Born and raised in Berkeley County, Virginia, near Shepherdstown, where his father, Thomas Shepherd, had been one of the early settlers in the Shenandoah Valley, David Shepherd moved west about 1774 and purchased land at the fork of Wheeling Creek from Silas Zane. During the Indian unrest of 1774, Shepherd temporarily went to the Youghiogheny Valley, but soon returned to Wheeling, where he made his residence for the rest of his life. As county lieutenant of Ohio County (present West Virginia) militia, he was in command of Fort Henry during the siege of Wheeling in 1777, personally led a regiment during Daniel Brodhead's campaign in 1781, cooperated with the commandants of Fort Pitt and the western armies through provision of troops and supplies throughout the Revolution, and superintended the defense of the Wheeling area not only in the Revolution but also in the Indian warfare of the later 1780s and early 1790s. At times he also served as county sheriff and as a member of the Virginia legislature.
