Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

(II) John Shepard, son of above, was mar- ried October i, 1649, to Rebecca, daughter of Samuel Greenhill; she died December 22, 1689, and August 3, 1691, he married Mrs. Susannah (Goodwin, widow of William Goodwin; she died, and Mr. Shepard, September 8, 1698, wedded Mrs. Martha Henbury, widow of Arthur Hen- bury. John Shepard died June 12, 1707; his children (all by his first wife) were: Rebecca, born 1650; John, born January 22, 1653; Sarah, born March 5, 1656 (she married Benijah Stone, ijf Guilford, Conn.); Violet, born 16 — ; Eliza- beth, born 1660; Edward, born July i, 1662; Samuel, born 1664; Thomas, born November 12, 1666; Deborah, born 16 — ; Abigail, born 16 — ; and Hannah, born 16 — . Hinman says he was a man of prominence in the colony, and was known as " Sergeant John." (III) John Shepard, eldest son of the above, married (first) May 12, 1680, Hannah, daughter of Deacon Paul Peck; and (second) Mrs. Mary (Benton) Bigelow, widow of John Bigelow, and he had these children — John, born November 4, 1681; Samuel, born February 2, 1684; Hannah, born January 29, 16S8; Joseph, born April 29, 1689, Rebecca, born May 20, 1696; Timothy, born June 7, 1697, died April 21, 1716; and Re- becca, born May 20, 1698, died October 29, 1706. Of these, Hannah married May 22, 1712, Charles 15uckland, and had issue — Jane, Hannah, Charles, and Mehitable. (IV) John Shepard, eldest son of the above, was married October 9, 1707, at the Third Church, Boston, to Abigail, daughter of Gideon and Sarah Allen. He lived at Milford, Conn., and died in 1719, the father of these children: 288 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. John, born October 26, 1708; Rebecca, born November i, 1710, married June 20, 1732, Joseph Peck, and died 1773; Abigail, born Octo- ber 22, 1713, married October 21, 1734, Peter Perritt; Hannah, born November 11, 17 15; and Timothy, born March 22, 1718. (V) John Shepard, eldest in the above enumerated family, was an ensign in 1753. He married Mary Parsons, of Derby, May, 1732; re- moved to Newtown in 1737. Issue: Mary, born June 19, 1733; Abigail, July 6, 1735; John, 1737; Simeon, May 30, 1739; Abraham, 1744; David, 1747; Gideon, June 2, 1752; Stephen, 1753; Allen, 1756; and Abigail, tsorn April 10, •759. married August, 1787, Jehiel Foote, and died August 18, 1836. ■ (VI) Stephen Shepard, sixth son of above, died July 27, 1830; married Anna Foote; issue: William, Allen, Oliver, Joanna, Daniel Parsons and Anna Maria. (VII) Oliver Shepard, third son of the above, and the grandfather of the subject proper of this biography, was born in Newtown, Conn., in 1784, and died in 1861 aged seventy-seven years. When a boy he moved to Bethel, and served an apprenticeship there to the trade of hatter with Capt. Eli Taylor. In 1806 he engaged in the business for his own account on Fountain Place, and in 1830 took his son William C. into part- nership, which continued under the firm name of Oliver Shepard & Son till about 1833 when the senior member retired from the business. In Bethel, Oliver Shepard married Mercy Laura Comstock, daughter of Andrew Comstock, of that place, and children as follows came to their union: Charlotte (married Daniel Barnum, and died in 1881), William C. , Augustus C. (de- ceased), Frederick (deceased), Charles H. (de- ceased), Andrew and George (both in Missouri), Julia (in Brookfield, married to Philo C. Mer- win), and Mary (in Bethelj. Oliver Shepard was the first postmaster at Bethel, and held most of the town offices, including that of justice of the peace. In 1826 he was a member of the House of Assembly, and in 1843 he was sent to the Senate. (VIII) William C. Shepard, eldest- son of the above, and father of our subject, was born in Bethel November 24, 1809, and is still living there at the advanced age of nearly eighty-eight years. He attended the public schools, and learned the trade of hatter with his father. In 1832, when the latter retired from business, William C. and his brother, Augustus C, be- came partners under the firm name of W. C. & A. C. Shepard until 1847, in which year Au- {justus C. retired, William C. continuing the busi- ness alone until i860, when he also retired. In 1 83 1, at Bethel, Mr. Shepard was married to Emily Trowbridge, daughter of Eliachim D. Trowbridge. She died December 24, 1893. Is- sue: Josephine E. ; George A.; and Horace H. (in Kansas City, Mo.). Of these, Josephine E. was married January 14, 1857, to Dr. Elijah Gregory, who practiced medicine at Bridgeport, Conn., and died October 5, 1877. They had one child, William A., born May 7, 1858, now living in Bridgeport. Horace H., the second son of William C. and Emily Shepard, was mar- ried August 28, 1844, to Emma Hibbard, and one child was born to them, Edith. \\'illiam C. Shepard was a Whig until 1857, when he be- came a Republican. In 1844 he represented his constituency in the House of Assembly; he served at various times as selectman, town treas- urer, constable and justice of the peace; in 1862 was assessor of internal revenue; in 1870 was census taker for Bethel, Redding and Ridgefield. Socially, he is a member of the I. O. O. F., noble grand of Howard Lodge No. 29, and was secretary of same. (IX) George A. Shepard, the subject proper of this review, was born September 2, 1839, in Bethel, received his education at the public schools of the borough, and also in a boarding school at Ridgefield under the tuition of Rev. Short, rector of the Episcopal Church at North Salem. When old enough he learned the trade of hatter with his father, and in course of time con- ducted the business for him. At the age of twenty years, his father having given up the business, our subject entered other hat factories, and worked therein as a journeyman until Oc- tober, 1866, when he went to Millburn, N. J., and with Edgar Northrop, of Newtown, engaged in the manufacture of hats under the firm name of Northrop & Shepard, doing a commission busi- ness. This arrangement continued until April i, 1867, and May i following Mr. Shepard com- menced the manufacture of hat leathers, later taking up the making of wire and other hat sup- plies, starting in business at Danbury in the Benedict hat shop on West street. At the end of six months he located in an old tannery on the spot where J. H. Baird's hat factory now stands, thence after two or three years remov- ing to the building now occupied by Joseph Brotherton, in Bethel, and remained there three years. At the same time he was associated with James D. Baldwin in a comb factory on Center street, but sold out his interest to Mr. Baldwin. When the latter went out of the comb business our subject moved his concern into the vacated premises; in November, 1893, ^>,¥^- a<r^f^ COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 289 he removed to his present factory which had been built and equipped during the summer and fall of that year. In 1870 Mr. Shepard invented and patented a machine for coverinj:^ whalebone for fiats, which machine will turn out 5,000 pieces per day. This he operated until the patent had nearly expired. His business has constantly increased — from two employes in 1867 to si.xty in 11597. He now tans the skins and manufactures swcat- leathers, hat-pads, hat-wire, eyelets, rubber ce- ment, covered wire or reeds, etc. In 1880 his son George F. was taken into partnership, the firm continuing as George A. Shepard & Son until June, 1894, when another son was admit- ted, Horace Leon (a graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology), under the new firm name of George A. Shepard & Sons. On April 24, 1858, George A. Shepard was united in marriage with Josephine L. Sloan, daughter of David and Mary Sloan, and children as follows were born to them: George F. , No- vember II, 1859; Frank H., September 20, 1863; and Horace Leon, May 17, 1871. Of these, George F. was married April 29, 1884, to Miss Elizabeth B. Meilbury, daughter of Charles Meilbury, of Providence, R. I., and their chil- dren are: Ruth Emily, Laura Josephine and Morton William. Frank H. married Miss Annie Agnes Boll, of Hoboken, N. J., and has one child, Florence; he is a teacher of instrumental and vocal music at Orange, N. J. Horace Leon was married September i, 1897, ^o Miss Bessie A. Durant, daughter of George G. Du- rant, of Bethel, and on September 10 he and his bride started for Europe, remaining until the following June. Socially, Mr. Shepard is a member of Eureka Lodge, F. & A. M., at Bethel; Eureka Chapter at Danbury; and Crusader Commandery No. 10, Pyramid Temple, at Bridgeport. Politically, he is a Republican. In religious connection he is a member of the Episcopal Church at Bethel, in which he holds the office of vestryman. MrANFORD N. HAYES (deceased.) This L well-known resident of Bridgeport, who passed to the unseen life October 6, 1883; was a man whose sterling qualities of mind and heart won for him the esteem and confidence of all who knew him. During the Civil war he made an honorable record, serving as quartermaster, and for many years he was successful in business in Bridgeport as a cabinet maker. Although he never sought prominence in public life, he took keen interest in all that concerned the welfare of his country, and throughout his life he was a stanch supporter of the priiiciijles and policy of the Republican party. Mr. Hayes was a native of Brookfield, this county, and always made his home in this sec- tion. In 1880 he married Miss Mahala B.Banks, a member of a highly esteemed family that has been identihed with Greenfield Hill, this county, from an early day. Her grandfather, Nathan Banks, a Re\olutionary soldier, was a native of that locality, and passed his life there in agricult- ural pursuits.