Alexander Robey Shepherd (January 30, 1835 – September 12, 1902), was one of the most controversial and influential civic leaders in the history of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and one of the most powerful big-city
political boss
In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous of ...
es of the
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...
. He was head of the DC Board of Public Works from 1871 to 1873 and
Governor of the District of Columbia from 1873 to 1874. He is known, particularly in Washington, as "The Father of Modern Washington."
Early life and career
![Mary Grice Young](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Mary_Grice_Young.jpg)
Born in
southwest Washington
Southwest Washington is a geographical area of the U.S. state of Washington, encompassing roughly half of Western Washington. It generally includes the Olympia area southwards to the Oregon-Washington state line at Vancouver. Olympia, the state c ...
on January 30, 1835, Shepherd dropped out of school at 13 and took a job as a plumber's assistant. Eventually, he worked his way up to becoming the owner of the plumbing firm. He then invested the profits from that firm in real estate development, which made him a wealthy socialite and influential citizen of the city. (One of his luxurious properties was Shepherd's Row, a set of
rowhouse
In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United Sta ...
s on
Connecticut Avenue
Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was on ...
designed by
Adolf Cluss
Adolf Ludwig Cluss (July 14, 1825 – July 24, 1905) also known as Adolph Cluss was a German-born American immigrant who became one of the most important, influential and prolific architects in Washington, D.C., in the late 19th century, respons ...
; Cluss would later be the star witness at Shepherd's congressional investigation hearings.)
Two days after the
Battle of Fort Sumter that initiated the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, Shepherd and his brother each enlisted in the 3rd Battalion of the District of Columbia volunteers. The term of enlistment at that time was only three months, after which Shepherd was honorably discharged. On January 30, 1861, he was married to Mary Grice Young, with whom he raised seven children. Her niece,
Marie Grice Young, was the piano teacher of
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's children and a
''Titanic'' survivor.
He was an early member of the
Republican Party and a member of the Washington City Councils from 1861 to 1871, during which time he was an important voice for D.C. emancipation, then for suffrage for the freed slaves.
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
would later say of him, "I want to thank Governor Shepherd for the fair way in which he treated the colored race when he was in a position to help them."
City Boss
![Alexander Robey Shepherd, circa 1864](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Alexander_Robey_Shepherd%2C_circa_1864.jpg)
By 1870, war and mismanagement had caused the finances and infrastructure of the city to deteriorate so badly that the
Mayor of Washington,
Sayles J. Bowen, had his furniture seized in an attempt to pay the city's debts.
Democrats and Republicans were in a rare agreement that a drastic change was needed from Bowen's regime. As a solution, Shepherd and his allies began agitation for the abolition of the elected governments of Washington City and
Georgetown, as well as the appointed justices of the peace for
Washington County, to be replaced with a unified territorial government to administer the entire District of Columbia. The Shepherd machine was easily able to sway popular support in favor of that notion.
In 1871, Shepherd was able to convince the
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
to pass a bill that established the territorial government that he desired. The
Organic Act of 1871 merged the various governments in the District of Columbia into a single eleven-member legislature, including two representatives for Georgetown and two for the County of Washington, to be presided over by a territorial governor. The legislature and governor would all be appointed by the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
. Both frontrunners for the governorship were initially Shepherd, from Washington, and
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
Jason A. Magruder, from Georgetown; although popular support was behind Shepherd, US President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
feared that either appointment would cause a sectional divide that might make governorship of the full district impossible. Thus, Grant's inaugural appointment to the governorship was his friend, the financier
Henry D. Cooke, "a gentleman of unimpeachable integrity" and secretly a close political ally of Shepherd.
Shepherd was appointed vice-chair of the city's five-man Board of Public Works. The most powerful public entity in the District of Columbia, the Board of Public Works was actually an independent entity from the territorial government, reporting directly to Congress, but kept within the territory's sphere of influence by making the governor its chairman. Cooke, however, rarely attended the Board's meetings (probably at Shepherd's urging), allowing Vice-Chair Shepherd to preside.
He asserted himself as a leader to such an extent that he often did not bother to consult the other members of the Board before he made decisions and took sweeping action. His abilities as a political operator, according to D.C. journalist
Sam Smith
Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single " Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
, were formidable:
:
City improvements
The warworn condition of Washington City in the late 1860s and the early 1870s, when it was little more than a hamlet of dirt roads, wooden sidewalks and open sewers and surrounded by farmland and large country estates, was such that Congress had for several years discussed relocating the seat of the Federal government westward to
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, which would have led to ruin for the District of Columbia. Shepherd believed that if the government was to remain in Washington, the city's infrastructure and facilities had to be modernized and revitalized. He filled in the long-dormant
Washington Canal and placed of paved roads and sidewalks, of sewers, of gas mains, and of water mains. In 1872, Shepherd was responsible for the demolition of the Northern Liberties Market. Two individuals, a butcher who was still on the premises at the time of the demolition and a young boy who had come with his dog to chase the rats who fled the structure, were killed in the process. Under his direction, the city also planted 60,000 trees, built the city's first public transportation system in the form of
horse-drawn streetcars, installed street lights, and had the railroad companies refit their tracks to fit new citywide grading standards for the District.
Governorship and fall from power
![Alexander Robey Shepherd](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Alexander_Robey_Shepherd.JPG)
In 1873, the Washington writer
Mary Clemmer Ames wrote that "the majority of people believe that Governor Cooke would retain his position only until the fusion of irritated factions
.e., whites and blacks; Washington, Georgetown, and Washington Countywas effected, and that in the event of his resignation, Mr. Shepherd would be appointed his successor. Whether Governor Cooke retires before the end of his term or not, it is the universal belief that Mr. Shepherd will be the second governor of the District of Columbia." Sure enough, that September, Cooke resigned as Governor of the District and Shepherd, having befriended Grant, was promoted by the President to the governorship.
Once in office, Governor Shepherd engaged in a series of social reforms and campaigns that were progressive even by Radical Republican standards. He "integrated public schools, supported the vote for women, sought representation for D.C. in Congress and a Federal payment to the city."
Generally, however, his gubernatorial term was "principally occupied in avoiding embarrassments in the conduct of the District's official business due to the inadequacy of the revenue which had been entailed by the demands for funds to meet the cost of executing street improvements."
However, despite the lack of finances, the massive public works project continued and intensified during Shepherd's term as governor of the District of Columbia. Although the
Organic Act of 1871 had given the governor power to issue construction bonds in the city to the consternation of white landowners, but Shepherd put it to a referendum to demonstrate his widespread popular support in the city thanks to the black voters, who backed him.
However, the cost of the modifications was excessive. Initially, Shepherd had estimated them at a $6.25 million budget, but by 1874, costs had ballooned to $9 million, despite the national
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the ...
. District residents gathered 1,200 signatures to petition an audit from Congress; when the audit was conducted, the legislature discovered that the city was in arrears by $13 million and declared bankruptcy on its behalf. Shepherd was investigated for financial misappropriation and mishandling, and it was discovered that the project and its funding had been carried to absurd extremes. Shepherd had raised taxes to such a degree that citizens had to sell their own property to pay them. Street grading had been executed such that some homes' front yards were as much as lower than the front door, and others found their homes standing in trenches with the street at the second-floor. In addition, Congress discovered that Shepherd had given preference to neighborhoods and areas of the District in which he or his political cronies held financial interests.
Although none of his actions was found to have violated any laws, the territorial government was abolished in favor of a three-member Board of Commissioners, which remained in charge of the District for nearly a century. Although Grant nominated Shepherd to the first Board of Commissioners, the appointment was rejected by the
US Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and po ...
on the same day. The appointment of Shepherd became one of the many corruption scandals surrounding Grant's administration.
The civic improvements, however, had sufficiently modernized the city that relocation of the capital was never again discussed as a serious option. It also created a decades-long real estate boom in Washington (until about the turn of the 20th century), with wealthy Americans coming from all over the United States to build large and expensive mansions, some for year-round residency and some for winter vacation only (leading Washington to be called "the winter
Newport").
Last years
![Alexander Robey Shepherd in Mexico](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Alexander_Robey_Shepherd_in_Mexico.jpg)
Shepherd remained in Washington for a further two years, still a real-estate magnate and a celebrated and influential member of Washington society. In 1876, however, he declared
personal bankruptcy Personal bankruptcy law allows, in certain jurisdictions, an individual to be declared bankrupt. Virtually every country with a modern legal system features some form of debt relief for individuals. Personal bankruptcy is distinguished from corporat ...
and, once his accounts were settled, moved with his family to
Batopilas,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, where he made a fortune in
silver mining
Silver mining is the extraction of silver from minerals, starting with mining. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires elaborate technologies. In 2008, ca.25,900 metric tons were consumed ...
and instituted many of the same reforms he had championed in the District of Columbia.
He died in
Batopilas in Mexico on September 12, 1902, from complications of a surgery to remove his
appendix. His body was returned to Washington and buried in a large personal (not family) vault in
Rock Creek Cemetery
Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stre ...
.
Legacy
Shepherd's legacy has been a matter of some debate since his death more than one hundred years ago. He has long been maligned as a corrupt,
cronyist political boss, often compared to
Boss Tweed, the leader of the
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
political machine of the same time period.
A statue of Shepherd currently stands on
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4 ...
,
NW, in front of the
John A. Wilson Building
The John A. Wilson District Building, popularly known simply as the Wilson Building, houses the municipal offices and chambers of the Mayor and the Council of the District of Columbia. Originally called the District Building, it was renamed in 1 ...
, which now houses the offices and chambers of the
Council and the
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
), and has served as a symbol of his fluctuating reputation.
![Shepherd statue at Wilson Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Shepherd_statue_at_Wilson_Building.jpg)
In 1979, during the first year of
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
Marion Barry's administration, the statue was removed from its perch on Pennsylvania Avenue and warehoused in city storage. It reappeared in the mid-1980s near an otherwise-obscure D.C. Public Works building on Shepherd Avenue, S.W., in the District's remote
Blue Plains neighborhood.
Near the beginning of the 21st century, Washington historian Nelson Rimensnyder started to argue for a restoration of Shepherd's reputation, calling him an "urban visionary" who single-handedly transformed Washington into a major American city and championed aggressive social reform.
Largely as a result of the efforts of Rimensnyder and those he persuaded, the Shepherd statue was returned in January 2005 to its previous place of honor. The statue now stands on its
pedestal
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...
next to the
sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, close to
14th Street, NW, and the northwest corner of the Wilson Building.
[Coordinates of Shepherd Statue: ]
The D.C. neighborhood of
Shepherd Park
Shepherd Park is a neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. In the years following World War II, restrictive covenants which had prevented Jews and African Americans from purchasing homes in the neighborhood were no longer enfo ...
, where Shepherd once lived, is named for him, as is Alexander Shepherd Elementary School in that neighborhood.
References
External links
"Boss" Shepherd Remakes the City– Shepherd's life in Mexico
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Alexander Robey
1835 births
1902 deaths
People from Southwest (Washington, D.C.)
Washington, D.C., government officials
Union Army soldiers
People of Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War
Washington, D.C., Republicans
Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery