On June 15, 1906, 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 79 years old and in declining health. He had spent his youth in Rutherford County, Tennessee, migrating with his family to Texas in 1846. A copy of this letter was graciously sent to me by Mrs. Mara Elliott, granddaughter of early Shapard genealogist and well known author Mrs. Sarah Marsh Shapard.
June 15, 1906,
Mrs. Cora Barrow
Dear Daughter,
In compliance with your request I will sketch very briefly our family, so far as I know it. There is no royal blood in our veins; no great heroes in the line. Our family seems always to have belonged to the middle class, never very rich, never very poor, and none of the hireling class or day laborers – they have always been laborers, very seldom hirelings; but laborers on their own account.
1st: 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 Murphreesborough is now located. He was a builder of mills, He died with the cholera at my father’s house about 1832. He left six sons – William, Barker [Booker], Robert, James Paine, Lewis and Thomas; and three daughters – Sophia, Martha and Mrs. Rone [Thelia who married James Bone]. I do not remember her name; I saw her but once.
2nd: William settled at Nashville when Nashville was but a village. He was first a merchant and afterwards a banker. He was considered a wealthy man of that day. His wife and the wife of James K. Polk were sisters. I think their name was Childress. They had several children whom I never knew. One daughter married a man named Porterfield; the other married a man named McAllister and both were still living in Nashville a few years ago. The son William, was a merchant and living in Memphis, Tenn. The last I heard from him. The family were Presbyterians.
3rd: Barker [Booker] Shapard was a merchant and lived in Puleska [Pulaski], Tenn. He first married a Miss Clay. She died leaving three children, Martha, Eliza and John. They were not grown when I left Tennessee. I do not know what became of the two girls but I have heard that John was a merchant and settled in Columbia, Tenn. Uncle Barker Shapard married again to a Miss Broiles in Giles County, Tenn. and had several children. I do not know their names for they were all small children when I saw them last in the spring of 1847. This family were all Methodist.
4th: Robert Shaphard was a merchant and married a Miss Mitchell at, or near, Murphreesborough, then moved to Shelbyville where he lived until his death. He left three sons and one daughter. The sons names were William, Vann and David G. I do not remember the daughter’s name. William was a Methodist preacher and died at Austin, Texas. Vann was a lawyer and David a merchant. They both lived at Shelbyville, Tennessee. The sister also lives at, or near, Shelbyville. This family were all Methodists.
5th: James Paine Shaphard, my father, was a physician. He married Miss Rebecca Sloss, my mother. He lived most of his life at a village in Tennessee called Middleton (because it was half way between Murfreesborough and Shelbyville). He emigrated to Texas in 1846. We traveled by emigrant wagon, camping out at night. We were out 49 days but rested on the Sabbath. At that time there was not a railroad either in Tennessee or anywhere south of that state. My father settled in Washington County, Texas, near where the town of Chapel Hill is located and died there in 1850 and is buried at that place.
6th: Lewis Shaphard lived and died at Shelbyville, Tennessee. He married Miss Thursa Burdette. He was, for many years, Sheriff of Bedford, Tennessee. He left four children, the eldest a son named Williamson Shapard. He was a physician and the last that I heard of him he lived somewhere in Kentucky. Henry C. Shapard is a Druggist and still lives at Shelbyville, Tenn. Another son, I forget his name, is a physician, and lives somewhere in Northwest Texas. The daughter married a boy that I knew but I forgot his name.
7th: Thomas Shapard came to Texas in 1830. He settled at Old Washington-on-the-Brazos. He was a lawyer – married Miss Ann Hope. He left a daughter, Ellen, who married a merchant at Hempstead named Alexander Cook (Cork?). Another daughter named Mattie Shapard. She never married. She was a school teacher. Also a son – I do not know his name. He and his mother and sister Mattie were living at Thorpe Springs, Texas, the last I heard of them. The women of this family were Methodists.
8th: Sophia married a man named Joshua Harrison (I was named for him). He was a nailmaker and hammered each nail out on the anvil. He left his family in easy circumstances. He lived and died at Murfreesboruogh. Aunt Sophia had three daughters and one son. The eldest daughter married and moved to Mississippi. The next daughter married a doctor who settled at San Marcus, Texas. After her first husband’s death she married again to a Mr. Durham and lived at Austin, Texas. The other daughter, Mary, married Doctor Samuel Richer (Rucker?) in Tennessee. I have not heard from her in 60 years. The son, William, married an old school-mate of mine, Miss Pamela Ellis. Their son, Doctor Harrison, now has a girls Academy at San Antonio, Texas. He is a local Methodist preacher.
9th: Martha Shapard married J.W. Mearin (?) [McCown] who was a young Methodist preacher. He afterwards quit preaching. When I first went to Aunt Martha’s home near Old Washington she had thirteen living children. She lost several fine girls. Sis (Root (?). Read (?). Sue (?)and Shim. I never knew their real names, and a lot of boys. One of them, Wilson Mearin (Mecom) [McCown] died reciently near Cameron, Texas. Two of them, Tim and Jim, live at Whitney in Hill County, Texas, and one of the two of the sisters live there also. One girl married a Mr. Burke and lived at Rockdale, Texas; another lived at Roundrock, near Austin, but I have forgotten her name.
10th: One sister, I forget her name, married a Mr. Rone (?) [Bone] who was a farmer in Tennessee. I was at her home only once. She had a son who settled in Galveston and married a daughter of John Sydner, an oil merchant of Galveston.
I know very little of my mother’s family – I know that her name was Rebecca Sloss and that she was Irish stock. She had three sisters and one brother. One sister married a man named Graham and they lived in West Tennessee. I never saw her or any of her family. Another sister Elizabeth (Aunt Betsy) married a man named Gilman (?) who died, leaving a son William, but he died about 20 years of age. Aunt Betsy married again to Mr. Tune (?) who, lived three miles south of Shelbyville, Tenn. I do not know whether she had any other children or not. Another sister, Mary (Aunt Polly), married a man named Harris who was an invalid. Aunt Polly reared two sons, John and Joe. John was a printer. The brother was named Campbell Sloss. He married Miss Rebecca Austin. He was a merchant and the last I heard of him he lived at Memphis, Tenn.
This is about all I know of my mother’s family but I do know that she was one of the best women who ever lived on this earth. She had eleven children – lost one little girl in infancy but raised ten to be grown – six sons and four daughters. Of course she had a hard life, but she devoted her whole life to her children and I do not remember ever to have heard her complain or murmur. She was gentle yet firm. She cared nothing about fashion or follies but was always absorbed with her task; her children. “She hath done what she could.”
I will return now to my father’s family. There were six sons and four daughters.
1. Doctor Joseph C. Shaphard. He married Miss Elvina Clark in Tennessee and came with her to Texas but his wife, not being satisfied with Texas, they went back to Tennessee and settled at Winchester where he lived until his death. He was a zealous Episcopalian, but a good man.
2. Louis J. Shaphard. He married Miss Ellen Heard at Old Washington, an adopted daughter of James Heard. They had four children – two sons and two daughters. James died before he was fully grown. John lives at, or near Rockdale, Texas. Rebecca married McOnan (?) Neunan (?) and lives at Hill County, Texas. Ellen married Lum Boyd and lives at the same place.
3. Joshua H. Shaphard, I need not write about him! (Married Isabel Prashear October 5, 1852, in Texas.)
4. James T. Shaphard. Started life as a Methodist preacher but joined the Confederate Army. After the close of the war he went to Northwest Missouri, taught school for awhile and married there and now lives near Stansbury, Missouri. He is a farmer. He has a son and a daughter living at Boulder, Colorado; the daughter is Mrs. Hattie Pickels; her husband is a merchant and she writes a beautiful letter. My brother is a devout Methodist still.
5. Charles R. Shaphard. He is a local Methodist preacher; was for several years in itinerant work. He had a liberal education and was said to be a good preacher. He now lives with a son somewhere in Northwest Texas. He has several children but I do not know their names or where they live.
6. Thomas T. Shaphard. He was twice married. I do not know the name of his first wife. She left one daughter who lives near Austin, but I do not know her husband’s name. His last wife was Sally Morgan. She died leaving three daughters, very beautiful. They now live near Mort, McClellan County, Texas. (Julia Shaphard, Pessie McDaniel, and Jessie Compton.)
7. My sister, Sarah, married John W. Brooks and died leaving three girls; one married a man named Dunt but he is dead. I think the widow lives at, or near, Cameron, Texas. She and her two sisters and a brother are school teachers.
8. My sister, Julia married D.H. Rankin, who was Editor of the Brenham Banner. She has several children at Brenham.
9. My sister Susan married Green Morgan, a farmer. She is now a widow living at Brenham. She has two sons – Joe Morgan, a farmer, and Green Morgan, a newspaper man.
10. My sister Martha first married Wm. T. Harris, an itinerant preacher. He died leaving her two children, William and Mattie. They live at Cuero, Texas. William is a lawyer. Mattie Starlrance (?) is now a widow with no children.
