Thanklorde “Thanks” Perkins Shepard BIRTH20 Jun 1612 Stepney, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Greater London, EnglandDEATH11 Sep 1681 (aged 69) Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USABURIALBell Rock Cemetery Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USAMEMORIAL ID70683819 Marriage to Ralph ShepardSt Bride´S, Fleet Street, London, England Source: British FHL film #380154, Marriage record reads Thankslorde Perkins, listed as a spinster not a widow. FHL US/CAN Book 974 D2thj pp. 275-282, includes a copy of Thankslorde's signature. Lord is part of her given name. Sir Thomas Lord and Dorothy Bird were not her parents. - Rhonda Anderson Added: Jun. 14, 2012 Thankslord Perkins married Ralph Shepard in 1632 in London, England. She emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 as a pregnant mother and a toddler daughter, Sarah. She died after 1675 but before 1681. Ralph Shepard married Thankslord Perkins in 1632 in London. They emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony about 1635, with their eldest child, Sarah. They moved often between the early towns of the colony, having children in Dedham, Weymouth, and Malden, before buying the farm in 'Concord Village', which became Littleton. He was also one of the founders of Rehoboth, in Plymouth Colony, but he never lived there, so he his land was taken back by the town. Late in his life, he established a farm in what is now Littleton, but was then part of Concord, bordering on the Praying Indian town of Nashoba. That is where the marker you included is located. Thankslord Shepard was famous for having signed a petition to the General Court in 1651, along with other highly educated women of Malden, supporting their minister. Her signature on this petition can be found online. Women rarely appeared in government records for that time, certainly not in a petition that would seem to be critical of the Court's actions, so those who signed it are still noted in history. Unfortunately, in 1920 those who erected the marker in Littleton were misinformed about the original families in the area. Ralph and Thankslord Shepard did not have a daughter, Mary. They did have two sons, Isaac and Jacob Shepard, who were killed by attacking Natives in February, 1676. They had placed a young girl on a rock nearby , to keep watch, but the Natives were able to surprise her before she was able to give an alarm, taking her back to the Lancaster area after killing the Shepard men. The teenaged girl is now thought to have been Mary Power, daughter of Ralph and Thankslord Shepard's daughter, Triall, who married Walter Power in 1661. The Power farmstead was next to the Shepard farm in Littleton (then called Concord Village). The age of the girl on the marker is probably close to correct - Mary Power was born in 1663, and would have been about 12-13 at the time of the attack on her uncles, Isaac and Jacob Shepard. Thankslord Perkins Shepard was born about 1612 and would have been too old to have had a daughter Mary about 1663-64. Her last child was born in 1653. Mary Power was the second child born to Walter and Triall Shepard Power, born about two years after their marriage. Mary Power's adventure was surely traumatic to her. When she escaped and returned home, she tended to 'run wild' by Puritan standards. Her parents were tried for at least one of her misdeeds while she was young, but she did eventually marry and settled down to lead a responsible life. Mary Power married Joseph Wheeler in 1681, but she was dead by the time their daughter, Ruth, administered bloo her father's estate in 1705. However, another family source said she died in 1740. Either way, no burial places were noted. As both of them were from Concord Village, which became Littleton, t hey may well have been buried in the Power Family Cemetery on the Walter Power farm. Several generations were buried here before the farm went out of family hands and was purchased by the Reed brothers. To the horror of the community , the Reeds plowed over the old burying ground in 1850, using the surviving tombstones to build a fence and leaving no trace of the graves. There was no law at that time about descecrating graves - there is now. Family Members Spouse Ralph Shepard 1603–1693 Children Thomas Shephard 1632–1719 Sarah Shepard Tompson 1633–1679 John Shepard 1637–1699 Isaac Shepard 1639–1676 Tryall Shepard Powers 1641–1708 Abraham Shepard 1642–1716 Thanks Shepard Dill 1651 – unknown Jacob Shepard 1653–1676 Daniel Shepard 1659–1697 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70683819/Thanklorde-Shepard
Thankslord Shepard is your 9th great grandmother. You - susan lynne schwenger → Lynda Mae Handy - Schwenger your mother → James Edward Handy Jr. Son of James Edward Handy Sr. and Ida Eva Morton Russell - Handy Husband of Viola Mae Drury - Handy Father of Donald James Handy; Mervyn or Merv Handy; Lynda Mae Handy - Schwenger; Meryl Joan Fletcher; Janice Elaine Handy - Spring; and Carol Handy - Moloney - Provost Brother of Lorne William Handy; Mae AKA May Elizabeth Handy - Furlong; Russell Harold Handy; Willis Louis Handy; Florence aka Flo Marion Handy - Whates; Ida Eva Handy - Drury; Jean Lois Handy - Cameron and Robert John Handy) her father → Ida Eva Morton Russell - Handy (Daughter of R.J. Russell or Robert J. Russell or Robert James Russell and Florence Melissa Wall - Russell Wife of James Edward Handy Sr.) his mother → Florence Melissa Wall - Russell (Daughter of William H. Wall and Elizabeth A. Lemon - Wall Wife of R.J. Russell or Robert J. Russell or Robert James Russell) her mother → William H. Wall (Son of George Stone Wall and Sarah Lukins - Wall Husband of Elizabeth A. Lemon - Wall) her father → George Stone Wall Son of Jeremiah Wall and Ann Stone aka STOENKO - Wall Husband of Sarah Lukins - Wall) his father → Ann Stone aka STOENKO - Wall (Daughter of Johannes or John Stone aka STOENKO and Hannah Barrow - Stone Wife of Jeremiah Wall) his mother → Johannes or John Stone aka STOENKO (Son of John Stone and Rachel Stone Husband of Hannah Barrow - Stone) her father → Rachel Stone (Daughter of John Shepard and Sarah Shepard Wife of John Stone) his mother → John Shepard (Son of Dea. Ralph Shepard and Thankslord Shepard Husband of 1st wife: Sarah Shepard (related to this posting) 2nd wife Wife of John Shepard (Craig)) → Thankslord Shepard (Daughter of unknown Perkins and wife of unknown Perkins Wife of Dea. Ralph Shepard) his mother Thankslord Shepard (Perkins) MP Gender:FemaleBirth:circa June 30, 1609 Towchester, Stepney Parish, Northamptonshire, England Death:September 20, 1693 (80-88) Malden, Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Place of Burial:Old Rock Cemetery, Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United StatesImmediate Family:Daughter of unknown Perkins and wife of unknown Perkins Wife of Dea. Ralph Shepard Mother of Sarah Shepard; Thomas Shepard; John Shepard; Isaac Shepard; Trial Power; Abraham Shepard, of Malden; Walter Shepard; Thankful Dill; Jacob Shepard; Mary Harris; Ralph Shepard and Daniel Shepard « less Curated by:Erica Howton https://www.geni.com/people/Thankslord-Shepard/6000000003693265457