William Smythe Shepard Collection (SMC 103)

Biographical Note

William Smythe Shepard was born in Wilkes County, Georgia circa 1834 to Albert Hillhouse Shepard and Ann Elizabeth Shepard. After Albert's death, Ann Shepard moved the family to Columbus to be nearer to the family land holdings in Muscogee and Stewart counties. William Smythe Shepard attended the Military Institute in Marietta, Franklin College in Athens and finished his education at the University of Virginia. He was trained as a lawyer but never set up practice, instead choosing to manage the family plantations and land holdings. Shepard joined the Columbus Guards at the outset of the Civil War, quickly rising in rank from Major in early 1863 to Lieutenant Colonel by July.

After the war, Shepard returned home to Columbus and managed the family and managed the family properties until his death on June 24, 1924. Shepard never married and left his home to the Ladies Benevolent Society of Columbus with the stipulation that his house become an orphans' home for girls and named the Anne Elizabeth Shepard Home for his mother. His sister, Mrs. A.C.Flewellen ,had urged this idea when the property belonged to them both. The orphans' home then moved to "Hillhouse", the estate not far from the present day St. Elmo School. The organization is still in existence.

Note: spelling discrepancies of the name Shepard vs. Shepherd. Many of the receipts are Sheppard.

Scope and Content

This small collection of one folder consists of an eclectic assortment of receipts and invoices dating from 1924-1925 and one school promotion certificate from 1943. These papers give a perspective on what shops/businesses were in downtown Columbus at this time and the prices for goods and services ( ex: 13 gals gas for $3.25).

All are related to the estate of Colonel William Shepard, who died in 1924.

Permission to Publish

Permission to publish material from the William Smythe Shepard Collectionmust be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives at Columbus State University. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required:

William Smythe Shepard Collection (SMC 103)

Columbus State University ArchivesColumbus, Georgia

Notes to Researchers:

See also:

Anne Elizabeth Shepard Orphans Home Collection, MC 22

Columbus on the Chattahoochee. Etta Blanchard Worsley.1951.

Provenance

This collection came to the CSU Archives when the Columbus public Library closed its archival collection and donated it to the CSU Archives in the fall of 2013.