Alexander Robey Shepherd

Alexander Robey Shepherd
Shepherd in 1874 when he was Governor of the District of Columbia
2nd Governor of the District of Columbia
In office September 13, 1873 – June 20, 1874
Preceded by	Henry D. Cooke
Succeeded by	None (office abolished) William Dennison (as President of the Board of Commissioners)
Personal details
Born	(1835-01-30)January 30, 1835 Washington, D.C.
Died	September 12, 1902(1902-09-12) Batopilas, Mexico
Political party	Republican

Alexander Robey Shepherd (January 30, 1835 – September 12, 1902), better known as Boss Shepherd, was one of the most controversial and influential civic leaders in the history of Washington, D.C., and one of the most powerful big-city political bosses of the Gilded Age. He was head of the DC Board of Public Works from 1871 to 1873 and Governor of the District of Columbia from 1873 to 1874. He is known, particularly in Washington, as "The Father of Modern Washington."

Born in southwest Washington on January 30, 1835, Shepherd dropped out of school at 13 and took a job as a plumber's assistant. Eventually, he worked his way up to becoming the owner of the plumbing firm. He then invested the profits from that firm in real estate development, which made him a wealthy socialite and influential citizen of the city. (One of his luxurious properties was Shepherd's Row, a set of rowhouses on Connecticut Avenue designed by Adolf Cluss; Cluss would later be the star witness at Shepherd's congressional investigation hearings.)

Two days after the Battle of Fort Sumter that initiated the American Civil War, Shepherd and his brother each enlisted in the 3rd Battalion of the District of Columbia volunteers. The term of enlistment at that time was only three months, after which Shepherd was honorably discharged. Approximately six months afterwards, he was married to Mary Grice Young, with whom he had seven surviving children.

He was an early member of the Republican Party and a member of the Washington City Councils from 1861 to 1871, during which time he was an important voice for D.C. emancipation, then for suffrage for the freed slaves. Frederick Douglass would later say of him, "I want to thank Governor Shepherd for the fair way in which he treated the colored race when he was in a position to help them."

By 1870, war and mismanagement had caused the finances and infrastructure of the city to deteriorate so badly that the Mayor of Washington, Sayles J. Bowen, had his furniture seized in an attempt to pay the city's debts; Democrats and Republicans were in a rare agreement that a drastic change was needed from Bowen's regime. As a solution, Shepherd and his allies began agitation for the abolition of the elected governments of Washington City and Georgetown, as well as the appointed justices of the peace for Washington County, to be replaced with a unified territorial government that would administer the entire District of Columbia. The Shepherd machine was easily able to sway popular support in favor of the notion.