SHEPHERD, the origin of this family in America was with Thomas Shepherd, a native of Wales, who came to Virginia long before the thirteen colonies declared themselves independent of the British crown. He settled on the south bank of the Potomac about ten miles west of the Blue Ridge and the mouth of the Shenandoah river. According to the custom then prevailing, he tomahawked, or "blazed" the trees around a tract of land, including several thousands of acres, all lying south of the Potomac. The recording of the description of this land secured to him the title. He laid out and named for himself Shepherdstown. In order to encourage settlement he sold lots--generally half an acre each--at nominal prices, but required an annual quit rent of five shillings to be paid perpetually. That rent is still being paid by owners of the lots, who have not bought off. He acquired other landed property by purchase, and at his death, Thomas Shepherd left a will, a copy of which is in possession of Thomas B. Shepherd, of Sangamon county, the fifth Thomas Shepherd in a direct line from Thomas Shepherd, of Wales. By that will he bequeathed some land, declared to have been deeded to him June 12, 1751, by the Right Hon. Thomas, Lord Fairfax. The will is dated Aug. 20, 1776, and bequeaths to his sons, Thomas, William, John, Abraham and David, lands and a saw-mill in the county of Berkley, Virginia, and lots in the town of Mechlenburg, same county. To his daughters, Susannah, Mary, Martha, Sarah and Elizabeth, he bequeaths money and some personal property. The will covers some eight pages of fools'-cap, and in its metes and bounds is quite a curiosity. Two of the sons of the original Thomas Shepherd were soldiers in the Revolutionary army. One of them, Captain Abraham Shepherd, was captured and held on board a British prison ship until he came near losing his life. The eldest son, or Thomas No. 2, married Susan Hulse, and raised a family of eight children. His eldest child, or Thomas No. 3, was born Nov. 3, 1774, and was married Oct. 15, 1805, to Mary Byers, who was born Dec. 13, 1779, in Shepherdstown, also. They had eight children in Shepherdstown, and Thomas No. 3 died Nov. 9, 1832, in his native town. Eight of his children came to Sangamon county, namely--

SHEPHERD, THOMAS C., or Thomas No. 4, born June 28, 1806, in Shepherdstown, Jefferson county, Va.,

SHEPHERD, HENRY, born Dec. 3, 1807, in Virginia,

SHEPHERD, SUSAN, born in 1809, in Virginia,

SHEPHERD, MARY, born Oct. 31, 1813, in Shepherdstown, Virginia,

SHEPHERD, JOSEPH, born July 11, 1816, in Shepherdstown, Virginia,

SHEPHERD, AMANDA, born Nov. 8, 1812, in Virginia,

SHEPHERD, JOHN J., born in 1821 in Virginia,

SHEPHERD, SARAH C., born July 5, 1823, in Shepherdstown, Virginia