Rutha Sheppard

1819-1898 · Georgia

Born 1819, Georgia

Died 1898

Children include Nancy

Rutha Sheppard was born on 31 January 1819 in Georgia. She was probably a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Sheppard of Washington County, Georgia. Charles Sheppard's will of 1843 names his wife Elizabeth and four other children but not Rutha. In 1850 a widow, Elizabeth Sheppeard, born in North Carolina, was living in Rutha's household.

On 17 November 1839, in Washington County, she married William Penn McEwen, a planter who became a Methodist minister. They had seven children between 1844 and 1857: William Alexander, Elizabeth F., Nancy Virginia, Martha Winfield, Milton C., Zachariah Francis and Mary Ann.

About 1858 the family moved to Florida, probably to Lake City. In 1867 they settled at old Fort Hartsuff, a mile and a half south of the present town of Wauchula, in Manatee County. Her husband rode a preaching circuit through the Peace River country, and the family lived on farming and cattle. Four of her children married into the Whidden and Carlton families.

Her husband died in July 1883 while away preaching a revival. Rutha lived another fifteen years. She died on 11 July 1898 and was buried in Wauchula Cemetery under a stone carved "MOTHER." The census takers wrote her name as Rutha in 1850 and 1870 and as Ruth in 1880, and her gravestone calls her Ruth.

Children

Nancy Virginia McEwen 1848-1914

Sources

Wauchula Cemetery, Wauchula, Hardee County, Florida; photograph published with Spessard Stone, "Rev. William Penn McEwen" (2001, from South Florida Pioneers 51/52, 1987).

United States census, 1880, Fort Green and Bassenger, Manatee County, Florida, ED 104, sheet 8A; FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:MNZW-XSH.

The Central Georgian (Sandersville, Ga.), 29 October 1857, p. 4 (notice dated 22 October 1857); Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia, sn85034105.

The Central Georgian (Sandersville, Ga.), 29 October 1857, p. 4; Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia, sn85034105.

Washington County, Georgia, Marriage Licenses 1828-1860, image 100 of 478, FamilySearch image ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9BZ6-WJ4; Georgia County Marriages, 1785-1950, ark:/61903/1:1:KXVQ-7DX.

Spessard Stone, "Rev. William Penn McEwen" (2001, from South Florida Pioneers 51/52, 1987), with a photograph of the gravestone; 1850 census of Washington County, Georgia, and 1870 and 1880 censuses of Manatee County, Florida, as cited there; The Central Georgian (Sandersville), 29 October 1857, p. 4 (Georgia Historic Newspapers, sn85034105).

If Rutha Sheppard is in your family, start your own tree.

Cite: Heirology, "Rutha Sheppard (1819-1898)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/rutha-sheppard-1819-1898-f6fd54.