While living in Indiana, Moses Trader Shepherd was baptized a
member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in November 1846 by
Benjamin Clark (MTS, 114). His wife, Eliza Jane Adamson, did no share her
husband’s convictions and refused to follow the Mormons to the west. Without
his wife and two living daughters—the couple’s 2 boys die as infants—Moses
headed west and arrived in Kanesville, Iowa at least by January 1848 (MTS, 116,
118). In February 1848 Moses was introduced and accepted the law of plural
marriage and wedded Martha Amanda Bryant in Winter Quarters, Nebraska.
Understandably, Moses missed Eliza Jane and his daughters, so he returned
briefly to Indiana and asked them to join him in Nebraska. Despite opposition
from Eliza Jane’s family she consented, the Shepherd’s sold their Indiana farm,
and settled briefly in Kanesville. Upon arriving, Moses learned that Martha and
the baby boy she bore both died during the labor or delivery (MTS, 118).
On 9 August 1849 Moses and Eliza Jane welcomed a boy into
their family of five, Aaron Adamson Shepherd. Though not listed on any official
roster, the family ventured from Kanesville to Salt Lake City in 1852—lamentably
a son, Peter, was stillborn and buried on the trail in the summer of that year
(MTS, 122, 126).
By the end of 1852 Eliza Jane was baptized, the Shepherds
welcomed another girl to the family, and they were assigned to settle in the
Palmyra settlement, now known as Spanish Fork (MTS, 128). Eventually Eliza Jane
and Moses would have three more sons, and another girl, Moses would enter
plural marriage with two more women (MTS, 139–140, 144, 147, 150–151).
One son, Joseph Garlick Shepherd (our 2nd great-grandfather),
recalled specific incidents while living in Spanish Fork: “I remember well one
time when an old Indian by the name of John came to our house and wanted to
borrow my mother’s skillet. Mother was using it and she told him that he could
take it when she was through with it. Perhaps you do not know what a skillet
is- so I will explain; it is a large round iron pot, flat on the bottom and
about 10” high and about 14” across the bottom. It also had a lid that fight
tight on the top. Mother used to bake her bread in this skillet….
“When my mother told the Indian that he couldn’t have the
skillet right then he got angry and wouldn’t talk anymore. This is the manner
of most Indians when they are angry. Father had dug a potato pit the year
before and it was empty now, except for some old straw that covered the bottom
of the pit. The Indian named John crawled down into the pit and stayed there
all night. Father had to stand watch all night for fear he might try to harm
someone or do some damage. But, in the morning, he crawled out and left.”…
“Another incident that happened before my father died comes
to my mind now, so I will relate it. An Indian by the name of Tintic came to
our house and wanted to borrow Father’s gun. It was a gun that was loaded at
the muzzle and a very fine gun at the time. Tintic told father that he wanted
to borrow his gun for two sleeps, which means two days and two nights. Although
father needed his gun, he told Tintic he might borrow it if he would be sure to
bring it back in two sleeps. When two days and two nights had passed Tintic
returned with the gun and said he wanted to borrow it for three sleeps more.
But father told him he needed the gun and would not let him take it again. At
this Tintic got very angry and said he would take the gun anyway.
“Father took hold of the gun in an effort to take it from
the Indian but they were pretty evenly matched and they struggled for at least
a half an hour before Father finally got the gun away from the Indian. Tintic
was very sullen and refused to talk anymore so father gave him the gun and
Tintic went up the river to the farmhouse. Father went up to the farmhouse the
next morning and talked to the Chief whose name was Mountain. He told Mountain
of the incident of the day before. Since Mountain honored Mr. Shepherd’s word,
he got a good raw-hide whip from his tent and said to Father, ‘Come with me.’
They went from tent to tent until they finally found Tintic lying on the floor
of the tent. Mountain ordered him to come outside, but Tintic was so stiff and
sore from the scuffle of the previous day that he found it very difficult to
rise from the floor and get out into the open. Once outside the tent, Mountain
gave him a severe whipping with the rawhide whip, and returned the gun to
Father” (MTS, 227, 148).
Moses lived a rather short life (1820–1866), his trade was
simple (farmer), and his features simple (dark complexion), but his posterity
follows his example in the area that matters most: maintaining membership in
the Church and faithfulness to the Lord and His prophets (MTS, 150).
(Bliss J. Hansen, comp., Moses
Trader Shepherd: His Family and His Ancestors [Provo, Utah: B.J.B. Hansen,
2005], [MTS] available on FamilySearch.org at https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1324094?availability=Family%20History%20Library).
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