Sheppard, Morris, 1875-1941

Morris Sheppard (1875-1941) was born May 28, 1875, in Wheatsville, Texas. He received his AB degree from the University of Texas in 1895 and his LLB in 1897. He also earned an LLM degree from Yale University, before beginning his law practice in Pittsburgh and Texarkana. In 1902, Sheppard was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the space left vacant by his father’s death. He served until 1913 when he became a U.S. Senator, a post he would hold until his own death in 1941.

Among his notable legislative achievements, Sheppard introduced the law that would become the Eighteenth Amendment, outlawing intoxicating beverages and ushering in the era of Prohibition. He also assisted Andrew J. Volstead in writing the Prohibition enforcement law. Sheppard served as chairman of the expenditures committee for the Department of Agriculture and in 1932 became chair of the military affairs committee. Among his other committee assignments were commerce, irrigation and reclamation, appropriations, and manufactures.