wiggins, the “poet laureate” of the Gastonia Textile Strike of 1929.

We leave our homes in the morning

We kiss our children goodbye

While we slave for the bosses

Our children scream and cry

And when we draw our money

Our grocery bills to pay

Not a cent to spend for clothing

Not a cent to lay away

And on that very evening

Our little son will say

I need some shoes mother

And so does sister May

How it grieves the heart of a mother

You everyone must know

But we can't buy for our children

Our wages are too low

It is for our little children

That seem to us so dear

But for us nor them dear workers

The bosses do not care

But understand all workers

Our union they do fear

Let's stand together, workers

And have a union here^[7][8]

During the early part of September 1929, mobs of men gathered up strikers and ran them out of Gaston County.^[9]Bill was blackballed from working in the mills in Gastonia for a few years. In 1930, he was living in King's Mountain, North Carolina. Bill, 25 years old in 1930, was working in the Sadie Mill as a laborer, and his wife and three sons (none of whom had attended school that census year) were in the household.^[10]

According to the 1940 census, Bill and some of his children were already back in Gaston County by 1935. He was working at the "Station" Mill in 1940, (this would be the Ruby Mill at Victory Station). He had worked 32 hours the week of the census in April and had earned $936 that year (the equivalent of 20,577.89 in 2023).^[11]

Bill registered for the draft on 16 October 1940, in Gastonia, North Carolina. He was 35 year old, born in Franklin, North Carolina, and a citizen of of the U.S.A. He was 5' 8" with brown eyes and black hair with a dark complexion. He weighed 155 lbs. The person who would always know his address was listed as his wife, Mrs. T. A. Sheppard of Pinckney Station in Gastonia. Bill stated that he was employed by the Ruby Mill in Victory Station in Gastonia.^[12]

By 1950, Bill had moved into an overseer's position at a textile mill in Gastonia. He and his wife and three of his children were living in a small house on York Road, his residence for the remainder of his life. His son, Carl was employed as a technician at a cotton mill, helping to support the family.^[13]

Bill was an excellent farmer, and was known as one of those who had a green thumb. His wife, Bertie Galloway Sheppard, had lots of canning to do, as Bill's garden was much larger than for just two people. He often gave the produce to friends and other relatives. He was also known for the beautiful boxwoods that he grew surrounding his property, many of which e started as shoots from his parents farm in Jackson County. ^[14]

Bill is remembered to this day by his grandson, Pip Sheppard, where there is a scent of good cigar.^[15]

Bill died on October 04, 1983 at Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia, North Carolina, of a "cerebral accident." Bill's funeral was held at Carothers' Funeral Home on 6 October 1983 in Gastonia, North Carolina. His son, Rev, Thomas Arlen Sheppard, delivered the eulogy. Bill was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Gaston County, North Carolina. Many of Bill's relatives, close and distant, are also buried there.^[16]

Research Notes

It is unknown exactly when Bill changed the spelling of his name, but it occurred between 1933 (the birth of his son, Jackie, and the birth of his daughter, Hilda, in 1938.

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLSV-QL7 : accessed 6 April 2023), F A Shepherd in household of Thomas J Shepherd Jr., Cowee, Macon, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 108, sheet 2B, family 39, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1121; FHL microfilm 1,375,134.
2. ↑ Interview with TA Sheppard, 1970s
3. ↑ Conversation: Marie Moses, December 15, 2017, with Pip Sheppard in Brevard, North Carolina
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ24-K42 : 2 February 2021), T A Shepard in entry for Thomas Shepard, 1920.
5. ↑ Personal knowledge of the profile manager
6. ↑ South Carolina marriage license and certificate, copy in the possession of the profile manager (2018). The spelling of Bill’s surname on this document is “Shepherd.”
7. ↑ Mill Mother's Lament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlaO0AsteD4
8. ↑ https://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Mill_Mothers_Lament.htm
9. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loray_Mill_strike
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:X3SZ-XDJ : Wed Apr 05 07:09:49 UTC 2023), Entry for L H Sheppard and Bertie Sheppard, 1930.
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:KW3K-X1H : Mon Jan 02 03:13:06 UTC 2023), Entry for T A Sheppard and Bertie E Sheppard, 1940.
12. ↑ The National Archives at Atlanta, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975, RG 147; Box: 330. Image at: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2238/32892_2421406264_0085-03239?pid=578332
13. ↑ "United States 1950 Census", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FMM-SF1Q : Thu Oct 05 19:23:34 UTC 2023), Entry for T A Sheppard and Bertie Sheppard, 26 April 1950.
14. ↑ Personal knowledge of Pip Sheppard
15. ↑ Personal knowledge of Pip Sheppard
16. ↑ "North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FGJY-XPY : 29 September 2022), T. A. Sheppard, 1983.

• "United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:KW3K-X1H : Mon Jan 02 03:13:06 UTC 2023), Entry for L A Sheppard and Bertia E Sheppard, 1940.

• Paternal relationship is confirmed by a GEDmatch comparison between Pip Sheppard and undefined Shepherd, his 2nd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are James Shepherd and Mary Patterson, the great grandparents of Pip Sheppard and great grandparents of undefined Shepherd. Predicted relationship from GEDmatch: Third cousins, based on sharing 180.5 cM (2.42%) across 8 segments.

• Maternal relationship is confirmed by a GEDmatch comparison between Pip Sheppard and undefined Shepherd, his 2nd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are James Shepherd and Mary Patterson, the great grandparents of Pip Sheppard and great grandparents of undefined Shepherd. Predicted relationship from GEDmatch: Third cousins, based on sharing 180.5 cM (2.42%) across 8 segments.

• Maternal relationship is confirmed by an autosomal 23andMe test match between Pip Sheppard and A. Ledlie, his half 2nd cousin . Their most-recent common ancestor is Mary Patterson, the great grandmother of both Pip Sheppard and A. Ledlie. Predicted relationship from 23andMe: Second cousins, based on sharing 181 cM (2.43% DNA shared) across 6 segments.

See Also

• There are two Findagrave memorials for Bill. This is the one with a picture of the gravestone: Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 07 September 2018), memorial page for T. A. Sheppard (26 Oct 1904–4 Oct 1983), Find A Grave Memorial no. 30940733, citing Hollywood Cemetery, Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Elizabeth Olmstead (contributor 46772820) .

• On the name change, see: [[1]] and [[2]]. :Also: "North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VHJN-XGV : 8 December 2014), Jerry T A Sheppard in entry for Thomas Arlene Sheppard, 24 Nov 1924; from "North Carolina, Birth and Death Indexes, 1800-2000," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing vol. , p. , Gaston, North Carolina, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.

• On the Loray Mill Strike see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loray_Mill_strike

Acknowledgments

A thank you goes out to Jillaine Smith for special assistance.