Morris Sheppard

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Morris Sheppard
Horace Worth Vaughan
Constituency4th district (1902–03)
1st district (1903–13)
Personal details
Born
John Morris Sheppard

(1875-05-28)May 28, 1875
John Levi Sheppard
Margaret Alice Eddins
RelativesConnie Mack III (grandson)
Richard S. Arnold (grandson)
Morris S. Arnold (grandson)
Connie Mack IV (great-grandson)
EducationUniversity of Texas, Austin (BA, LLB)
Yale University (LLM)

John Morris Sheppard (May 28, 1875 – April 9, 1941) was a

United States Congressman and United States Senator from Texas. He authored the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition) and introduced it in the Senate, and is referred to as "the father of national Prohibition."[1]

Background

Sheppard was born in

John Levi Sheppard, later a judge and United States Representative; and his wife, the former Margaret Alice Eddins.[2]

Through his mother Margaret, Morris Sheppard was a direct descendant of

United States Constitution.[2]

Education

Sheppard received his

LL.M. from Yale Law School.[4]

He began practicing law with his father in

Texarkana
.

Public service

In 1902, Morris Sheppard was elected as a

Texas legislature elected him to the United States Senate.[2] In 1914 and while holding the office of Senator, he was on the Central Committee of the First National Conference on Race Betterment, a conference on eugenics held at the Battle Creek Sanatorium.[5]
He served as Democratic whip between 1929 and 1933.

In the 1928 presidential election, Texas voters abandoned the Democratic candidate,

Lou Hoover arranged the traditional teas for wives of congressmen, inviting Jessie De Priest, wife of Oscar Stanton De Priest of Chicago, the first African American elected to Congress in the 20th century. Senator Sheppard was among those who objected to this invitation, quoted as saying, "I regret the incident beyond measure. It is recognition of social equality between the white and black races and is fraught with infinite danger to our white civilization."[6]

Sheppard held his Senate seat until his death in Washington, D.C. in 1941. Then-Representative

special election, and lost to Governor W. Lee O'Daniel
.

Legislative agenda

As Senator, Sheppard sponsored progressive reform legislation promoting rural credit programs, child labor laws, and antitrust laws. He was also an advocate of

disenfranchisement of blacks
.

Prohibition

During his tenure, Sheppard was a vocal supporter of the

District of Columbia, introduced the Senate resolution for the Eighteenth Amendment establishing national prohibition, and helped write the Volstead Act
that provided for its enforcement.

However, during the Prohibition era, a still that produced 130 gallons of moonshine per day was discovered on a Texas ranch that Sheppard owned.[7]

When a resolution calling for a Twenty-first Amendment to repeal prohibition was introduced to the Senate by John J. Blaine of Wisconsin, Sheppard filibustered it for eight-and-a-half hours. He was not helped by a single "dry" senator and he relented, the motion passing by 63 votes to 23.[8]

Sheppard–Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act of 1921

Co-sponsored by Morris Sheppard and

Horace Mann Towner, the Sheppard–Towner Act of 1921 provided Federal matching funds for services aimed to reduce maternal and infant mortality. The funding included: midwife training; visiting nurses for pregnant women and new mothers; distribution of nutrition and hygiene information; health clinics, doctors and nurses, for pregnant women, mothers and children.[9]

Federal Credit Union Act of 1934

Senator Morris Sheppard and Congressman Wright Patman are considered the fathers of the Federal Credit Union Act of 1934. Sheppard was the act's author. The bill had stalled in the United States House of Representatives, considerably shortening the time the United States Senate had to pass the final version. Rather than sending the bill to a conference committee, Sheppard asked the Senate to pass the bill unanimously without reading the bill or the amendments. The bill passed the Senate unanimously.[10] The Morris Sheppard Credit Union in Texarkana, Texas carries the Senator's name, while the institution's local credit union chapter is named after Congressman Patman.[11]

Personal life

Lucile Sanderson Sheppard, c. 1925

On December 1, 1909, Sheppard married Lucile Sanderson. The couple had three daughters: Susan, Lucile, and Janet. Some of their descendants also became politicians.

Through their daughter Susan, Sheppard and his wife were the grandparents of Connie Mack III, Republican U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Florida, and great-grandparents of Connie Mack IV, Republican U.S. Representative from Florida. Other Sheppard grandsons, through daughter Janet, were Democrat Richard Sheppard Arnold (1936–2004) and Republican Morris Sheppard "Buzz" Arnold (born 1941), judges at different times on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, and later concurrently on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the only brothers to serve concurrently on a U.S. federal court of appeals. The federal courthouse in Little Rock is named in Judge Richard Arnold's honor. Judge Morris Arnold, a Republican, remains on the Eighth Circuit court under senior status.

Death

Sheppard died in office of a brain hemorrhage on April 9, 1941. He is interred at Hillcrest Cemetery in Texarkana, Texas. Andrew Jackson Houston was appointed senator in his place until a special election could be held.

The year following Sheppard's death, his widow Lucile Sanderson Sheppard married

United States senator from Texas.[4]
Senator Connally also pre-deceased Lucile. When she died in 1980, she was buried with her first husband Morris Sheppard in Hillcrest Cemetery.

Legacy

Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas was named in his honor.

Fraternal memberships

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0-89096-157-3. Retrieved October 17, 2011.[permanent dead link
    ]
  2. ^ a b c d Bailey, Richard: John Morris Sheppard from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 17 July 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  3. ISBN 978-0-9761152-2-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4196-7884-4
    .
  5. ^ "Proceedings of the first National Conference on Race Betterment, January 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1914. Battle Creek, Michigan". [Battle Creek, Mich., Gage Printing Company. 1914.
  6. ^ Special Dispatch to The New York World and The Sun, "Recognition of Representative De Priest by Hoovers Is Causing Stir in Washington", Springfield, Ohio, 17 June 1929
  7. ^ From Ken Burns's documentary series Prohibition, episode 2 ("A Nation of Scofflaws"), circa 1:16:00.
  8. ^ From Ken Burns's documentary series Prohibition, episode 3 ("A Nation of Hypocrites"), circa 1:30:00.
  9. ^ "Sheppard-Towner Maternity And Infancy Protection Act – 42 Stat. 224 (1921)". Archived from the original on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  10. ^ "Federal CU Act Passes: 1934". Credit Union Magazine (18 Nov 2008). Credit Union National Association Inc.
  11. ^ "History-Morris Sheppard Texarkana Federal Credit". Retrieved 17 July 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Morris Sheppard.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
John Levi Sheppard
 Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 4th congressional district

1902–1903 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Thomas Ball
 Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 1st congressional district

1903–1913 		Succeeded by
Horace Worth Vaughan
Preceded by Chair of the House Public Buildings Committee
1911–1913 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
Charles Allen Culberson, Earle B. Mayfield, Tom Connally
 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Agriculture Department Expenditures Committee
1913–1917 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Census Committee
1916–1919 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Revolutionary Claims Committee
1919–1921 		Position established
Preceded by Senate Minority Whip
1929–1933 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Military Affairs Committee
1933–1941 		Succeeded by
Robert Rice Reynolds
Party political offices
First
Class 2)
1918, 1924, 1930, 1936
 Succeeded by
Preceded by Senate Democratic Whip
1929–1933 		Succeeded by
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