Buckingham Notables: William Gamaliel Shepard
Shepard Homeplace, Courtesy Historic Buckingham
The April issue of the Buckingham Beacon features my biographical sketch of William Gamaliel Shepard one of Buckingham County’s notable historians and writers. Here’s how it begins:
In the autumn of 1918, men across Buckingham County, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were registering with the Local Selective Service Board, facing the possibility that they might soon head to France and the trenches. William Gamaliel Shepard was among them. Twenty-one years old, of medium build, William had light brown hair and eyes. A native Virginian, he lived near Guinea Mills and was a pretty typical registrant save one detail. He was “self-employed” and gave his occupation as “literature.” In a county filled with farmers, William aspired to be a writer. He was determined and fulfilled his promise. In 1930, on the Federal population census, he gave his occupation as “writing,” his industry as “author.”
To learn more about William Shepard, pick up copy of the Buckingham Beacon.
If you live outside of Buckingham County, you can download a PDF of the April issue at:
slate river ramblings . . . . 
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