The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1901-01-03

/ SoAbtb liidl uDtbLeDIdllOuS 1lSDIaN Of
| humane consideration.
General Shepherd was a man who
enjoyed the esteem of his superior
officers. lie was a soldier with
brains, and a dignified gentleman
with Whomsoever he had business.
! General Hancock looked with great
favor upon him and the same was
true of General Mott who command
ed the division and General De Tro-
/ BRAND of the brigade. To illustrate
this fact, may say that it came to
/ my knowledge afterward that regi-
ment whose commanding officer was
senior in rank to General Shepherd
was taken out of the brigade and put
into another brigade for no other
cause than in the event that the
| brigade should fall to the command
OF one of the colonies, that Shepherd
should be that colonel. 1t did so
happen in the last campaign which
ended at Appomattox. General Mott
was severely wounded on the 9Th of
| April, thereby compelling the trans
fer of General DeTrobriand to the
command of the division and General
Shepherd to the command of the
! brigade. 1t is unnecessary to say
that the brigade had an excellent
commander during the rest of the
campaign and the weeks following it
prior to the breaking up of the divi-
| sion.
General Shepherd had the eve of
an engineer. He knew where to
! place line of troops to the best ad-
vantage and in all the essentials of an
efficient soldier he was efficient with
the single exception, which | have
before stated, he lacked what is call
ed enthusiasm.
As / have said before. General
Shepherd had no taste for war and
held the trappings of war in detesta-
ton. 1t was the Quaker instinct in
him. Therefore as soon as he was
mustered out of the service with the
rank of Brevet Brigadier General,
which he did not seek, he took off his
uniform and from that day to the day
of his death he took no active part in
any organization of veterans. When
urged to do so he would say. Il am
willing to do what | can for the men
who served under me but | have no
taste for any military organization
He did not join the Grand Army and
he resisted all appeals of the men
who were his life long friends to ioin
the Loyal Legion. He did ioin
Abraham Lincoln Command of Union
! Veterans Union in which he took an
interest because the members were
his neighbors.
The war over he went into business.
His first enterprise was in a planta-
4 ton in Georgia. He took an active
part in cotton raising and did his
utmost to elevate the colored men
whom he employed. A few years
! later he became interested in the con
struction of the Coburn wooden mills.
AT that time the wooden mill in Maine
was not pronounced success. But
he looked the matter over and came
to the conclusion that with the right
men to operate it it could be made a
success. lie secured the assistance
of Mr. Lewis Anderson, who became
identified with the factory and il NAV
be said that from the first the enter
prise was successful. As a business
man he had rare Judgment He
went over all of the details in adj
vance with mathematical accuracy
and with judicial temperament. If
at the end his conclusions warranted
it, he went forward. He was conser-
Vative He did not believe in taking
great risks. In no sense in business
was he plunger.
When he settled in Skowhegan he
took leading part in lifting the
public schools out of the low condi-
ton they were in at the close of the
war. He was on the school boards,
interested himself about the building
of school houses and was a potential
factor in establishing the present high
school by uniting the districts on both
sides of the river. He superintendent
the building Of the first brick high
school house on the island and of the
Leavitt school house and how many
others | know not. He assisted in
the examination of teachers. he visit
ed the schools and gave much time
to the upbuilding OF the public school
system in the town. 1t is but right
and just to say that no one man ever
did more to build up the public
schools of Skowhegan than did
General Shepherd. The enactment
of the school mill tax and free high
school law was due to his influence
more than that of any other man
while a member of the legislature.
He presented and advocated both
those measures in the House as the
chairman of the committee on educa-
ton and his influence helped to carry
them in the Senate. Other men were
active; but, | may say from being
present at the time, that he was the
leader in the movement. 4re y
General Shepherd was too indepen-
dent in his thoughts and too self re-
specting in his conservatism to be a
man to win popular applause He did
what he thought was right and
neither praise nor censure could
swerve him from the course that COM
mended itself to him. To those who
won his confidence, he was the best
of friends, kind, generous, contiding.
Beneath an exterior of reserve there
beat as warm and true a heart as ever
gave friendship to man can say
this. How many others can / know
not. He hated a coward: he despised
a sneak and contact with such people
seemed to stir the very depths of his
nature against them, all the deeper
because he made no public manifesto
ton of his detestation He was an
ideal comrade, in the army During
the later years Of his life, to the men
who had won his friendship, he was
the same delightful and faithful
friend.
He was a man of large reading and
of fine literary taste. II he had given
his attention TO law or TO any other
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