A merchant seaman, George F. Shepherd obtained his discharge at Dublin, Ireland in April 1857, and with his bride of thirteen months, Martha (Polly) V. (Fluere) Shepherd, emigrated from their native Guernsey (an English island off the coast of Normandy, France) on May 3, 1857, his twenty-second birthday. They settled in Mackford, Green Lake County, Wisconsin, but in October 1858, bought forty acres near Augusta, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin from Aurora and Catharine Dille of Mackford. Within three years they owned the rest of the S1/2 of the SW1/4 of section 12, T25N, R7W in the Town of Otter Creek (Town of Bridge Creek at time of purchases in 1858 and 1861). They retained title to this property throughout their lifetimes.
Shepherd declared his intention to become a United States citizen on November 2, 1860, and on December 30, 1863, enlisted in the 25th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers (Co. F). Very little is known of his life other than for the years 1864-1865 which he documented in letters to his wife while in the army. Apparently, Shepherd's health was such that he was not equal to the rigors of service and he spent many weeks in hospitals or “sent to the rear” because of a variety of debilitating illnesses. Eventually, on May 3, 1865, his thirtieth birthday, Shepherd succumbed to dysentery and complications contracted while with Sherman's Army on his march to the sea, or more probably in the Carolinas.
Throughout these years, Martha Shepherd continued to manage their farm in Thompson Valley and to raise their two children, Charles G. (October 27, 1860-May 13, 1883) and Laura M. (February 16, 1862-June 16, 1947). About five years after Shepherd's death, Martha married William Foster, who apparently died prior to 1875. (Foster also had been born in England.) Martha lived the rest of her life with her daughter Laura and her son-in-law James Flick near Augusta, Wisconsin. Martha Shepherd Foster died on December 19, 1901.
