Annie Bartlett Shepard
American conservative activist (1861–1944)
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Annie Bartlett Shepard (née Bartlett; February 18, 1861 – December 4, 1944) was an American conservative activist, known for her opposition to women's suffrage and founding a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).[1] From 1907 to 1909, she served as the New Hampshire State Regent of the DAR.
Annie Bartlett Shepard | |
|---|---|
Shepard in a 1919 publication | |
| New Hampshire State Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution | |
| In office 1907–1909 | |
| President | Emily Nelson Ritchie McLean |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 18, 1861 |
| Died | December 4, 1944 (aged 83) Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA |
| Resting place | Forest Hill Cemetery, East Derry, New Hampshire, USA |
| Spouse | Col. Frederick Johnson Shepard (m. 1887) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Alan Shepard (grandson) |
| Lasell Seminary | |
| Occupation | woman's club leader and anti-suffragist |
Life
She was born in 1861 in Nottingham, New Hampshire.[1] Her parents were Thomas Bradbury Bartlett and Victoria Bartlett née Cilley.[2] She was educated at public schools in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Lasell Seminary, Auburndale, Massachusetts.[1]
Before her marriage, she briefly worked as a teacher at the Derry Village School.[3] She married Colonel Frederick Johnson Shepard, president of the Derry National Bank, on September 27, 1887.[1] Three pieces of white lace from her wedding dress are held in the Perry-Dudley Family Archive and Shepard collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society.[4] The Shepards had three sons.[5]
Shepard was active in the civic life of Derry and was a member of many local committees and organizations. She sat on the Derry School Board for eight years, was a member of the East Derry Village Improvement Society, was a member of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests,[1] and was chairman of the East Derry Red Cross Auxiliary.[2] She attended the First Parish Congregational Church in East Derry, sang in their choir, and donated artifacts to the church.[6]
Shepard was the founder and first regent of the Molly Reid Chapter of the DAR, established on October 27, 1894,[7] as the descendant of Joseph Cilley, Colonel Thomas Bartlett, Joseph Nealley, Abraham True, Benjamin True and Nathaniel Batchelder.[8][9] Two months before she died, she celebrated the 50th anniversary of the chapter.[10] In 1905, she was elected state vice-regent of New Hampshire and then served as state regent between 1907 and 1909.[11][dead link] She was also a member of the New Hampshire Society of Colonial Dames and the New England Historic Genealogical Society.[2]
Shepard was an anti women's suffrage activist,[12] and served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage.[1] She was the first female chairman of the Rockingham County Woman's Republican Club of New Hampshire from 1920 and was a charter member of the Derry Women's Club.
Shepard died in 1944 in Boston, Massachusetts.[citation needed]
Legacy
In 2000, the land surrounding the original Shepard family homestead was donated to East Derry as a "gift to the Town of Derry from members of the Shepard family in honor of four generations of the family and their contributions to the town." It is now a conservation area.[5]
In 2019, members of Derry's Molly Reid Chapter of DAR hosted a 125th anniversary ceremony by Shepard's grave at Forest Hill Cemetery, East Derry.[13]
Her grandson Alan Bartlett Shepard was the first astronaut from the United States in space,[14] and her maiden name was his middle name.[15]