“S” is for Shepard, Charles Upham

“S” is for Shepard, Charles Upham [1804-1886]. Chemist, mineralogist. A native of Rhode Island, in 1834 Shepard became professor of chemistry at the Medical College of South Carolina. A highly respected and popular teacher, he also arranged mineralogical collections and botanical facilities at the college with specimens gathered from across the United States and Europe. Together with his students he also explored the state’s mineral deposits. Perhaps his greatest contribution to South Carolina was the investigations in the late 1850s of the vast phosphate deposits in the lowcountry. He published three pamphlets on the subject: On the Development and Extent of the Fertilizer Industry, Charleston Phosphates, and Guano as a Fertilizer. Charles Upham Shepard left South Carolina in 1861, but returned in 1865, resumed his position at the Medical College, and taught there until 1869.