Benjamin Henry Jesse Francis Shepard (September 18, 1848 – May 29, 1927) was a composer, pianist and writer who used the pen name Francis Grierson.
Biography
Jesse was born in Birkenhead, England, to Joseph Shepard and Emily Grierson Shepard and his family migrated to Illinois, United States while he was still a baby. He was present at the Lincoln–Douglas debates in 1858 and later incorporated his reminiscences into his fictionalized autobiography The Valley of Shadows (1909). He worked as a page for John C. Frémont as a youth. In his youth he was "Jesse Shepard" or "Ben Shepard," but in 1899 adopted the pen name and was primarily known as "Francis Grierson" after that date.
Europe and spiritualism
Shepard traveled in Europe, finding audiences among royalty, and impressed the French novelist Alexandre Dumas fils. Shepard was described by contemporaries as tall, dark, handsome, and with hands that could reach over an octave on a piano keyboard. He became involved with Spiritualism while in Russia in the 1870s and stated that many of his musical performances were the result of the spirits of famous composers channeling through him.
Sexuality
It seems that Shepard primarily had romantic relationships with other men, but did not include descriptions of his sexuality in his writing or personal correspondence. He spent the majority of his adult life living with Lawrence Waldemar Tonner, a relationship that has been characterized in a variety of ways by later historians. He has been included in reference works on homosexuality and appears in scholarly works in the field of queer studies.
