Theodosia Burr Shepherd was born in Keosauqua, Iowa. She was the daughter of Augustus Hall, a lawyer who later became Chief Justice of Nebraska. She married W.E. Shepherd on September 9, 1866, and they moved to California for her health in 1873. In 1881 she sent a package to Peter Henderson, a seedsman in New York, who encouraged her to grow seeds and flowers in the Ventura climate. She built up a business, the Theodosia B. Shepherd Company, which annually issued a retail catalogue and two wholesale lists. The business was incorporated in 1902. She wrote and lectured on plant life, her hybridization work, and her success in the seed industry. The Collection contains correspondence, 2 scrapbooks, photographs, and printed materials related to Theodosia Burr Shepherd and her work as a pioneer of seed culture in Ventura, CA. Includes a typescript biography of Theodosia B. Shepherd by her daughter, Myrtle Shepherd Francis.

Theodosia Burr Shepherd was born in Keosauqua, Iowa; she was the daughter of Augustus Hall,a lawyer who later became Chief Justice of Nebraska; she married W.E. Shepherd on September 9, 1866, and they moved to California for her health in 1873; in 1881 she sent a package to Peter Henderson, a seedsman in New York, who encouraged her to grow seeds and flowers in the Ventura climate; she built up a business, the Theodosia B. Shepherd Company, which annually issued a retail catalogue and two wholesale lists; in 1902 the business was incorporated, and the stockholders were members of her family; she wrote and lectured on plant life, her hybridization work, and her success as a pioneering woman in the seed industry; she died September 6, 1906 in Ventura, California.

3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)

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