Mar 2, 2020 2 min read

A Revolutionary War veteran whose Westmoreland County grave location became lost to time will be honored in May with a new tombstone at a Methodist church his family established.

The George Washington Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution said it will conduct a dedication ceremony for a stone memorializing Henry Lenox Shepherd in the cemetery beside Wesley Chapel in East Huntingdon Township.

“You’re preserving a veteran and their memory,” said Gary Timmons, a member of the Washington-based SAR chapter.

“If you don’t mark these graves, in time everything is forgotten,” Timmons said.

Shepherd was granted a little more than 100 acres of land near Scottdale in November 1785 after he served nine months in the Continental Army while engaged for the town of Marblehead, Mass.

He returned to civilian life in December 1779.

The effort to honor Shepherd was spearheaded by John Burnett, a special assistant at California University of Pennsylvania, whose wife, Kathy, is a direct descendant of the veteran.

John Burnett, who is a member of the SAR chapter, contacted the military and received the tombstone for free.

“We did want a tombstone there to recognize him,” he said.

Shepherd was born May 8, 1735, in Essex County in the Colony of Massachusetts, according to Burnett’s research.

Shepherd, who died Dec. 12, 1818, at age 63, was buried near the church on his family farm. A springhouse is the only original building still standing. His tombstone and those of his relatives were knocked over years ago, Burnett said.

Shepherd and his wife, Pheobe Brown of Lancaster County, had five sons and one daughter, all of whom helped to settle the area, including Mt. Pleasant. The family later spelled the last name Sheppard.

“Like many Revolutionary soldiers, he left a small footprint behind for us to trace, but did fight for freedom that we now enjoy,” Burnett said.

Many of Shepherd’s descendants were buried in the church cemetery on Wesley Chapel Road. His farm is no longer in the Shepherd family.

The ceremony honoring Shepherd will begin at 11 a.m. May 23 at the cemetery, 485 Wesley Chapel Road.

Editor’s note: The author of this story is a direct descendant of Henry Lenox Shepherd.