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Benjamin Harrison Shepherd was born February 9, 1890 in Ashe County, North Carolina, the son of John Calvin and Sarah Ann Ballou Shepherd. Harrison was the grandson of James Wilburn and Elizabeth Jones Shepherd, who was the son of Larkin and Alley Irwin Shepherd of the Reddies River area, Wilkes County, NC.
Worked in West Virginia
At the age of fourteen, Harrison left Ashe County and went to West Virginia to work for the railroad. He returned to Ashe County and married Sibbie Neaves on January 22, 1911, the daughter of Rev. James Mitchell Neaves and his wife, Birdie Yates Neaves.
Harrison and Sibbie had three children, Thelma Ennis, born March 22, 1914; Leonard Harrison, born January 3, 1918; and Wayne Dale, born December 16, 1919. The family returned to West Virginia about 1922 where Harrison worked as a carpenter. For the next six years they returned to Ashe County during the summers to farm the land owned by John Calvin Shepherd.
Came Home to Ashe County
In 1928 they returned permanently and lived on the farm near Crumpler until 1961 when Sibbie died. After her death, Harrison moved to West Jefferson and lived in a small house adjacent to that of his son, Wayne. On December 11, 1964, Harrison married Lola Hill Blevins (b. June 11, 1904, d. Feb. 28, 1996) of Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. He died January 5, 1979 and is buried beside his wife, Sibbie, at the Healing Springs Baptist Church Cemetery.
daughter of Rev. James Mitchell and Birdie Yates Neaves Sibbie's Neaves ancestry may be traced back to William Neaves (1771-1806), an early settler in Ashe County. On her mother's side, Sibbie's Yates ancestry can be traced to Thomas Yates (1510-1565) of Berkshire, England. Other distant direct ancestors of Sibbie include: Nicholas Tichbourne (b. 1518) of England; Elizabeth Rythe (b. 1525) of England; Alexander Cleveland (b. 1620) of England; William Presley (1608-1655) of England; Richard Thompson (1613-1649) of Norfolk, England; John Coffey (b. 1594) of Ireland; Thomas Powell (1603-1669) of Virginia; Francis Place (1610-1655) of Oxfordshire, England; James Debord (b. 1667) of Rappahannock, Virginia; Nathaniel Frith (1620-1677) of Richmond, Virginia; Richard Hubbell (1627-1699) of Worchestershire, England; Isaac Nichols (1620-1695) of Fairfield, Connecticut; Ezekiell Sanford (1635-1663) of Suffolk, Massachusetts.; James Stevens (1651-1695) of Middlesex, Connecticut; Samuel Bishop (1644-1722) of New London, Massachusetts; Joseph Green (1649-1710) of Fairfield, Connecticut; Joseph Bouton (1665-1747) of Fairfield, Connecticut; |
Harrison was a deacon in New River Baptist Church and Healing Springs Baptist Church for many years. Following the tradition of his father, and grandfather, Harrison was also a Mason. Sibbie Neaves Shepherd was Superintendent of Sunday School at Healing Springs Baptist Church.
First Child - Thelma Ennis Shepherd
The oldest of the Shepherd children, Thelma, graduated from Appalachian State Teachers College, now Appalachian State University. She taught school at Healing Springs School for 37 years. At various times, in addition to teaching, was the school librarian, school treasurer, and ladies basketball coach. She also taught Sunday School, was clerk and treasurer of Healing Springs Baptist Church for a number of years, as well as director of Bible School.
On November 5, 1948, Thelma married Fred Fender, the son of James Everett and Callie Pennington Fender, also of Ashe County. Fred and Thelma were married in the living room of the Harrison Shepherd home. They had three children, two of whom died in infancy. The second, Fredda Sue, was born December 25, 1950. Fredda graduated from Wake Forest University and married William Gip Kimball of Charlotte. They have one son, James Luther Kimball, born February 7, 1981. Fredda works for the Federal Government in Charlotte, NC.
Second Child - Leonard Harrison Shepherd
Leonard Harrison attended Brevard College. Leonard served in the United States Army from May 16, 1941 to November 13, 1946. During this period, he served in Curacao, France, and the continental United States. Decorations and Citations awarded him were Purple Heart, World War II Victory Medal, American Defense Medal, American Campaign Medal, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Silver Star, and One Battle Star. He was honorably discharged from active duty with 60% disability, and retired with grade Captain. After retirement he worked for the Veteran's Administration. He was an active member of the American Legion, and was a member of Ashe Lodge #194 AM & FM. Leonard suffered from bad headaches due to a war injury and took his own life on May 27, 1963 in Sparta, NC.
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Leonard married Odessa Baker, the daughter of Samuel and Almedia Baker, on November 19, 1943. Odessa was born March 13, 1919 and died June 25, 2002. She retired after teaching school for 37 years in Bel Aire, MD and in Ashe County, NC at Healing Springs Elementary and West Jefferson Elementary Schools. She was an active member of West Jefferson First Baptist Church, where she was a member of the WMU. She served as an officer in the Retired State Employees Association. Odessa served at the president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She was a member of the Mt. Pleasant Eastern Star. She was also a member of Delta Kappa Gamma. She was a 'Gold Card' fifty year member of the Ashe County Woman's Club.
Leonard and Odessa had two children, Linda Lee, born October 27, 1944, and John Leonard, born July 2, 1956. Linda attended Appalachian State University and married James Harvey Payne IV on November 24, 1967. They have three children, Amelia Lee, born 24 December 1969, Teresa Ann, born December 27, 1972, and James Harvey V, born January 14, 1976. John Leonard Shepherd graduated from Virginia Interment College. John married Carolyn Goodman, March 17, 2001. He is the only grandchild of Harrison Shepherd still living in Ashe County.
Leonard and Odessa are buried in Ashelawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Jefferson, NC.
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Left to Right: Thelma Ennis, Leonard Harrison, and Wayne Dale. |
Third Child - Wayne Dale Shepherd
The youngest of the Shepherd children, Wayne Dale, attended Draughon's Business College in Winston-Salem. He entered military service November 3, 1941. He served at Fort Bragg until honorably discharged on January 15, 1946 as a Master Sergeant. Wayne married Ruth Eugenia Kimball, the daughter of Luther Wiley and Rosa Sink Kimball, of Winston-Salem. They were married on February 12, 1944 in Augsburg Lutheran Church, Winston-Salem. After military service, Wayne returned to Winston-Salem, where he worked in sales until 1949, when he moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Two children were born in Winston-Salem, at Baptist Hospital - Eugenia Dale, born April 17, 1948, and Ben Kimball, born May 13, 1949. While in Chattanooga, Thomas Neaves Shepherd was born August 3, 1953.
In the summer of 1955, the family moved to West Jefferson and established a retail and wholesale auto parts and accessories business which they operated for the next 24 years. Wayne partially retired, continuing to operate the North Carolina License Plate Agency. Wayne has served as Church Lay Leader and Sunday School Teacher at West Jefferson United Methodist Church, as well as District Lay Leader and Chairman of the Elk Shoals Methodist Camp Committee. He also served on other local, district and conference committees of the United Methodist Church.
Wayne's name is readily recognized in West Jefferson, NC. He worked to help form the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce and the West Jefferson Merchants Association. He served as president of each and on the Board of Directors for many years. He has been active in the Jeffersons Rotary Club, and served as president and on its Board of Directors.
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Eugenia Dale (Jeanne) graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She married Tracy Odell Turnmire of Ashe County on 1 February 1970. They have three children, Bradley Neal, born March 25, 1975, Dana Marie, born January 2, 1978, and Laura Catherine, born July 13, 1981. She devotes her time to being a wife and homemaker.
Ben Kimball Shepherd graduated from Pfeiffer College, after attending North Carolina State University. He married Alice Meredith Johnson of Greensboro on May 23, 1971. They have two children, Stephen Michael, born September 13, 1977, and Jennifer Leigh, born May 3, 1979. Ben worked for Hanes Hosiery in Winston-Salem in their computer unit until he was transferred into the DSD distribution unit for Consolidated Foods as Programs Manager in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1987, the family moved to Wilmore, Kentucky where Ben attended Asbury Theological Seminary. He graduated in 1990. The family then moved to East Bend, North Carolina, where Ben served two churches, New Home United Methodist Church (UMC) and Shady Grove UMC. In 1998 they moved to Thomasville, North Carolina where Ben is currently the Minister for Bethel UMC.
Thomas Neaves Shepherd graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he met his wife, Donna Lea Daniel of Greensboro. They were married May 25, 1974 and have two children, Caron Nicole, born December 17, 1978, and Benjamin Thomas, born August 12, 1982. He is a Certified Public Accountant working as accounts manager with one of the large accounting firms in Charlotte.
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The Homeplace
The Harrison Shepherd homeplace is located on the Guy Neaves road in Crumpler, North Carolina. The house was built over a 20-year period by Harrison's father, John Calvin Shepherd. John completed the house about 1901. After the death of John's third wife, Martha Ludema Hash Shepherd, in 1920, Harrison moved in with his father and added two more rooms onto the house. Harrison sold the homeplace in 1961 to Herbert Privette who restored the aging home. Privette sold the homeplace to Guy and Margie Miller, the present owners, in 1992.
Note: Much of the above information comes from an article on the Harrison Shepherd family written by Fredda Fender Kimball and published in the Ashe County Heritage Book, Volume One.
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