James Biddle Shepard (1815-1871) was the son of Mary Blount and William Biddle Shepard of Pasquotank County, NC. James was beginning his junior year in 1832 and was a member of the Philanthropic Society. He graduated first in his class in 1834, giving the Latin Salutatory at the commencement exercises. He became a lawyer, representing Wake County in the NC Senate (1842-43) and House of Commons (1844-45). A Democratic candidate for governor in 1846, he was defeated by William A. Graham. Shepard was a well-known speaker and published several addresses and poems. He married Frances Teach Donnell, who died in 1845, shortly after the birth of their only son, John Robert Donnell (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 5:328).