DGMShepard
HARVEY N. SHEPARD 1848-1936
Deputy Grand Master; Acting Grand Master, 1893
MEMORIAL
From Proceedings, Page 1936-101:
Right Worshipful Brother Shepard was born in Boston July 8, 1848, and died there April 14, 1936.
Brother Shepard was descended from Colonial stock on both sides of his family. He was educated in the Boston public schools, Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, and Harvard College and Law School. He spent the whole of his long life in the practice of law, a profession which led him into much public service. He was a member and President of the Boston Common Council and a Member of the House of Representatives; First Assistant Attorney General; member and Clairman of the first State Forest Commissionl member and President of the Civil Service Commission; and a member of the Forest Commission of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
Brother Shepard took his Masonic degrees in St. John's Lodge in 1872 and 1873, was its Master in 1881 and 1882, and was District Deputy Grand Master for the First Masonic District in 1883, 1884, and 1885, by appointment of Most Worshipful Samuel C. Lawrence and Most Worshipful Abraham H: Howland, Jr. He was Deputy Grand Master in 1893. On the death of the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Richard Briggs, on July 29, Right Worshipful Brother Shepard succeeded to the direction of the Grand Lodge for the remainder of the year.
He was a member and Past High Priest of St. John's Chapter; a member and Past Illustrious Master of East Boston Council; and a member of Boston Commandery.
Brother Shepard prepared the History of St. John's Lodge which was published in 1917.
Brother Shepard was in every way an outstanding man, in the community which honored him;'in his profession which respected him; and in our Fraternity, which loved him. Although the weight of increasing years had much curtailed his activity of late, he will nevertheless be greatly missed from among us.
From Proceedings, Page 1936-250:
Past Grand Master Harvey N. Shepard died suddenly on the fourteenth day of April, 1936, at the age of eighty-four years. His funeral was held from his late home at 228 Townsend Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts, on Thursday, April 16th, 1936. A widow and three daughters survive him.
Most Worshipful Brother Shepard was born in Boston on July 8, 1848, the son of William S. and Eliza (Crowell) Shepard. He was descended from rugged English stock. His father's ancestors emigrated from England to Nova Scotia and his father came to Massachusetts in his early youth. His mother's ancestors also emigrated from England to Nova Scotia coming from Plymouth, England.
Brother Shepard was educated at the Eliot Grammar School of Boston, at Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and at Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts in 1873, and actively practised his profession in Boston throughout his long life. For a period of fourteen years he was a member of the Faculty of Boston University Law School.
He early took an active interest in public affairs and held many important positions of public trust. He was elected to the Boston Common Council in 1878, 1879, and 1880, serving as President of the Council in 1880. He was elected Representative to the General Court in 1881 and i882. From 1883 to 1886, inclusive; he served as First Assistant Attorney-General of the Commonwealth by appointment of the Attorney-General, the Honorable Edgar J. Sherman.
He was a member of the First State Forest Commission from 1914 to 1920, and its Chairman from 1917 to 1920, and exerted a significant influence in the establishment of the State forests. He was a member of the Civil Service Commission of the Commonwealth from 1914 to 1920, and President of the Civil Service Commission of the United States and Canada in 1916. He also served on the Forest Commission of the United StatesChamber of Commerce in 1921. He was the Fourth of July Orator of Boston in 1885. He was President of the Appalachian Club in 1897, and was a Trustee of that organization from 1894 to 1932. He was also a Trustee of the Boston Public Library.
Brother Shepard's Masonic affiliations and activities were extensive. He was raised a Master Mason in St. John's Lodge, of Boston, and served as its Junior Steward in 1874 and 1875; as Senior Steward in.1876; as Senior Deacon in 1877 and 1878; as Junior Warden in 1879 and 1880. He was chosen Worshipful Master in 1881 and 1882. He was District Deputy Grind Master for the First Masonic District in 1883, 1884, and 1885, by appointment of Most Worshipful Brother Samuel C. Lawrence and Most Worshipful Brother Abraham H. Howland, Jr.
The valuable services he rendered to his Lodge throughout his long life, were many and varied. He was ever a wise and. sympathetic counsellor to its officers, and always exhibited a lively interest in its welfare. For years he installed its officers with dignified and impressive ceremony. In 1883, he was Chairman of the Committee to celebrate the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Lodge; and in 1908 he was a member of the Committee in charge of the One Hundred and Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Lodge. In 1917, he prepared and published the History of St. John's Lodge from 1733 to 1916. This History - a volume of 262 printed pages - was one of Brother Shepard's most valuable and distinctive contributions to his Lodge and Freemasonry.
He became a member of St. Andrew's Royal Arch Chapter, January 22, 1875, and served the Chapter as Captain of the Host in 1877 and 1878; as Excellent King in 1879 and 1880; and as High Priest in 1882 and 1883, He received the degrees in East Boston Council, Royal and Select Masters, in 1876, and served the Council as Deputy Master from 1884 to 1887, and as Illustrious Master in 1888. He became a member of Boston Commandery in 1883.
He became Deputy Grand Master of Masons in 1893 by appointment of the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Richard Briggs, and served in that office until July in that year when M. W. Brother Briggs died. Under the Grand Constitutions as they existed at the time, upon the death of the Grand Master, the Deputy Grand Master succeeded to the office, and Brother Shepard thus became Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts and continued in that office until the end of the year 1893.
In November,1926, Brother Shepard was the recipient of the Veterans' Medal, presented by the Grand Master, to commemorate a membership of fifty years as a Mason; and in 1927,he was presented the Henry Price Medal in recognition of the high distinction of the position he had attained in the ranks of Masonry.
In all of the activities of his long life Brother Shepard displayed the high qualities of character and capability with which he was most generously endowed. In his Masonic service he gave of his devotion to the inculcating of high ideals in his fellow men of every walk of life. By virtue of his abilities and his spirit he rose to prominent position in this endeavor.
For over sixty years he practised his profession at the Bar of the Courts of the Commonwealth, and in this activity, he occupied many positions of trust. He attained eminence and won the respect of the Bench and Bar as well as that of his clients and the public. He was an adornment of his profession.
Trusted by many, he "comprehended his trust and to the same kept faithful with a singleness of aim." As a teacher of youth he won their respect and affection, and gave freely of his time and his talents to the training of young men for his own chosen profession.
In all the relations of life Brother Shepard acted upon strict ideals of performance of all the obligations imposed by the Society in which he lived and by the faith which he professed. His long life was crowded with active and valuable professional and social service. No call for service ever passed unheeded by him. His passing leaves an empty place in many lives and a splendid heritage of grateful remembrance.
The circumstances of his passing from us were in accordance with his own views of what was fortunate. Speaking in the Grand Lodge of Masons in September, 1893, of the passing of Grand Master Richard Briggs, he said: "If we might choose the way in which we.should go, nobetter lot than that of our beloved Grand Master will happen to any of us. He fell in the midst of life and while in the customary attendance upon the demands of his business, without long and lingering pain and suffering."
Thus, too, Brother Shepard passed from our midst leaving to those whose fortune it was to know him a loving memory; to his family a heritage of a spotless name and an unsullied reputation; to our Fraternity a grateful remembrance; and to the world that indefinable value of a life richly lived in the service of God and his fellow men.
Frank L. Simpson
Arthur A. Sondheim
Winthrop E. Nightingale
