John Calhoun Sheppard

John Calhoun Sheppard (July 5, 1850  October 17, 1931) was the 82nd Governor of South Carolina from July 10, 1886, to November 30, 1886.

John Calhoun Sheppard
82nd Governor of South Carolina
In office
July 10, 1886  November 30, 1886
LieutenantVacant
Preceded byHugh Smith Thompson
Succeeded byJohn Peter Richardson III
President Pro Tempore of the South Carolina Senate
In office
January 9, 1900 – January 10, 1905
GovernorMiles Benjamin McSweeney
Duncan Clinch Heyward
Preceded byRobert Bethea Scarborough
Succeeded byRichard Irvine Manning III
Member of the South Carolina Senate from Edgefield County
In office
February 5, 1919 – January 11, 1921
In office
January 10, 1899 – January 10, 1905
58th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
In office
December 1, 1882 – July 10, 1886
GovernorHugh Smith Thompson
Preceded byJohn D. Kennedy
Succeeded byWilliam Mauldin
31st Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives
In office
December 7, 1877 – December 1, 1882
Preceded byWilliam Henry Wallace
Succeeded byJames Simons, Jr.
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Edgefield County
In office
November 28, 1876 – December 1, 1882
Personal details
Born(1850-07-05)July 5, 1850
Edgefield County, South Carolina
DiedOctober 17, 1931(1931-10-17) (aged 81)
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
RelativesElizabeth Nelson Adams (great granddaughter)
Julian Adams II (great great grandson)
James Emerson Smith Jr. (great great grandson)

Sheppard was born in Edgefield County and attended Bethel Academy in Edgefield. Upon graduating from Furman University with a law degree, he was admitted to the bar in 1871. He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1876 and became the Speaker of the House when his father-in-law, William Henry Wallace, resigned as Speaker to accept an open circuit judgeship. He had been a strong supporter of Martin Witherspoon Gary in his gubernatorial campaign of 1880 which got him noticed by those opposed to the Conservative wing of the state Democratic party.

In 1882, Sheppard was placed on the Democratic statewide ticket for the post of Lieutenant Governor and easily won election and reelection in 1884. When Hugh Smith Thompson resigned on July 10, 1886, to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Sheppard succeeded to the governorship. In the nomination battle to be the Democratic nominee for governor in the election of 1886, he was promoted by Ben Tillman and the News and Courier. Tillman tried to force the delegates of the Farmers' Association to support Sheppard at the Democratic Convention, but they refused and instead John Peter Richardson III emerged as the nominee for governor.

After leaving the governorship on November 30, 1886, Sheppard became president of the Edgefield Bank of South Carolina. He was mentioned as a potential candidate for governor in 1890, but Tillman had rigged the Democratic convention to force his nomination for governor. Sheppard remained active in South Carolina politics and participated at the constitutional convention of 1895. He was elected three years later in 1898 to the South Carolina Senate and served until 1904. In 1908, Sheppard was the president of the South Carolina Bar Association and was member of the state Senate for a second time from 1919 to 1920.

Sheppard died on October 17, 1931, aged 81. He was buried at Willowbrook Cemetery in Edgefield.[1][2]

Political offices
Preceded by
John D. Kennedy
Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
1882–1886
Succeeded by
William Mauldin
Preceded by
Hugh Smith Thompson
Governor of South Carolina
1886
Succeeded by
John Peter Richardson III
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