This afternoon I received a nice email from Mary Whitmer that I would like to share regarding Simeon Shepard:
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My connection is that my 3 greats grandfather married a Sarah Sheppard as his first wife.
I think Simeon probably was her father. If you read the article about the finding of the headstone dated Aug. 20, 2011, it says the headstone is inscribed Died in 1864 at age 82 years and 16 days. This matches what is inscribed on the marble monument in the Andress cemetery. I think it was the same person! What I have to wonder is why there were two monuments, and of course, how the second one wound up in Lorain. What do you think?
Sincerely,
Mary Whitmer
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Now, here is the best part!
!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"Speculation continues over headstone"
Saturday, August 20, 2011
By ALLISON STROUSE
astrouse@MorningJournal.com
"LORAIN — After two days of searching and calling, the mystery behind why Simeon Shepard's headstone is in the back yard of a West 23 Street, Lorain, home isn't known, but there is a plausible theory.
"It was either replaced or stolen," Diane Wargo Medina said.
Since she was 19 years-old, Medina has been helping care for the Charleston Village Cemetery on West Sixth Street, Lorain.
So when she heard about the backyard tombstone she was determined to discover where Shepard came from and belonged.
Her investigation ended up being very fruitful, as she studied U.S. Census and death records.
"The date of death matches and they were from the Lorain County area," she said.
There is a monument at Andress Cemetery with Simeon and his wife, Aseneth, names.
Aseneth passed away a few years after Simeon.
Which is one of the reasons, Medina believed that the headstone could have been replaced.
Whether the stone ended in the West 23rd Street back yard by accident or on purpose, she believes it belongs in one place only.
"I personally think that (the headstone) should go back over there (cemetery)," she said.
Medina, who repairs headstone at the West Sixth Street cemetery, stated that she would be happy to help relocate and repair the stone.
"I will gladly repair it," she said. "It should go back."
While the mystery of how the headstone ended up in the backyard may never be solved, the mystery of who Shepard was has been.
Shepard was a farmer, born in Massachusetts, who moved to Henrietta with his wife, Aseneth and their daughter, Sarah Shepard, according to the website familysearch.org.
He died in 1864 at age 82 years and 16 days, according to the grave stone.
URL: http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2011/08/20/news/mj4931603.prt
© 2011 morningjournal.com, a Journal Register Property
