Hometown of United States Senator Morris Sheppard

Sheppard tried a national liquor ban in 1913 and 1914 and failed. In March 1917 he wrote the act abolishing liquor sales in the District of Columbia, and on April 4, 1917, the day Congress declared war on Germany, he introduced the prohibition amendment. It passed the House at the end of that year. Ratification came in 1919 as the Eighteenth Amendment, and Prohibition took effect in 1920. He was born on May 28, 1875 on the family farm near Wheatville, and he died on April 9, 1941.

What the plaque says

Hometown of United States Senator Morris Sheppard (1875-1941) One of great lawmakers of the United States. Born near Naples, son of John L. and Alice Eddins Sheppard. Attended local schools. Received degrees of B. A. and LL.B., University of Texas; LL.M., Yale; LL.D., Southern Methodist University. Entered law practice in 1898. Served in United States Congress 1902-1913; United States Senate, 1913-1941. Active in legislation for agriculture, waterways, topographical and geological surveys, development of helium and potash deposits, construction and improvement of Federal buildings (including National Archives), Federal insurance for bank deposits, and Air Mail service. Author in Senate of Federal Credit Union Act, the Federal Maternity and Infancy Act, and the 19th (Prohibition) Amendment. He supported the 19th (Woman's Suffrage) Amendment. One of creators of World War I Aircraft Board, he continued to champion military aviation, even when air power was discredited during 1920s and 30s. His leadership prevented disastrous curtailment of air power, and helped prepare nation's air defenses in World War II. He was chairman, Senate Military Affairs Committee, 1933-1941. Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, was named in his honor in 1942. He married Lucile Sanderson; they had 3 daughters. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Daingerfield State Park — 13 mi
  A pine-and-hardwood park built in 1935-39 by a white and a Black Civilian Conservation Corps company, with a dammed lake, Bass Lodge and a 2.4-mile loop trail around the water.
• Atlanta State Park — 25 mi
  A shoreline park on Wright Patman Lake, leased from the Army in 1954, where Caddo ancestors farmed the Sulphur River and wagon traces such as the Bobo Ferry trace still cross the woods.
• Lake Bob Sandlin State Park — 26 mi
  A 1987 state park on a 9,000-acre reservoir, where a Republic of Texas stockade called Fort Sherman stood in 1838 and the Caddo lived from A.D. 800 to 1860, now with fishing piers, trails and cabins.

More markers nearby

• Naples — 0.3 mi
• Wheatville and Wheatville Cemetery — 2.2 mi
• Rocky Branch — 6.1 mi
• Cornett Cemetery — 7.8 mi