James Edward Shepherd

When his father died in 1860 he was sent to live with his older brother William who lived in Murfreesboro, NC. At the start of the War his brother sought a commission in a North Carolina regiment and sent James back to Suffolk, VA and a job as a clerk. Soon after, on 20 May 1861, at 13 years old and giving his age as 18, James enlisted at Collins Farm, VA as Private, Company A, 16th Virginia Infantry.

While on the march in Maryland his age was discovered and he was discharged at Frederick, MD on 8 September 1862 for being underage. His brother William was killed in action at Sharpsburg just over a week later.

He was a contract telegraph operator for the CS War Department at the Narrows of New River in Giles County, VA, then at Wilson, NC.

After visiting family in Virginia, he returned to Wilson, NC and was a telegrapher there. He attended the University of North Carolina School of Law 1867-68 and was admitted to the bar, starting a practice in Wilson in 1869. After marrying in 1870 he moved to Washington, NC. From 1876 to 1882 he was judge of the Beaufort County Inferior Court, then elected judge of the Superior Court. He was appointed to the State Supreme Court in 1888 and moved to Raleigh. He was Chief Justice 1892-95 and afterward had a private practice in Raleigh.

His service from Trask1 via the Historical Data Systems database. Personal details from the finding aid to his papers in the Archives of North Carolina. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

The NCPedia has two good post-war pictures of him.

11/26/1847; Nansemond, VA

02/07/1910; Raleigh, NC; burial in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, NC