Papers, 1777-1790. Aside from court-martial records, 1777-1781, and business accounts, 1779-1781, the papers in this volume fall into the 1781-1790 period and concern either military matters in the Wheeling area or the business affairs of David and Abraham Shepherd.

In addition to his brother Abraham, David Shepherd's major correspondents included Virginia governors Patrick Henry (1785-1786), Edmund Randolph (1786-1788), and Beverley Randolph (1787-1789); Daniel Brodhead; George Rogers Clark; and Secretary of War Henry Knox (1790). There are scattered letters from Benjamin Biggs, David Bradford, Samuel Coleman, John Gibson, William McMechen (McMahon), John Rogers, Van Swearingen, Lewis Wetzel, William Wilson, and David Zeigler; and a contemporary copy of a portion of a letter (May 5, 1789) on Indian affairs by George Washington. Brodhead's letters (1781) concern men and supplies for his Coshocton expedition, and Clark's correspondence (1781) discussed his proposed assault on Detroit. In one of his letters (July 25, 1787), Edmund Randolph commented briefly on the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. Letters by Abraham Shepherd in November, 1788, discussed the forthcoming election for the first president of the United States, with Shepherd expressing the fervent hope that Washington would be chosen “as all friends to their country look up to him once more to save our Country from ruin.” (2 SS 123) Knox's letters (1790) concern western defenses and the command of Josiah Harmar. A few other papers pertain to early preparations (1790) for St. Clair's expedition. Two (1781, 1783) of the three letters by Gibson, as well as portions of several business records, are illegible or nearly so.

Other materials in this volume include accounts (which illustrate inflated prices and depreciated currency), printed documents on a land contest between the Fairfax estate and the Hite family (to whom the Shepherds were related), mutilated or fragmentary militia muster rolls, lists of scouts and rangers, numerous receipts for military supplies, and other local records.