Morris Sheppard

Morris Sheppard
United States Senator from Texas
In office February 3, 1913 – April 9, 1941
Preceded by	Rienzi M. Johnston
Succeeded by	Andrew J. Houston
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 1st district
In office March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913
Preceded by	Thomas H. Ball
Succeeded by	Horace Worth Vaughan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 4th district
In office November 15, 1902 – March 3, 1903
Preceded by	John Levi Sheppard
Succeeded by	Choice B. Randell
Personal details
Born	John Morris Sheppard (1875-05-28)May 28, 1875 Morris County, Texas
Died	April 9, 1941(1941-04-09) (aged 65)
Resting place	Hillcrest Cemetery Texarkana, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Lucille Sanderson
Children	Three daughters
Residence	Texarkana, Texas
Alma mater	UT Austin Law School Yale Law School
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Methodist

John Morris Sheppard (May 28, 1875 – April 9, 1941) was a Democratic United States Congressman and United States Senator from Texas. He authored the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition) and introduced it in the Senate, so that he is referred to as "the father of national Prohibition."^[1]

Biography [edit]

John Morris Sheppard was born in Morris County in east Texas, the oldest of seven children, to lawyer and later judge and United States Representative John Levi Sheppard, and his wife, the former Margaret Alice Eddins.^[2]

Through his mother Margaret, Morris was a direct descendent of Robert Morris (1734–1806) who had signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution.^[2]

Education [edit]

Sheppard enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin in 1891 and received his B.A. degree from there in 1895, as well as his LL.B. from University of Texas School of Law in 1897. It was while enrolled at UT-Austin Law School that Sheppard became a member of the Methodist Church. He was also a close friend and classmate of future Governor of Texas Pat Neff and future U. S. Senator Tom Connally while at the University of Texas School of Law.^[3] In 1898, he received his LL.M. from Yale University.^[4]

He began practicing law with his father in Pittsburg, Texas and later Texarkana.

Public service [edit]

In 1902, Morris Sheppard was elected as a Democrat to replace his deceased father in the United States House of Representatives. He held a seat until his resignation in 1913, when he succeeded in his bid to fill a vacancy in the Senate.^[2]

Sheppard held his Senate seat until his death in Washington, D.C. in 1941, serving as Democratic whip between 1929 and 1933. Future U.S. President and then-representative Lyndon B. Johnson ran unsuccessfully for Sheppard's Senate seat in the special election in 1941 called after Sheppard's death.

Legislative agenda [edit]

As Senator, Sheppard sponsored progressive reform legislation promoting rural credit programs, child labor laws, and antitrust laws. He was also an advocate of Women's suffrage in the United States.^[2]

Prohibition [edit]

During his tenure, he was a vocal supporter of the temperance movement. He helped write the Webb-Kenyon Act (1913) to regulate the interstate shipment of alcoholic beverages, authored the Sheppard Bone-Dry Act (1916) to impose prohibition on the District of Columbia, introduced the Senate resolution for the Eighteenth Amendment establishing national prohibition, and helped write the Volstead Act which 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.^[5]

Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act of 1921 [edit]

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.^[6]

Federal Credit Union Act of 1934 [edit]

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 Senate had to pass the final version. Rather than sending the bill to a Conference Committee, Sheppard asked the United States Senate to pass the bill unanimously without reading the bill or the amendments. The bill passed the Senate unanimously.^[7] 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.^[8]

Personal life [edit]

On December 1, 1909, Sheppard married Lucille Sanderson. The couple had three daughters. Sheppard and his wife were the grandparents of Connie Mack, III, Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, and great-grandparents of Connie Mack IV, Republican U.S. Representative from Florida. Other Sheppard grandsons were Democrat Richard Sheppard Arnold (1936–2004) and Republican Morris Sheppard "Buzz" Arnold (born 1941), judges on the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. The federal courthouse in Little Rock is named in Judge Richard Arnold's honor. Judge Morris Arnold, a Republican, remains on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit under senior status.

Death [edit]

Senator Morris died in office of a brain hemorrhage on April 9, 1941. He is interred at Hillcrest Cemetery in Texarkana, Texas.^[9]

The year following Sheppard's death, Lucille Sanderson Sheppard, married United States Senator from Texas, Tom Connally.^[4] Senator Connally also pre-deceased Lucille. When she died in 1980, she was buried with her first husband Morris Sheppard in Hillcrest Cemetery.^[10]

Fraternal memberships [edit]

• Freemasons
• Knights of Pythias
• Odd Fellows
• Woodmen of the World
• Improved Order of Red Men
• Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
• Kappa Alpha Order
• Phi Beta Kappa Society

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Morris Sheppard at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

v t e United States Senate Minority Whips Wadsworth Curtis Gerry Sheppard Hebert Wherry Lucas Saltonstall Clements Saltonstall Dirksen Kuchel Scott Griffin Stevens Cranston Simpson Ford Reid Nickles Reid Nickles Reid Durbin Lott Kyl Cornyn

v t e Chairmen of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services Military Affairs Committee (1816–1947) J. Williams Troup J. Williams Jackson Harrison Benton Preston Crittenden Benton Davis Shields Weller Davis Wilson Logan Spencer Randolph Logan Hawley Walthall Hawley Warren du Pont Johnston Chamberlain Wadsworth Reed Sheppard Reynolds Thomas Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) Tait Sanford Pleasants Lloyd Hayne Dallas Southard Rives R. Williams Mangum Bayard Fairfield Yulee Gwin Mallory J. Hale Grimes Cragin Sargent McPherson Cameron McPherson Cameron E. Hale Perkins Tillman Swanson Page F. Hale Trammell Walsh Armed Services Committee (1947–) Gurney Tydings Russell Saltonstall Russell Stennis Tower Goldwater Nunn Thurmond Warner Levin Warner Levin Warner Levin

v t e United States Senators from Texas Class 1 Rusk Henderson Ward Wigfall Flanagan Maxey Reagan Chilton Mills Culberson Mayfield Connally Daniel Blakley Yarborough Bentsen Krueger Hutchison Cruz Class 2 S. Houston Hemphill Hamilton Coke Chilton Bailey Johnston Sheppard A. Houston O'Daniel Johnson Blakley Tower Gramm Cornyn