Elizabeth Mitchell Shapard (1872-1931), affectionately known as “Lizzie,” was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on February 21, 1872. She was the daughter of Rev. Edwin Ruthven Shapard and Jennie (Hall) Shapard. Her middle name was in honor her paternal grandmother’s maiden name. At only eight months of age, she was taken to Indian Territory, when her father became the Superintendent for the New Hope Seminary at Oak Lodge, Skullyville, in the Choctaw Nation. It was among this pastoral educational setting that she would spend the next decade of her life. Her early education was among the faculty and Choctaw students of the seminary, however, in 1886, she was admitted to the Harrell Institute at Muskogee in the Creek Nation. Lizzie faired well at school and was elected Secretary of the Juvenile Mission Society and elected Secretary of the Parsonage Society of Muskogee. She was also appointed as a librarian for the McGavock Library, which was located at the school.
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| Elizabeth M. Shapard c. 1886 |
Lizzie was a graduate of the 6th term of the Harrell Institute in 1887. After spending the summer with her family at Eufaula in the Creek Nation, she was sent to “the States” for a better education, attending Brookhaven Mississippi Female Institute from September 1887 until June of 1888. This institute became the present-day Whitworth College, which operated as a four-year women’s college from 1859 until 1928. In the fall of 1888, Lizzie transferred to the North Texas Female College in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas. Whilst away, on November 16, 1889, her father would die in Fort Smith, Arkansas. At the time of her father’s death, Lizzie was as only 17 years of age. On June 10, 1890, Miss Elizabeth Shapard graduated from college, and returned to her family home in Fort Smith, Arkansas, teaching briefly at Belle Point school.
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| Elizabeth M. Shapard wedding 1891 |
Lizzie returned to Sherman, Texas, where she was courted by Mr. William Burton Jaynes. They were married in Paris, Lamar County, Texas on December 26, 1891. Mr. Jaynes was born in South Carolina in 1866. He studied law in Dahlonega, Georgia, and then moved to Sherman, Texas, to establish his legal practice. In 1893, he was approached by Texas Representative (and future senator from 1901-1913) Joseph Weldon Bailey and offered a job as his personal secretary for the sum of $150 per month. Upon accepting the position, Mr. Jaynes and Lizzie moved to Washington D.C., in 1894, and initially rented a small room on Capital Hill. Mr. Jaynes remained Senator Bailey’s personal secretary for the duration of his political career. Mr. Jaynes and Lizzie were members of the Mount
Vernon Place Methodist Episcopal Church South, where in 1909 she began teaching a class, and did so for 22 consecutive years. She was also the church treasurer for the Woman’s Missionary Society.
Lizzie’s mother passed away on April 9, 1910 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, after a lingering illness of three months. Over the following years, Lizzie remained active in her church and also assisted her husband through secretarial work.
In 1931, she was working as a cashier at the Garden T Shoppe. On April 3rd, at closing time, two masked men entered the fashionable tea shop. One held a gun at Lizzie while the other removed the $90 from the cash register. Without warning the gun discharged and the thieves ran out the door. The police were immediately summoned and Lizzie gave a full report of the incident, not yet realizing she had been shot. Lizzie returned to her house where hours later her leg went numb and she was rushed to Garfield Hospital. Lizzie survived her injury for two days, yet, succumbed at 6:15 pm on Sunday April 5, 1931, at the age of 59 years old. Funeral Services were held on April 8th at Mount Vernon Place Methodist Episcopal Church South. Her three brothers, Sumner, Edwin, Jr., and David attended the funeral services and interment at Fort Lincoln Cemetery. Such a sad and tragic end to such a bright and beautiful spirit. Lizzie and her husband had no children.
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