Palo Alto College

San Antonio, Texas

Cuero,TX

Interview with Joe and Mary Sheppard

Joseph L. Sheppard has lived in Cuero for 77 years. His father worked in the whole grocery business as the credit manager. Joseph grew up in a house built in 1895 by the Blackwell family and he and his wife still live there today. He was the third oldest of six children. He graduated with a class of 54 students.

Joseph’s family moved from Indianola, TX to Cuero after the storm of 1886 which took the life of his great-grand mother and numerous other family members. His great–grand father was the Wharfmaster for the Morgan Steam Ship Line. Before the big storm in 1886, Indianola was struck by a smaller one in 1875. Many of the people fled and settled in Cuero. The rest of them left after the storm of 1886 and many them also settled in Cuero as well.

I spoke to Mr. Sheppard about their yearly festival and this is the response I got. Cuero’s Turkey fest was derived from the Cuero Turkey Trot which started in 1912 when a group of people marched a herd of wild turkeys to a slaughter house. The event became a occasional event which only happened 10 or 12 times until 1972. It was full of elaborate costumes and traditions. Soon after came the Turkey Fest which is now related to October Fest.

“Cuero, being the small town that it was,” replied Sheppard, “had above average medical facilities for their time while he was growing up. The town had its own hospital which was ran by the Burns brothers who had both graduated from John Hopkins Medical School. There they also schooled and certified nurses.”

I later interviewed his wife and before I had even asked a question She had already began to tell me a story and this what she said.

Rosemary Sheppard was born in 1926 on a ranch right on the outskirts of Cuero. She went to a small one-room school house with two teachers all the way till the 7th grade. She then started going to school in Cuero this is where she met John. She later came back to Cuero to become a teacher. Rosemary had taught at an all white school in Cuero.

During the late 1960s when schools were becoming integrated, Rosemary had the opportunity to help this process become complete. She was approached by the principal who at the time was a lady. She asked Rosemary if she minded that a black child could join her class. Rosemary replied back, “ Sure as long as they behave, they can be any color they want to be.” This Rosemary’s first experience with blacks joining the white schools. She added that although the kids were not happy with this change because they liked their own schools, the integration process ran rather smoothly and within five years it was complete.

She moved further back in time and she told me what segregation was like while she was growing up. She went on to tell me the town was definitely segregated. The gas stations, restaurants, the one movie theatre they had had their own places for blacks and whites. One thing she told me that really interested me was in a story she began to tell me. One year while election were going on a black man had approached her at the store were they tallied out the votes. He asked her if she would mind buying him some cigarettes. This was then when she realized that none of the blacks in the town where not allowed to go into any white stores on election days or even at night.

Joseph and Rosemary Sheppard reside in Cuero, TX in a beautiful house over 100 years old, downtown. He and Rosemary spend their time taking care of the cattle on her father's ranch which she acquired from him when he passed away. I learned a lot of new things from them and walked away with a handful of memories. I would like to thank the Sheppards for their time and information.