Edward Morse Shepard (July 23, 1850 – July 28, 1911) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Early life and education

Edward M. Shepard was the son of Lorenzo B. Shepard (1821–1856) and Lucy (Morse) Shepard (1821–1890). After the early death of his father, Abram S. Hewitt became his guardian, and the family removed to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. There Shepard attended Public School Nr. 13. Afterwards he attended Oberlin College Preparatory School for one year (1860–61), and graduated from City College of New York in 1869. He then studied law with

John Edward Parsons John Edward Parsons (October 24, 1829 – January 16, 1915) was an American lawyer in New York City. He was president of the New York City Bar Association from 1900 to 1901 and the president of the Cooper Union from 1905 to 1915. Early life Pa ...

, was admitted to the bar in 1875, and formed a partnership with Albert Stickney. In 1890, he became a partner in the firm of Parsons, Shepard and Ogden.

Political career

From 1883 to 1885, he was Chairman of the Brooklyn Civil Service Board. In 1884, he was appointed a State Forestry Commissioner. He became a Democratic leader in Brooklyn, but disagreeing with the corrupt local boss Hugh McLaughlin, Shepard organized in 1894 a Democratic Reform faction which nominated Everett P. Wheeler for Governor. In

the election ''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...

, Democrat

David B. Hill David Bennett Hill (August 29, 1843October 20, 1910) was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891 and represented New York in the United States Senate from 1892 to 1897. In 1892, he made an u ...

was defeated by Republican Levi P. Morton. Shepard was a delegate to the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...

of the "Gold Democrats" in Indianapolis which nominated the

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

/ Buckner ticket for the

1896 United States presidential election The 1896 United States presidential election was the 28th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican candidate, defeated former Representative William Jennings Bryan, t ...

. In

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puni ...

, Shepard supported

Seth Low Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of t ...

who ran on the

Citizens Union Citizens Union is a New York City-based good government group founded in 1897 to combat the influences of the Tammany Hall political machine. J. Pierpont Morgan, Benjamin Altman, Elihu Root, and Carl Schurz numbered among its 165 founders. In 1987 ...

ticket for Mayor of New York City at the first election under the Consolidation Charter, and said that

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 ...

was the "most burning and disgraceful blot upon the municipal history of this country." In

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, Shepard supported

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...

for president. The next year, Tammany boss

Richard Croker Richard Welstead Croker (November 24, 1843 – April 29, 1922), known as "Boss Croker," was an Irish American political boss who was a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall. His control over the city was cemented with the 1897 election of ...

had Shepard nominated as the regular Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York City, but he was defeated by

who had been nominated by a fusion of Anti-Tammany Democrats, Republicans and the

. Mark Twain, an avid supporter of Seth Low, said of Edward M. Shepard: "A Tammany banana is a strange thing. One end of it, or one part, here or there, is perfectly white. The rest of it is rotten. Now, I have the greatest respect for Mr. Shepard personally, but nine-tenths of the rest of the bananas on that ticket are rotten. Mr. Shepard is the white part of the banana. The best we can do is throw the whole banana from us, for it is unfit. It will make us sick. " In 1909, he started a movement to unite the infighting factions of the Democratic Party in New York, which led in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

to the election of

John Alden Dix John Alden Dix (December 25, 1860 – April 9, 1928) was an American businessman and politician who served as 38th Governor of New York from January 1911 to January 1913. A native of Glens Falls, New York, Dix attended Cornell University befo ...

(the first Democratic Governor of New York since Roswell P. Flower had left office in 1894) and majorities in both Houses of the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...

(for the first time since 1893). Shepard had been considered the frontrunner for the gubernatorial nomination, but Tammany boss

Charles Francis Murphy Charles Francis "Silent Charlie" Murphy (June 20, 1858 – April 25, 1924), also known as Boss Murphy, was an American political figure. He was also the longest-serving head of New York City's Tammany Hall, a position he served from 1902 to 192 ...

preferred Dix. At the onset of 1911, the Democrats having a majority in the State Legislature, it was generally believed that Shepard would be elected

U.S. Senator from New York Below is a list of U.S. senators who have represented the State of New York in the United States Senate since 1789. The date of the start of the tenure is either the first day of the legislative term (Senators who were elected regularly before th ...

to succeed Republican Chauncey M. Depew. But boss Murphy put up William F. Sheehan for the nomination, and the longest deadlock in the history of the State of New York ensued. At the United States Senate election in New York, 1911, Shepard was favored by the "Insurgent" Democrats, led by State Senator

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. He received 15 votes (out of 200) on the 32nd ballot, but retired from the race after the 34th ballot on February 25, 1911, trying to move Sheehan to do the same for the sake of party unity. But Sheehan remained in the field, and after 74 days of deadlock, James A. O'Gorman was elected as a compromise candidate on April 1. Just a few months later, on July 28, 1911, Shepard died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at his summer residence "Erlowest" (now The Inn at Erlowest), on Lake George's "Millionaire's Row." He had never married. Shepard Hall of the City College of New York is named after him.

Works

* ''Dishonor in American Public Life'' (1882) * ''The Work of a Social Teacher'' (1884) * ''Martin Van Buren'' (1888), in the “American Statesmen Series” * ''The Democratic Party'' (1892)

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links