Jeremiah Shepard (August 11, 1648 – June 2, 1720) was an American

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

minister and the youngest son of Margaret Shepard nee Borodell and Thomas Shepard, a major figure in the founding generation of Puritan

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. He was an early graduate of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, in the class of 1669. He married Mary Wainwright, a daughter of Francis and Philippa Wainwright, about 1672. Mary's brother

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had also attended Harvard. Shepard replaced his brother Samuel Shepard at the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Rowley, Massachusetts Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,161 at the 2020 census. Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley. History The area was inhabited by the Agawam people under sachem ...

and served at the church in Chebacco, later renamed

Essex, Massachusetts Essex is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 26 miles (42 km) north of Boston and 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Newburyport. It is known for its former role as a center of shipbuilding. The population was 3,675 ...

, and at the church in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...

. Like many ministers of his generation, Jeremiah Shepard encountered significant conflicts with his congregations. He was invited to give a monthly lecture at the church in Rowley, but after the

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of several town Selectmen who opposed his appointment, the town government refused to pay his

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. Shepard later sued and a compromise was struck. Accepting a call to the church at Chebacco in 1678, Shepard encountered further opposition. The residents of Chebacco, who tired of the long trip to the church at

Ipswich, Massachusetts Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,785 at the 2020 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island. A res ...

attempted to withdraw from that church, but the members in Ipswich were unwilling that such a break be made. Shepard found himself caught in the middle and accepted a call at the church in Lynn in 1680, where he remained for 40 years. The Journal of Obadiah Turner described Shepard thus:

"Ye new minister, Mr. Shepard, we find sound in doctrine and strong in speech; but wonderful grave and solemn, wch, after Mr. Whiting, seemeth like clouds after sunshine. Wee doubt not his pietie; but pieitie recommended by gloom cometh with but a poor recommend. However, he is mch of a stranger wth vs as yet. He dresseth in black clothes and weareth black gloves in ye pulpit, wch he must needes cut off at ye finger ends, ye wch is done to enable him to turne over ye book leaves."

Turner's Journal goes on to describe Shepard's conflicts with the church at Lynn when he attempted to remove all

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from the service and replace it with more preaching. Shepard was accused of

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during the excitement surrounding the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Not everyone wh ...

and was vehemently opposed to the governorship of

Sir Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714; also spelled ''Edmond'') was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other ...

References

* Sibley, John Langdon. Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Charles William Sever, University Bookstore, 1873. 18 vols {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepard, Jeremiah 17th-century New England Puritan ministers 18th-century New England Puritan ministers People from colonial Massachusetts Harvard University alumni 1648 births 1720 deaths