- Jewel of the Kingdom: William Sheppard --Marilyn Lewis William Sheppard was born in Waynesboro, Virginia in 1865 shortly after the close of the Civil War. His family of devoted Presbyterians was considered well-to-do in the African-American community. Both freed slaves, his father was a barber and his mother managed a Ladies Health Bath. At the age of 16, William entered Hampton Institute and ...www.missionfrontiers.org/2000/02/sheppard.htm