An American Family History

Deacon Ralph Shepard was born about 1603 in Limehouse, Stepney Parish, Middlesex, England. In 1630, Limehouse became the separate parish of St. Anne-Limehouse. It is now a part of London and adjoins the East End. He was a tailor and draper.

He was the son of Isaac Shepard (born 1571 in London, England) and his wife, Mary.

He married Thanklord about 1633. Their children and life together are described in detail in the section on Ralph and Thanklord Shepard. On April 24, 1634, Ralph was summoned  before the Court of High Commissions which was an ecclesiastical court instituted by the crown in the 16th century to enforce the laws of the Reformation. At this time William Laud (1573-1645) was Archbishop of Canterbury. He opposed the Puritan reforms.

Ralph left England for relgious freedom and brought his family to America before 1636.

He was present at the first town meeting and signed the Town Covenant of Dedham, Massachusetts in 1636 and was granted twelve acres of land. He was a member of the first Town Assembly of Dedham and received many other grants of land. (Kin of Mellcene Thurman Smith, p. 85) Of the 26 town meetings held in Dedham, Ralph attended 21 of them.

In 1638 he was paid to cut wood for constructing the meeting house.

On February 9, 1645/45 he was made a fence viewer for the lower plantation. He was a ruling elder the in Weymouth Church.

In April, 1651 he took the oath of a freeman in Middlesex County.

He died on September 11, 1693 or August 20, 1693 in Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was probably visiting his son Thomas when he died.

He is buried in Bell Rock Cemetery, Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

Here
Lyes y^e Body of
Ralph Shepard
aged 90,
Died
September VII, 1693

“The original tombstone was slate and is weather beaten and deteriorated from age, but it is now encased in a marble monument. . .The hourglass and crossbones tell us that time does not tarry and that death soon comes to all: while the wings on either side of the skull suggest the hope of a blessed immortality."
(Ancestors and Descendants of Albro Dexter, p, 29)

Children of Deacon Ralph Shepard and Thanklord Shepard Sarah Shepard Thomas Shepard John Shepard Isaac Shepard Trial Shepard Powers Abraham Shepard Thankful Shepard Dill Jacob Shepard