Seth Shepard



Seth Shepard (April 23, 1847 – December 3, 1917) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Brenham, Texas, Shepard was a Private in the Confederate States Army from 1864 to 1865. He received a B.L. from Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in 1868 and entered private practice in Brenham. He was a member of the Texas Senate from 1874 to 1875, thereafter returning to private practice in Galveston, Texas until 1886, and then in Dallas, Texas from 1886 to 1893.

On April 14, 1893, Shepard was nominated by President Grover Cleveland to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit created by 27 Stat. 434. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 15, 1893, and received his commission the same day. On December 16, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Shepard for elevation to the Chief Justice seat on the Columbia Circuit, the seat having been vacated by Richard H. Alvey. Shepard was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 5, 1905, and received his commission the same day. Shepard served in that capacity until September 30, 1917, due to retirement.

For much of his time on the Court, Shepard was a lecturer in law at Georgetown University, engaging in this activity from 1895 to 1910.

He died in Washington, D.C.