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Contribution #275 of 365
Charles Shepard
Farmer, Landowner and Pleasant Ridge Pioneer
1848–1860s
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born enslaved in Virginia, Charles Shepard gained his freedom in 1848 and migrated with his family to southwestern Wisconsin. After initially working for wages on agricultural land, Charles and his brother Isaac saved enough money to purchase 200 acres and establish homesteads of their own. Their settlement became part of Pleasant Ridge, a rural Black farming community that attracted other formerly enslaved families and created opportunities for independent agriculture, landownership and community development in Wisconsin.