Daniel's origin is unknown; his birth year is estimated by his marriage date.[1]
A previous version of this profile attached him, without source, as son of Ralph Shepard and Thankslord Perkins. They've been detached.
There is no record of him until his marriage to Mary Brice in Portsmouth, Rhode Island on December 21, 1686.[2] Daniel and Mary had five children born at Portsmouth and may have later moved to Dartmouth.[1]
Children
Daniel b 29 Jan 1687/8
Virtue b 07 Jan 1689/90
Nathaniel b 07 Sep 1692
John b 04 Feb 1694/5
Freelove b 05 Apr 1697; m Joseph Eastland
Nothing has been found about this couple except their date and place of marriage and the names of their children.
Marriage: Arnold, James N., Rhode Island Vital Record, Vol. 4 Newport County, Town of Portsmouth, p. 40, cites 1-116.
Is Daniel your ancestor? Please don't go away! Login to collaborate or comment, or
contact
a profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
This has always been a tough one for me! The only source I've been able to find is below and notes Daniel as "probably." On my personal tree I have Daniel Shepherd linked to father Ralph and consider it speculative as there are several other weak sources claiming the relationship. Shepherd-4374 was a Quaker, as were the next few generations that followed, and Ralph was a Puritan (though there were a few that changed). How the family name is spelled is all over the place and more than one iteration is often found. Personally, I don't think anything clear will be found and there is no one good answer. Thanks for all your work!
Shepherd-4374 and Shepard-1640 appear to represent the same person because: Shepard is the spelling in the marriage record and used by Jacobus. I've requested Shepard-1640 be detached from Ralph and Thankslord.
I'm willing to merge this Daniel [Shepard-1640] with [Shepherd-4374] when the unproven parents Ralph and Thankslord (Perkins) Shepard AND the unproven children John, Walter and Mary are removed from the profile.
None of the following sources have found compelling documentary or circumstantial evidence for retaining these unproven connections:
Shepard, Gerald Faulkner, comp. and Donald Lines Jacobus, ed. The Shepard Families of New England, Vol I. Ralph Shepard. The New Haven Colony Historical Society, (New Haven, Connecticut, 1971), 1-6.
Shepard, Gerald Faulkner, comp. and Donald Lines Jacobus, ed. The Shepard Families of New England, Vol III. Additional Family Groups "Daniel Shepard of Portsmouth, R. I. The New Haven Colony Historical Society, (New Haven, Connecticut, 1973)
Guilford, Joan S. The Ancestry of Dr. J. P. Guilford.Vol. 1. Sheridan Psychological Services, Inc. (Orange, California, 1990) 727-731
Anderson, Robert Charles.Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S
Great Migration Study Project, New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston, 2009) 262-269
Although Daniel I's marriage record spells the name as Shepard, the record of his five children born in Portsmouth uses the Shepherd spelling. Here's Daniel II's birth record:
Arnold, James N., Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850: First Series, Births, Marriages and Deaths (Providence, R.I.: Narragansett Historical Publishing Company, 1893), Family History Library, Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, Vol. 4, Part I, p. 95. "1-116 SHEPHERD, Daniel, of Daniel and Mary, Jan. 29, 1687-8".
Spelling was not much of an issue in earlier centuries -- and not many people were literate enough to care.
Chris, I'm checking the sketch of Ralph Shepherd and his wife Thankslord in Anderson's "Great Migration" p. 266. The children that are listed for this couple are Sarah, Thomas, Isaac, Trial, Abraham, Thanks, and Jacob.
Hudson, S.E.; "The History of Concord Massachusetts, Vol. 1";The Erudite Press; Concord, MA; 1904; p. 458 https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_of_Concord_Massachusetts/7Iy9J-lxpF8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+history+of+concord+massachusetts&printsec=frontcover
Thanks for bringing this issue to my attention.
I'm willing to merge this Daniel [Shepard-1640] with [Shepherd-4374] when the unproven parents Ralph and Thankslord (Perkins) Shepard AND the unproven children John, Walter and Mary are removed from the profile.
None of the following sources have found compelling documentary or circumstantial evidence for retaining these unproven connections:
Shepard, Gerald Faulkner, comp. and Donald Lines Jacobus, ed. The Shepard Families of New England, Vol I. Ralph Shepard. The New Haven Colony Historical Society, (New Haven, Connecticut, 1971), 1-6.
Shepard, Gerald Faulkner, comp. and Donald Lines Jacobus, ed. The Shepard Families of New England, Vol III. Additional Family Groups "Daniel Shepard of Portsmouth, R. I. The New Haven Colony Historical Society, (New Haven, Connecticut, 1973)
Guilford, Joan S. The Ancestry of Dr. J. P. Guilford.Vol. 1. Sheridan Psychological Services, Inc. (Orange, California, 1990) 727-731
Anderson, Robert Charles.Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S Great Migration Study Project, New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston, 2009) 262-269
Although Daniel I's marriage record spells the name as Shepard, the record of his five children born in Portsmouth uses the Shepherd spelling. Here's Daniel II's birth record:
Arnold, James N., Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850: First Series, Births, Marriages and Deaths (Providence, R.I.: Narragansett Historical Publishing Company, 1893), Family History Library, Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, Vol. 4, Part I, p. 95. "1-116 SHEPHERD, Daniel, of Daniel and Mary, Jan. 29, 1687-8". Spelling was not much of an issue in earlier centuries -- and not many people were literate enough to care.
There is no son, Daniel Sheperd.