The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-11-13
0hegatelliqet4aer.
Death Of a Remarkable Woman

There has just died, near Wheeling,
West Virginia, a very remsrkab BILE per-
sonage, and one of the historical char
acters of the West.
Mrs. Lydia iBoggs Shepherd. Uruger.
or Lydia Boggs Shepherd, was as we'll
known TO the last generation in the
West as any woman In Virginia or the
Mississippi Valley. The annals of the
country furnish mo parallel TO her case
In point Of longevity, usefulness, ener=
gy and unimpaired intellectual powers
up to the close oEaher one htatdredA
gear!
Born In Berkeley county Virginia,
cBosp ess aS9 RJoa1s RoHs West by SSs5 her as
child; married. at the age of seventeen
to Moses Shepherd, whose father, Colo
mel Shepherd, of Shepherdstown, ,Yir-
Einia, was one of the first settlers in.
lhesneighborhopdo Of Wheeling; settled
at the forks Of wv heel Ing;E where Colo,
mel sShepE efd had built d block khohse9
She became the leading and reigning
woman of her tinaea-a period running
far back into the past century, and far
beyond the memory of the "oIdest in
habitant." 1t requires no pen of ,rol-
nance TO hFowiaroundi her history the
alGurements of fiction. She was hIB.
tory itself, living epitome of LIES
varied progress and ddevelopment in the
great Valley of the, West. From. Iva,
to1667I Ishe lived at or near the forks OF
Wheeling 1anf active particip ipant, from
gtrlhood to matured womanhOod-
through long and eventful life-ot all
the stirring incidents of frontier res
lidence. In reclaiming the wilderness
aud organiztng civil government west
of the Mountains, beating back the
'sayagesi and building up towns cities
and communities
'All OF which she saw, and part of which she
This remhFkabIe woman took more
than an active part. When she came
across the mountains, the wilderness
iswarmed with Indians, who contested,
inch by inch, the Intrusion tof 4 the
whites, and their privilege to live. The
Titans, who have LEFT the Impress of
their great and imperishable names on
the land, and claimed 1t as inalienably
their own. The pioneer belieYed that
he had come rights, and determined
to maintain them. The sequence was
carnage, ,con1agration and death Still,
{ther settlement was effected, "A and the
itimid girl rfpened into bljomtng %o.
manhood amid scenes of strife and
have ever witnessed.
Shepherds Fort was a place Of neigh
borhood rendezvous, but in the time OF
general strife the little stockade was
abandoned, and the indWellers fed to.
the more forntdable post at Wheeling,
which was called Fort Henry In honor
of Virginta's patriotic Governor. It
was inlthIs 4fort M iss Boggs witnessed
the scene She SO particularly narrates
in De Hhss, History of the Indian Wars
in Western Virginia.
Soon after the evacuation OF Fort
Henry, Miss Boggs was married TO
Moses Shepherd, and took up her per-
manent residence at the forks or Wheel-
ing Creek, one Of the most pleasant,
attractive, and valuable localities west
of the Mountains. Here she continued
to reside, with almost unyarying for
tune, up to the day of her DEATH for
one hundred and ten years? What a
history Is wrapped up In that single
li[e-timeI One hundred years ago,
there was moi a'sinsle white settlement
from the Ohio to the Pacific One hun
dred years ago, the valley of the Mis-
sissippi, now teemipg with millions, OF
people, was an -ilHmitAble wilderness,
as little known aud appreciated as when
Ponce de Leon sought here for that
fountain of perennial life which was to
restore to his veteran limbs the vigQT
hOlssyOhkAs
years ago. we were a feeble Colonial
dependence;I now an overshadowing
power, scarcely surpassed by any ma
ton on earth. Did the Kaleidoscope In
its magic changes ever work greater
marvels7
The home of Colonel and Mrs. Shep-
herd became the,abode of ho9PitsIttys
generous life and Wide-extendedS at
tractiveness. Itlwas long on the out
posts of civilization. but, as the Great
West opened up, it became q center
pofnt betwee the East and the West.
Early in The present century new
mansion was erected on the site OF the
old;fort, which stood upon q beaptt9l
promontory at the falls of the creek,
and here came and went. the principal
statesmen and private citizens OF the
SOuthtandy Southwest on rjourney-
ings to and from " ashingtons many
arelthe pleasant Incidents of personal.
nbtewof wofthiness related by the venerable
.ladyiwho has just departed.
fthes dislihgpi pished men who were
In the habit OF stopping to rest and en-.
iov the bospitality.of Colonel and Mrs.
Shepherd, mention may be made OF
Mr. Clay, Mr. Benton, Mr.. Brown,
Governor Edwards, Phillip ID Doddr ridge
and many others who filed dpermanent
places in the service of the country. On
one occasion, President Monroe pecaLne
their RueSI, WHIST on "a a S5I N1etS - -
.West.. Manys OF these gentlemen
broukf1t with them theirs families and
partook of the unstinted hospitality
dispensed at Elm Grove. Mr.. Clay was
inTtbe tiabiPof sending forward a, ser.
want with note apprizing Colonel ana
Mrs. Shepherd of the approach ot hiHT
self and family, and inquiring whether
1t would be convenient t2 entertain u l'409
them. 80,
notes are In possession OF the wrller.
The fine stone mansion at Elm Grove,
the home of Nv. shepherd, is justly
Historic. No home in the West mas en-
tertained more sumptuously, ana ths
hospitality dispensed was unsurPasseu
in the Mississippi Valley ne MOUSE otE1
Is SPACIOUS, handsome and supstantiaI.
II was finished especially with q view
to the large hospitality of which, ~ was
intended TO become the home and cen-
ter. The entire upper part was thrown
into one spacious - lsdrawing-room,
which, with the other Apartments, was
furnished in the best style. OF the DAY.
The tapestryhwas mannIactuFe" e9pe
cially for therooms.f =. 80. -.
To those who remember 1t forty or
fifty wears ago, when Its generous
.tasLls were entertai ming In a style that
In most of the primttiv settlers looked
like Oriental 4magnihcenee,i the nnS
stone mansion beautifully sequesEeEe99 sI',t9
anlfdst stately elms and graceful ma
,nles. the picture can never pass from
their eyes or memory. ? aa,s =, =.
sOn; the completion of theNatlonalor or
turnpike, which passes
Through the Shephe etd farm and IN Jul inll
view OF the mansion, Colonel ana nlIs. HIs.
Shepherd, IN fecog nition: OF the gfeat
ana ndinEaIuable services OF Ehen ,t5ss SIa5
tina oriRinator and stead fast friend Ao,
that truly great Improvement, !, canssd "a s,,d