LEWIS SHAPARD (Chapter 17) 1821 and Beyond: Legends, Rumors & Unanswered Questions

Chapter 17

LEWIS SHAPARD BEYOND 1821

LEGENDS, RUMORS & UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

The great problem with the end of Lewis Shapard’s life is the lack of verifiable records after 1820, which go abruptly silent. It is quite possible that he died in the early 1820s, impoverished, leaving no property for which the courts to concern themselves. However, there is no report of his death or guardianship records for his minor children, which makes this theory less likely.  It is also plausible that he left the state of Tennessee, residing elsewhere, the records yet to be found. However, there is one legend, with some verifiable evidence, that suggests he survived until 1833.

On June 15, 1909, Rev. Joshua Harrison Shapard (1827-1910), son of James P. Shapard (1801-1850), wrote a letter of profound genealogical importance to his daughter Mrs. Cora Barrow. At the time of this letter, he was 82 years old and in declining health. Although his youth was spent in Rutherford County, Tennessee, he had migrated with his family to Texas in 1846. Therein he states, “My grandfather Lewis Shapard, was of English decent. He originally lived in Caswell County, N.C.; from there he emigrated with a large family to middle Tennessee when Tennessee was a new country, and settled near where Murfreesboro is now located. He was a builder of mills. He died with the cholera at my father’s house about 1832…”  Joshua H. Shapard continued in his letter to describe with great accuracy all of his aunts and uncles, being the children of Lewis Shapard, which he recalled from his youth while residing in Rutherford County, Tennessee.

Although Rev. J.H. Shapard would have probably had no personal memory of his grandfather Lewis Shapard, he clearly had access, in his youth, to the people who did. When comparing his letter with the verifiable evidence on record there is a great amount of accuracy. It is very likely that the early Shapard family did migrate to America from England; It is true that Lewis lived in Caswell County, North Carolina, although not originally, and from there migrated to Tennessee with his large family; It is accurate that he lived for a time at Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, however, he did not settle there unless it was pertaining to the possible unknown years at the end of his life; If he built mills is still a mystery, as no records have been located with such evidence. However, the specificity of this memory lends to its credibility. And again, it may be pertaining to a job he had during the unknown years at the end of his life.

The statement, “He died with the cholera at my father’s house about 1832…” is very intriguing. From 1832 to 1833, there was a cholera outbreak in Middle Tennessee. As early as 1832, Murfreesboro town officials passed ordinances to keep the town clean due to the cholera threat. Despite their best efforts, however, in the summer of 1833, cholera hit Murfreesboro and the surrounding area, decimating the local population. Many people closed their businesses and sought isolation beyond the town limits until the threat had passed. It is further intriguing that Rev. J.H. Shapard’s father James P. Shapard was residing in Rutherford County at the time, albeit much to the south near the Bedford County border. Had Lewis Shapard fled from Murfreesboro, going to his son’s house in the country would have been logical. To further add credence to the statement, on June 22, 1833, the National Banner & Nashville Daily Advertiser newspaper reported the latest deaths in Rutherford County. Listed among the dead were; “Mrs. Jane W. Wrather, Mr. William Wood, Mr. Lewis Sheppard.” Whether, this “Lewis Sheppard” is our Lewis Shapard can only be speculated. However, it must be noted that this event does perfectly coincided with the exact timeframe given by Rev. J. H. Shapard for the death of his grandfather Lewis Shapard “about 1832.”

In all my research over the last decade, I have not encountered another Lewis Sheppard/Shepherd during this timeframe in Rutherford County, other than those in our family. It should be noted there was an unrelated man named Lewis Sheppard who lived in neighboring Williamson County beginning in the early 1800s. He married Elizabeth Norris in 1810 and resided on Turnbull Creek. He received numerous land grants on Turnbull Creek from the State of Tennessee throughout the 1820s. He appears to have died circa 1836, as, beyond this date, he is absent from the tax records. Interestingly, however, there were two Lewis Sheppards listed in the 1830 tax list of Williamson County. One was living on Turnbull Creek in the western portion of the county, being the Lewis mentioned above; and, the other was living on Wilson Creek in the eastern portion of the county, with no slaves and no additional family listed in his household. It may be of importance to note that Wilson Creek meanders near the Rutherford County line. In addition, a road traveling between the towns of Franklin and Murfreesboro follows the creek. Strangely, this Lewis was only listed for a single year in the tax records. It is unknown if this man was our Lewis Shapard.

A few problems with the legend of his survival to 1833 in Rutherford County, is, of course, the lack of him in the records for 13 years. There also is no mention of him buying land or being a witness to a land deed in Rutherford County. He is not listed in the probate records, and he did not purchase anything from an estate sale. He is completely absent from the Rutherford County records after 1820. His son Lewis Shapard, Jr., who did reside in Rutherford County, is never mentioned in the records of the 1820s and 1830s as “Junior,” but always as just “Lewis Shapard.” If the two men had been living in the same town or area, it seems likely that he would have used the suffix “Junior.” The 1830 United States Census does not list Lewis Shapard by name, nor is he accounted for as a resident of his children’s households.

To deepen the mystery, the name “Lewis” appears in the family lines of only two of Lewis Shapard’s nine children, whereas, their mother’s name “Martha” appears in 5 of the children’s lines. James Paine Shapard (1801-1850) named his second child “Louis James Shapard,” born in Rutherford County in 1825, in honor of his father. He named his first son born in 1823 after his wife’s father Joseph Sloss. The pattern suggests that he named his son Louis as a tribute, not as a memorial. However, Lewis Shapard’s son Booker Shapard (1803-1872) named his 5^th child “Isaac Lewis Shapard” born in 1834 in Mulberry, Tennessee. The child’s first name was in honor of his maternal grandfather Isaac Clay, and his middle name was in honor of his paternal grandfather Lewis Shapard. Interestingly, although this was Bookers third son to be born, it was the first son to be born after the 1833 potential death date of Lewis Shapard, as a possible memorial.

Along these same lines, an intriguing pattern develops when viewing who Lewis Shapard’s younger children honored when naming their first born male children. Martha Shapard, who married Joshua W. McCown, named her first son born in 1829 “William B. McCown;” Robert P. Shapard, who married Parthenia Mitchell, named his first son born in 1830 “William Shapard;” Lewis Shapard, Jr., who married Thursa Burdette, named his first son born in 1831 “Williamson Shapard;” Thelia Shapard, who married James P. Bone, named her first son born in 1834 “William Shapard Bone.” This pattern lends strong evidence that their eldest brother William B. Shapard played a significant role in upbringing of his younger siblings at a time when their father Lewis Shapard was mysteriously missing from the historical records.            

In the end, I believe Lewis Shapard’s brother James Shapard (1769-1837) of Caswell County, North Carolina, said it best in April of 1827, when asked about the whereabouts of his brother, stating; “Lewis Shapard is either deceased or an inhabitant of Tennessee.”

There remain many unanswered questions about the life of our amazing patriarch. It is with great hope that future Shapard genealogists will locate the records that eluded me and accurately expand upon his life’s story. However, what we do know is that Lewis Shapard was born into a good name and honored that name through the testimony of his life’s story. He played out his life’s journey against an amazing backdrop of early American events. He became a wealthy and respected gentleman planter, with an entrepreneurial spirit for business, accentuated by a relentless desire of adventure that embodied the pioneer spirit of America. He endured the trials and heartbreaks of life with great faith and perseverance. Lewis’ honorable reputation licensed him companionship with many of the most interesting and proficient men of Tennessee and North Carolina. He loved his family dearly, and did what he thought most advantageous for their future. He was privy to great responsibility in life and delivered on all accounts. His life ended as it began; without possession, save the love of his family. Where the hallowed remains of Lewis Shapard lay has been lost through the causality and remiss of time.