Augustine Henry Shepperd

Augustine Henry Shepperd (February 24, 1792 – July 11, 1864) was a lawyer and politician in North Carolina who served as a Congressional Representative from North Carolina for numerous terms, most often as a member of the Whig Party. Born in Rockford, Surry County, North Carolina, on February 24, 1792, he was raised in the Piedmont region during the early national period. He completed private preparatory studies, reflecting the customary education for aspiring professionals of his generation, and then pursued the study of law. After reading law, he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Surry County, North Carolina, establishing himself as an attorney before entering public life. He was part of a family that would disperse across the expanding United States; his younger brother, William W. Shepperd, emigrated to Mexican Texas with other members of the family in 1831, participating in the early Anglo-American settlement of that region.

Shepperd’s legal training and growing local prominence led him into state politics. He was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons (often referred to as the State house of representatives) and served from 1822 to 1826. In this role he gained experience in legislative procedure and public finance at a time when North Carolina was grappling with issues of internal improvements, representation, and the balance of power between eastern and western counties. His service in the state legislature helped establish his reputation as an effective representative and prepared him for national office.

In 1827 Shepperd was elected to the United States House of Representatives, beginning a long and notable congressional career. He was first elected to the Twentieth Congress and continued in successive terms through the Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third Congresses, and then as a Whig to the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Congresses, serving continuously from March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1839. During these years he represented North Carolina in the House at a time of intense national debate over issues such as federal internal improvements, the Bank of the United States, tariffs, and the powers of the executive branch. As a member of the Whig Party, he generally aligned with those who favored a stronger role for Congress in national policymaking and supported measures associated with the American System, though his positions were also shaped by the interests of his North Carolina constituents.

Shepperd’s influence in Congress was reflected in a series of committee chairmanships that placed him at the center of federal oversight and expenditures. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy during the Twenty-first Congress, where he was involved in reviewing and scrutinizing naval appropriations and administrative practices. In the Twenty-second Congress he chaired the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War, overseeing financial matters related to the Army and military affairs. He then served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State during the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses, a position that involved examining the fiscal operations of the nation’s diplomatic and consular services. Throughout these assignments he contributed to the legislative process during nine terms in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents while helping to shape federal expenditure policy.

During his years in national office, Shepperd was also noted for his consistent support of Native Americans, a stance influenced in part by the Moravian mission tradition active in parts of North Carolina. At a time when federal policy was increasingly oriented toward Indian removal, his sympathy for Native American concerns distinguished him from many contemporaries and reflected the religious and humanitarian influences present in his region. Despite his long tenure, he faced electoral setbacks; he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1838 to the Twenty-sixth Congress, bringing his first extended period of congressional service to a close on March 3, 1839.

After a brief interval out of office, Shepperd returned to Congress as the political landscape continued to evolve. He was elected again as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress and served from March 4, 1841, to March 3, 1843. During this term he was chairman of the Committee on Public Expenditures, a position that broadened his oversight responsibilities to encompass the general fiscal practices of the federal government. Following another gap in service, he was elected as a Whig to the Thirtieth and Thirty-first Congresses, serving from March 4, 1847, to March 3, 1851. These later terms placed him in the House during the era of the Mexican-American War and the sectional controversies that culminated in the Compromise of 1850. After this final period in Congress, he declined to run for reelection in 1850 and returned to North Carolina, where he resumed the practice of law.

In his personal life, Shepperd married a woman known as Miss Turner, with whom he had a family. Among his children was Mary Frances (“Fanny”) Shepperd, who married William Dorsey Pender, a North Carolinian who later became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. This family connection linked Shepperd, a veteran of antebellum national politics, to the military leadership of the Confederacy in the conflict that followed his retirement from public life. He spent his later years in North Carolina, living on his plantation “Good Spring” near Salem.

Augustine Henry Shepperd died at his plantation “Good Spring,” near Salem, North Carolina, on July 11, 1864, in the midst of the Civil War. He was interred in Salem Cemetery in what is now Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His long public career, spanning service in the Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-seventh, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Congresses, made him one of the more enduring North Carolina representatives of the antebellum era, and his work on multiple expenditure committees reflected a sustained engagement with the financial and administrative oversight of the federal government.