Abraham Shepherd (1776–1847) was a politician from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States who was a leader of both houses of the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

early in the 19th century.

Early life

Abraham Shepherd was born August 13, 1776, in

Shepherdstown, Virginia Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley along the Potomac River. Home to Shepherd University, the town's population was 1,734 at the time of the 2010 census. History 18t ...

, (now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

). He was among the seven children of John Shepherd and Martha Nelson Shepherd. John Shepherd joined the 4th Virginia Infantry during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, and also operated a mill, teaching the business to his son. In 1787, the family moved to Wheeling Creek, and to Limestone, Kentucky, in 1793. They stayed two years before locating in

Red Oak The genus Oak, ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many List of the largest genera of flowering plants, large genera, is Taxonomic rank#Ranks in botany, divided into subgenus, subgen ...

, then in Adams County in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

. In 1799, Abraham Shepherd married Margaret Moore, lived at Red Oak a short time before building a brick house and mill, later known as Pilson's Mill, on Eagle Creek. He also laid out and dedicated a cemetery, known as Baird's Cemetery.

Political

In October, 1803, Shepherd was elected one of three Adams County representatives in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

, and was seated December 5, 1803. He was re-elected in 1804, 1805, and 1806, serving as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

during the 1806-07 session. In 1809, Shepherd was again elected to the Ohio House, and he was re-elected in 1810. During the War of 1812, Shepherd served as captain of a company in the Ohio Militia during 1812 and 1813. Shepherd returned to the legislature in 1815, being elected to the

Ohio State Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

for a two-year term. He served as Speaker of the Senate during the 1816-'7 session. He was elected to another two-year term in 1817, and again was elected Speaker during the 1817-'8 session. In December 1817, he secured the passage of the act creating

Brown County, Ohio Brown County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 43,676. The county seat is Georgetown. The county was created in 1818 and is named for Major General Jacob Brown, an officer in the War ...

, from Adams and Clermont, and was then a resident of the new county. He was also a

Presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

for

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

in 1816. In 1818, the first court was held in Brown County at Ripley, with Joshua Collett presiding. Shepherd was appointed clerk-of-courts for a seven-year term. Shepherd returned to the Senate in 1825, representing Adams and Brown counties, and during the 1826-'7 session was again Speaker of the Senate. In 1825, the state moved to an

Ad valorem tax An ''ad valorem'' tax (Latin for "according to value") is a tax whose amount is based on the value of a transaction or of property. It is typically imposed at the time of a transaction, as in the case of a sales tax or value-added tax (VAT). An ...

system, and the State Board of Equalization was created. Shepherd represented the congressional district on the board.

Personal

Shepherd operated Pilson's Mill on Eagle Creek, now in

Jefferson Township, Brown County, Ohio Jefferson Township is one of the sixteen townships of Brown County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 1,407 people in the township. Geography Located in the eastern part of the county, it borders the following townships: * Jackson Town ...

, until 1817, when he moved to

Ripley, Ohio Ripley is a village in Union Township, Brown County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River 50 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 1,750 at the 2010 census. History Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the American Revolution, ar ...

. He built a mill, operated by steam as early as 1825, at Red Oak, and was also a pork-packer. He was master of a

masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...

lodge at Ripley in 1818, and was an elder of the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church, and delegate at the Chillicothe Presbytery in 1823, 1830 and 1832. Shepherd's first wife died in 1818, after having ten children. He married Harriet Kincade on October 19, 1819, and had two more children. In 1834, he had financial reverses, and moved to

Putnam County, Illinois Putnam County is the least extensive county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 6,006. The county seat is Hennepin. The county was formed in 1825 out of Fulton County and named after Israel Putn ...

, where he died January 16, 1847. While a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

and later

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, Shepherd abandoned the party later on because of slavery, and became an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

Notes

References

* * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Abraham 1776 births 1847 deaths American militiamen in the War of 1812 American Presbyterians Ohio Democratic-Republicans People from Adams County, Ohio People from Ripley, Ohio People from Shepherdstown, West Virginia Presidents of the Ohio State Senate Democratic Party Ohio state senators Speakers of the Ohio House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives 1816 United States presidential electors American abolitionists American militia officers Presbyterian abolitionists