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London Sheppard & Jane Wade>

Rosa Sheppard

London Sheppard & Jane Wade

London Sheppard was born around 1815 to a man named Prince or Richard Sheppard, his mother is unknown. There are four pieces evidence that support this claim. In 1823, London’s name is found in an inventory where two adult men named Prince and Richard are also enslaved. London’s firstborn son is named Richard Sheppard and his second son is named Prince Sheppard (1853-1919). Richard Sheppard, names his own firstborn son, Prince Richard Sheppard (1859-1926). Lastly, that Prince Richard Sheppard will also name his son Prince Richard Sheppard Jr. London and his family were enslaved by William Sheppard. William Sheppard descends from a line of Sheppard’s from North Carolina and it is possible that London’s parents may have been born there.

The origins of Jane Wade have many pieces that have yet to be uncovered by research. The true maiden names of enslaved women is a difficult topic as there are many factors involved with surnames amongst formerly enslaved persons. On Rosa Sheppard’s death certificate, her son, Lawyer Scott lists her mother to be “Jain Wade.” However, out of the sales made from William Sheppard to Hardy Hunter, London Sheppard is not listed in any of them. Nor is a Jane ever sold to any Sheppard of Screven County Georgia. Nevertheless, London and Jane have their first child Eveline Sheppard around 1835. Together they would have eleven more children together: Richard, Nellie, Rosa, Mary, Jane, Prince, Matilda, Carinda, March, Lizzie, Rilla, and Alex Sheppard.

Hardy Hunter, the same owner who owned the Scott family died in 1856. In it, he lists twenty six slaves and the Sheppard family has been identified within the ranks.. London, Jane, and all of the Sheppard children would live and thrive here in Brooks County for the next eighty years. Hardy Hunter, the same owner who owned the Scott family died in 1856. In it, he lists twenty six slaves and the Sheppard family has been identified within the ranks.. London, Jane, and all of the Sheppard children would live and thrive here in Brooks County for the next eighty years.

London and all of his sons voted in 1867 Georgia elections and were all engaged in farm work by the 1870 census. London moved to the Dry Lake section of Brooks County where he continued to farm for William Jones. It is uncertain when London Sheppard died, but his name falls from the tax digests in 1884. However, this does not necessarily mean that he died. Most elderly men stopped working when unable. He would have been about seventy years old around this time. The tax digests at the time listed every white man with income, but African American men would not be listed if they did not work for an employer. However, London Sheppard must have died by 1889 based on the evidence from an extraordinary event.

In January of 1889, D.W. Rountree grants Jane Wade 39 acres of land in lot 490 of the twelfth district. This deed makes Jane Wade the first African American woman to own land in Brooks County Georgia. Jane Wade would live on this land until her death in 1909. Her son Prince Sheppard Sr. Would inherit this land and continue their legacy of prosperous farming until his death just ten years later in 1919. The home of Prince Sheppard is one of few original homes that is still standing in the Dry Lake Road area.