David Evander Shapard (1887 - 1935), Introduction

 INTRODUCTION

 

Robert Paine Shapard (January 9, 1805-September 18, 1871), grandfather of David Evander Shapard (March 22, 1887-December 1, 1935), was born on January 9, 1805, in Caswell County, North Carolina. He was the son of Lewis Shapard (c. 1773-June 1833) and Martha Paine (November 17, 1773-June 16, 1813) of Caswell County, North Carolina; and the grandson of William Shapard (c. 1741– c. October 1807) and Mary Booker (September 4, 1746–1804) of Cumberland County, Virginia, and Granville County, North Carolina; and the great-grandson of Samuel Shapard (c.1700-1752) and Mildred Crockford (1712-1781) of King and Queen County, Virginia.

In the Spring of 1813, Robert Paine Shapard moved with his parents from their plantation home in Caswell County, North Carolina, to Williamson County, Tennessee, where he was reared amid pioneer scenes. In 1813, when he was 8 years old, his mother, Martha Paine Shapard, died. Approximately a year and-a-half later, his father moved the family to Wilson County, Tennessee. On April 11, 1814, Robert’s father married Elizabeth Strother Parrish, who had been widowed by her first husband, Henry Parrish. In late 1816, Robert’s step-mother abandoned her new family and the Shapard family moved to Smith County, Tennessee, before finally settling in Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee.

Murfreesboro was recognized as the State Capital of Tennessee from 1818 until 1826, when the capital was moved to Nashville. On February 1, 1817, at 12 years of age, Robert was legally bound and apprenticed to his brother-in-law, Joshua Norman Harrison (1789-1825), to learn the trade of nail making.  At this time only wrought iron nails were in use. Each nail was handmade, by being cut from a piece of iron then placed in a vice and having a head hammered. Mr. Harrison operated a successful nail factory located on the Public Square in Murfreesboro, in a small one-story shop of about 18 feet by 25 feet made of cedar logs.  The indenture agreement stipulated that Robert was to be furnished with food, clothing, stationary, washing and lodging, and taught to read, write, and "cipher through the rule of three". The terms of apprenticeship would end when Robert reached the age of twenty-one, in 1826, at which time he would receive a suit of clothes worth fifty dollars. Mr. Harrison died on Christmas day in 1825. Afterwards, Robert did not follow the nailmakers trade and, instead, embarked in mercantile pursuits, successfully operating a store for the duration of his life, first in Murfreesboro and later in Fayetteville and Shelbyville, Tennessee. Robert was a devout Methodist and helped pioneer the early churches, banks, schools and infrastructure of his area. He died of a bacterial infection on September 18, 1871, in Shelbyville, Tennessee, and was buried at Willow Mount Cemetery.

On November 12, 1829, Robert Paine Shapard married Miss Parthenia Mitchell (January 12, 1809-April 27, 1872) in Rutherford County, Tennessee. She was the daughter of William Mitchell (1763-1850) and Elizabeth Curry (1773-1828). Mr. Mitchell was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, having taken part in the battle of King’s Mountain. He also owned and operated a large plantation a few miles northwest of Murfreesboro.  From the union of Robert and Parthenia, 10 children were born: William Shapard (1830-1894), James Hodge Shapard (1832-1836), daughter (1835-1835), Avarilla Elizabeth Shapard (1836-1854), Edwin Ruthven Shapard (1838-1889), Robert Addison Shapard (1841-1871), Evander Shapard (1843-1921), David Green Shapard (1846-1919), Sarah Shapard (1848-1933) and John Mitchell Shapard (1851-1858).

David Evander Shapard’s father, Edwin Ruthven Shapard (1838-1889), was born on December 16, 1838, in Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, Tennessee. The following year, Edwin’s father moved the family to the town of Fayetteville, in Lincoln County, Tennessee, where he established himself as a merchant. Edwin recalled that he was practically raised in that store during his youth. Edwin’s father owned a variety of slaves, from 1830 until the end of the Civil War, and Edwin was also reared among this institution of slavery, as a part of the normalcy of his daily life and upbringing. In addition, Edwin’s parents had deep ties to the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and Edwin and his siblings were raised in the light and morality of this Christian denomination. Interestingly, in 1849, a Methodist religious revival sparked in in the town of Fayetteville, and on December 14^th, Edwin, at the age of 11 years old, publicly professed his faith in Christ. In August of 1856, Edwin attended Florence Wesleyan University in Alabama (currently the University of Northern Alabama), where he was licensed to preach as a Methodist minister on March 12, 1859.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Rev. Edwin R. Shapard was serving as the minister of the church at Tuscumbia, Alabama, which was directly across the Tennessee River from his alma mater of Florence Wesleyan University. In April of 1862, Federal troops invaded northern Alabama, and by July, had seized the town of Tuscumbia, whereby, they expelled Rev. Shapard from his church and commandeered the building for their own use, desecrating its contents. The stress of the events that year caused Rev. Shapard to “lose his health.” His infirmity was so grave that he was officially released from his duties as a minister for a duration of four years, until the end of the war. In 1866, he was reinstated to spread the light of the Gospel throughout the state of Tennessee.

On October 21, 1868, at the 55^th Annual Tennessee Conference, Rev. Shapard was appointed to the Nashville District and assigned as the first minister to the new Hobson’s Chapel that had been dedicated on June 5, 1868. It was here that Edwin came into close association with Samuel Sumner Hall’s family who resided in the area. The Hall family already had an association with the Shapard family, as eight years earlier, Rev. Shapard’s older brother, William, married Samuel Sumner Hall’s eldest daughter, Susan Emily Hall. During the first eight months that Edwin was assigned to Hobson’s Chapel, he met and courted Mr. Hall’s daughter, Jennie Neely Hall. She was born on February 24, 1849, and was nicknamed “Jane.” She had sandy-blonde hair and crystal-blue eyes. She and Edwin were about the same height, approximately 5 foot 5 inches. They were married by Rev. Burkett Firth Ferrell on June 15, 1869, at ‘Neely Farm,’ which was the plantation and residence of her parents in Davidson County, Tennessee.

Jennie Hall’s lineage is as follows: John Hall, a native of Augusta County, Virginia, had 6 children. One of his children was George Hall, who settled in Sumner County, Tennessee and married Harriet Blakemore in 1804. George had a tanning business and accumulated wealth. He eventually moved to Lincoln County, Tennessee, and settled on a farm where he died in 1862. He was a Presbyterian. George and Harriet had 13 children, one of which was Samuel Sumner Hall who was born on January 19, 1814, and married Hadassah Neely on June 6, 1836. The ceremony was solemnized by Rev. Hayes in Nashville, Tennessee. She was the only child of William Neely and Jane M. Davis Neely. After marriage, Samuel lived at and operated the Neely Farm which was a plantation formerly owned by the parents of his wife. Samuel and Hadassa had 13 children; Susan Emily Hall who married Rev. William Shapard, William Neely Hall who died in infancy, George Franklin Hall who died in a horse accident at age 19, John Maxy Hall who was a Confederate soldier, Joseph Adison Bowman Hall who lived at “Neely Farm” and was Confederate soldier taken prisoner to Camp Morton from 1862-1865, Samuel Allen Hall, Jennie “Jane” Neely Hall who married Rev. E.R. Shapard, Herbert Winburn Hall, Edwin Ewing Hall who married Mattie Lee, William Clayton Hall, David Davis Hall, Harriet Eliza Hall who married Rev. Thomas P. Crittenden, and Sallie Thompson Hall who married William Yeatman.

In 1872, Rev. Shapard was called to missionary work; accepting a position as the Superintendent of the New Hope Seminary school, for the education of Choctaw girls in Indian Territory. Rev. Shapard held this position until his resignation in 1883, after being appointed as the Presiding Elder of the Choctaw Nation. To fulfill the duties of his new job, he traveled extensively over the Choctaw Nation. The following year, he was appointed as the Presiding Elder of the Cherokee Nation. His position required frequent travel throughout the Cherokee Nation and often for long durations fulfilling his obligations, one venture lasting 9 weeks.

In 1886, Rev. Shapard was appointed to be the Superintendent of the Asbury Manuel Labor School, located at Eufaula in the Creek Nation, for the education of Creek boys. Only a month after the school session began, tragedy struck on the evening of November 26^th, when a fire broke out, due to the carelessness of a student. Luckily, all the students and faculty escaped, however the schoolhouse and dorms were a loss.

The following year, Rev. Shapard was appointed by the church to the Railroad Circuit in the Choctaw Nation. He moved his family from Eufaula to Savanna, which was a small mining town located on the M. K. & T. railroad tracks. Rev. Shapard traveled up and down the railroad preaching at the various towns along the way.

In 1888, at the 43^rd Annual Indian Mission Conference, Rev. Shapard was appointed to the Eufaula Circuit in the Creek Nation. Throughout the year, despite Rev. Shapard’s effort to preach, his health suffered greatly. Realizing that his body had physically worn out from 30 years of performing the duties of an itinerant minister, he requested retirement from the church, which was granted the following year at the annual conference.

In October of 1889, Rev. Shapard and his family returned to their former home in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he accepted a job at the New York Life Insurance Company as the Field Canvassing Agent for the Indian Territory. Though still physically weak, he did a little business and made one trip into the territory, before his health failed. He was hurried home to Fort Smith, where he died of pneumonia on November 16, 1889.

Rev. Edwin R. Shapard and his wife Jennie were blessed with five children, four of whom survived to adulthood:

 

Elizabeth Mitchell Shapard (1872-1931), affectionately known as “Lizzie,” was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on February 21, 1872. 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 fared well at school and was elected Secretary of the Juvenile Mission Society and Secretary of the Parsonage Society of Muskogee. She was also appointed as a librarian for the McGavock Library, which was located at the school. Lizzie was a graduate of the 6^th 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 died in Fort Smith, Arkansas. At the time of his 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 at the Belle Point School.

While at college in Sherman, Texas, Lizzie had been introduced to, and courted by, Mr. William Burton Jaynes. They continued to date after she returned to Fort Smith, and 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 Capitol Hill. Mr. Jaynes remained Senator Bailey’s personal secretary for the duration of his political career. He and Lizzie were members of the Mount Vernon Place Methodist Episcopal Church South, where in 1909 she began teaching a Sunday School class, known as the “Jaynes 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.

On April 3, 1931, she was working as a cashier at the Garden T Shoppe. At closing time, two masked men entered the fashionable tea shop. One held a gun at Lizzie, while the other removed the money 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 8^th at the 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.

 

Daughter born on April 17, 1874 and died the same day. Buried at the New Hope Cemetery, Skullyville, Oklahoma. Rev. Willis F. Folsom wrote in his diary on April 18, 1874, “Saturday, this day I attended brother Shapard’s child’s funeral at New Hope Seminary, Choctaw Nation.”

 

Sumner Samuel Shapard (1875-1935) was born on July 8, 1875, at the New Hope Seminary in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Choctaw Nation. He was named after his maternal grandfather. During his youth, he was raised and educated at the seminary by his parents, Rev. Edwin Ruthven Shapard and Jennie (Hall) Shapard, and the various teachers.  In July of 1883, he moved with his parents to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and attended public school with white children for the first time. In October of 1886, he moved with his family to Eufaula, Indian Territory (Creek Nation). Sumner adored Eufaula and fostered numerous friendships, as well as, his first business connection through Charles G. Moore (1863-1946). Mr. Moore came to Eufaula from Missouri, at 24 years of age, in June of 1887, being the first licensed pharmacist in Indian Territory. In October of 1887, Sumner moved begrudgingly with his family to Savanna, Indian Territory (Choctaw Nation). However, for the summer of 1888, Sumner’s parents allowed him to return to his beloved Eufaula and work behind the counter at Mr. Moore’s pharmacy. As luck would have it, later that year, Sumner’s father was stationed at Eufaula, and by October of 1888, the Shapards moved back to Eufaula, Indian Territory (Creek Nation).
             In October of 1889, Sumner returned with his parents and siblings to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where his father Rev. Edwin Ruthven Shapard died on November 16, 1889. At 14 years of age, Sumner was now the man of the family. He worked as a clerk for a variety of people while managing the family rent houses in Fort Smith and attending school when able. In 1890, Sumner was living at 411 Lexington Ave. and working for Dyke Brothers. From 1894-1895 Sumner worked as a clerk for Foster & Co. As a man, he was described as having blue eyes, medium pudgy build and dark hair. He possessed the quality trait of responding carefully and thoughtfully to questions and was not quick to say just anything. He was a natural entertainer, charming, intelligent, austere, fondly-liked by all, loved by many and possessed the attributes of a perfect Southern gentleman.

On May 5, 1895, nineteen year old Sumner married eighteen year old Benetta Sanger in Grayson, Texas. Benetta was born in January of 1876 at Enterprise, Arkansas, and was the daughter of Stephen Smith Sanger and Emma Laura Bailey Sanger. Her father was born about 1839 in Virginia and her mother was born about 1842 in Arkansas. They were married in 1857 and are listed in the 1860 census as living in the Creek Nation, Indian Territory. In approximately 1877, Benetta’s family moved from Enterprise, Arkansas, to Okmulgee, Creek Nation, Oklahoma Territory, when she was one year of age. She had numerous brothers and sisters and the Sanger family produced numerous doctors (13 at one time - M. D. and D. D. S.). It is believed that Benetta met Sumner while either visiting her brother Stephen who was attending medical school in Fort Smith, Arkansas, or, when Sumner was in McAlister, where Benetta may have been living at the time.
            Around November of 1895, Sumner moved his wife, mother and his two brothers Edwin and David to South McAlester, Indian Territory, to operate the Shapard Grocery Company. On July 6, 1896, Sumner and Benetta give birth to their first child, a daughter named Naomi Kertrude Shapard. During the evening of October 7, 1896, Sumner’s three-month-old daughter died after an illness of about two weeks duration. The remains were shipped to Fort Smith, Arkansas, for interment. In September of 1897, Sumner left the grocery business and moved with his family back to their original home in Fort Smith.
            In February of 1898, Sumner’s wife gave birth to their daughter, Dorothy Benetta Shapard (1898-1980), in Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 1900, Sumner was a bookkeeper (accountant) living at 413 Lexington Avenue with his wife and two-year-old daughter. In 1901, Sumner and Benetta had their last child, a daughter named, Jennie “Jane” Laura Shapard (1900-1996), named after her paternal grandmother. In 1910, Sumner was working as a salesman for Berry-Wright Dry Goods Company. His mother-in-law, Emma Sanger was living with them after she was widowed, and they had a 14-year-old female servant from Ireland at their residence named, Maude Giblin. On April 9, 1910 Sumner’s mother, Jennie Hall Shapard, died of cancer at Fort Smith, Arkansas.

After the death of his mother, Sumner took a job as a sales manager with William R. Moore Dry Goods & Co., and moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He remained in Memphis until 1917, when he moved his family to Baltimore, Maryland, gaining employment as the manager of Oppenheim Oberndorf & Co., shirt makers. His daughter, Dorothy Benetta Shapard, attended John Hopkins University in 1923. During this time, Sumner was frequently called to New York City on business, and eventually acquired an apartment there for his convenience.

Sumner and his family remained in Baltimore until late 1923, after which he moved to Dallas, Texas, and became employed with the Reliance Manufacturing Company, shirt makers. Circa 1926, he became employed with Godcheaux & Levy, shirtmakers of Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to New York City. The stock market crash of 1929, devastated Sumner’s savings, however, he remained employed. He and his wife moved to East Orange, New Jersey, living briefly with his daughter Dorothy Shapard. By 1933, Sumner and Benetta were residing again in Dallas, Texas.   
            On Friday April 3rd, 1931, Sumner’s sister Elizabeth M. (Shapard) Jaynes was working as cashier at the Garden T Shoppe in Washington D.C. Just before closing time, the store was robbed by two masked men and Lizzie was shot. She was rushed to the Garfield Hospital where she died two days later at 6:15 pm on Sunday April 5th, 1931. Sumner and his brothers, Edwin, Jr., and David, attended her funeral.
            In late 1934, Sumner developed a heart condition rendering him physically unable fulfill the requirements of his job. After much discussion a decision was made that Sumner and his wife Benetta would move from Dallas, Texas, to Yukon, Oklahoma, where her nephew Dr. Paul Sanger would provide her with employment. Interestingly, Benetta’s parents and siblings had been living in Yukon, Oklahoma Territory, since 1900. Around January 1, 1935, Sumner and Benetta moved to Yukon, however, idleness did not suit Sumner, and upon feeling physically improved, he made a business trip to Dallas. While there, his heart failed, and on January 25, 1935, Sumner S. Shapard died in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 59 years old. Sumner was buried on January 28, 1935, at Yukon Cemetery in Yukon, Oklahoma. Benetta Sanger Shapard died in 1962, and her ashes were buried next to her husband.

 

Edwin Ruthven Shapard, Jr., was born on August 3, 1880, at the New Hope Seminary, Oak Lodge, Skullyville, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. He was the son of Rev. Edwin R. Shapard and Jennie (Hall) Shapard. In 1883, he moved with his family to Fort Smith, Arkansas, living in a wood planked house on Lexington Avenue. In 1886, he returned with his family to Indian Territory, living at Eufaula in the Creek Nation. A year later he moved to Savanna in the Choctaw Nation, only to return to Eufaula in 1888. When his father retired from the ministry in 1889, the Shapard family reestablished their residence at Fort Smith, Arkansas. When Edwin was only 9 years of age, his father died of pneumonia. His older brother Sumner Shapard, at the age of 14, assumed the role of provider for the family. Over the following years, Edwin attended public school in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

In 1896, his brother Sumner purchased a grocery store in South McAlester, Indian Territory, and Edwin moved there with his family, working as a stockboy in the business. Whilst there, he attended the Methodist Episcopal Church South and became a member of the Epworth League. In October of 1897, the Shapard family left the grocery business and returned to their home on Lexington Avenue in Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 1898, Edwin obtained employment with W. J. Echols & Co., wholesale grocer, working initially as an assistant bookkeeper, until being promoted to a traveling salesman circa 1902. As a young man, Edwin was described as being very popular and well-liked, having blue eyes, black hair and a medium build.

On October 16, 1909, Edwin married May Gullette Miller, daughter of John G. and Mary J. (Trester) Miller of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Over the years, Edwin and May would be blessed with three children: Barbara Shapard (1912-1998), John Miller Shapard (1915-2015) and Edwin Ruthven Shapard III (1918-1998).

Edwin continued to work as a traveling salesman for the W. J. Echols & Co., until he moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1927, accepting a job as a shoe salesman for the International Shoe Company.  In 1931, Edwin lost his sister Elizabeth, when she was murdered in Washington D. C. Only a few years later in 1935, he lost his remaining siblings Sumner and David; one to a heart attack and the other to a car accident.

Edwin remained in Muskogee for the remainder of his life. He was a member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church and had been awarded a 50-year pin by the Oriental Lodge No. 430 A. F. & A. M. He had been a member of the United Commercial Travelers for 65 years. He and his wife were also historians and genealogists at heart, supporting and donating items to the Oklahoma Historical Society. He was preceded in death by his wife on October 31, 1968. Edwin Ruthven Shapard, Jr., died a year later, at the age of 89 years old, on August 4, 1969, and is buried next to his wife, his brother and his parents at Forest Park Cemetery in Fort Smith Arkansas.

 

David Evander Shapard (1887-1935), the subject of this book, was born on March 22, 1887 and died on December 1, 1935. During his professional career, David was a traveling salesman, initially for the Webber-Ayers Hardware Company and then the Atkinson-Williams Hardware Company, before becoming an insurance salesman for the Equitable Life Assurance Society. He married Annelise Conger (1887 – 1973), the daughter of John William Conger and Tennie (Hamilton) Conger. David and Annelise had two sons during their marriage: David Evander Shapard, Jr. (later changed his name to David Conger Shapard) (1913-1983), and Jack Conger Shapard (1916-1916). Throughout his life, David was highly involved in philanthropic organizations, as well as, the Masons, United Commercial Travelers and other clubs and societies that bettered the citizens of Fort Smith and the state as a whole.