The Warren & Shepherd Family

Warren Shepherd Family roots - Irish, English, American - Pennsylvania and California

Welcome to the Warren and Shepherd family page. The Warren's have an English/Irish background but lived in Pennsylvania, USA. The Warren's were actually Wormwood's from Maine, USA. The Shepherd's were from England, lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for a time, but some of the Shepherd's went to Pasadena, California. My Warren / Shepherd line currently lives in and around Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The Warren Family

Up until recently, we did not know much about our Warren family. Thanks to some information given to me by my Grandfather's first cousin in the USA, I was able to create a family tree for our Warren branch. Part of the reason that I was not able to find out much about my Great Grandfather was that his Grandfather changed the family name from Wormwood to Warren sometime around 1850. His name was Joseph Wormwood and he was born in Kennebunk, Maine, the USA on May 30, 1831. He was the only son of Richard Wormwood and Eliza Wells but had 5 sisters. The Wormwood family has been in Maine (York), USA since the mid-1600s but were originally from England. Joseph moved to Sewickley, Pennsylvania and was the first Ticket Agent at the Sewickley Train Station as well as a telegrapher. Joseph was a prominent member of the St. Stephen's Church and also played a large role in raising money for the Sewickley library. He hosted parties with singing and dancing to help raise funds. Joseph W. Warren had two sons with his first wife Martha Jane Lourimore; George Cass Warren ( named after his friend George Washington Cass) and Henry Lourimore Warren. After the death of his first wife, he married Louisa Von Hofen but did not have children with her.

George Warren married Margaret Byron, an Irish girl from Oil City, Pennsylvania. Her parents were James Byron and Margaret Meehan. When their ship arrived in New York on July 29th, 1867, James' occupation was listed as a mason. James then went on to work for the Railroad in Oil City, Pennsylvania.

George Warren and Margaret Byron have two sons. My Great Grandfather Harry Warren born July 3, 1890, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania and Francis Warren born June 13, 1888. George worked as a locomotive fireman at the time of his marriage to Maggie Byron but some time around 1905 he became a Coal Miner in Baldwin Twp., Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Maggie passed away (or left) sometime around 1913 and George remarries Mary Elizabeth O'Donnell. She was previously married to a Mr. Paul (or Paol) Kelly. She was listed as George and Maggie's servant in 1910. Together they had William Warren and Charles Warren. William Warren was listed as William Kelly on the 1910 Census but later states on his marriage record that George Warren was his father. I'm not sure that George was his biological father.

Harry Warren and his brother Frank were both locomotive fireman living in New York around the time of WWI. Harry Warren married Henrietta Shepherd in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on October 29, 1917. Together they had 8 children, all born in Toronto. I'm not sure why Harry claimed to be from Dublin, Ireland but there is a family rumour that he may have been in trouble in the US for some reason or another. I have not been able to turn anything up just yet to prove this rumour.

** UPDATE - I found a record of arrest for Harry in 1907, age 17. This lead to newspaper articles stating that Harry was the leader of a gang of train luggage robbers. He was apprehended in New York **

In the coming months, I hope to discover more about our Irish roots so I can branch out more on the Byron and Meehan lines. The chart below shows what I have found for now. The Wormwood line does extend back many more generations but there are too many to fit on this chart. If you would like more information please contact me and I will gladly share what I have found.

**Image of Joseph W. Warren was found in the book "Lights and Shadows of Sewickley Life, OR, Memories of Sweet Valley" by Agnes L Ellis 1893.

Below you will find the ancestors of my Great Grandfather, Harry Warren.

I have been able to go back further than those listed in the chart above. If you are interested in that information please contact me.

The Shepherd Family

I have included the family tree of my Great Grandmother Henrietta Shepherd below. She was married to Thomas Henry Scott in 1913, but he passed away not long after their marriage. She remarried in 1917 to Harry Warren in Toronto, Ontario. Henrietta emigrated to Oshawa, Ontario from England with her family in 1905 at the age of 10. In 1924 her parents and siblings then emigrated from Canada to the United States. They settled in Pasadena, California, USA. As far as I know, her siblings stayed in California.

The Shepherd men are from a long line of Blacksmiths. Henrietta's father was the exception, he was a man of many trades. He also spent 9 years in the English military. He was a gas stoker in England, a gas fitter in Ontario, and a labourer in Pasadena. Alexander's Father, Grandfather, and Great Grandfather were all Blacksmiths. At least one or more of their sons picked up the trade.

Below is a large chart for Henrietta Shepherd, my great Grandmother.

I have been able to go back further than those listed in the chart above. If you are interested in that information please contact me.

Our Knight Connection

My recent research has brought me to an interesting and exciting find in Henrietta's family history. Her maternal Grandmother, Charlotte Oxenbridge, comes from a noble line. Her Oxenbridge line goes back to a few Knights - Sir Thomas Oxenbridge, his father Sir Goddard Oxenbridge and his father Sir Robert Oxenbridge. As well as Sir George Puttenham and Sir Thomas Etchingham. I will find out more about this line and these Knights later, but I am sure there are more as well. I just need to verify the source information. I have found this information in numerous online family trees, but something seems off. So I will be working my way back (slowly but surely) to verify all of those "hints" in other people's trees with source documents. It's very exciting.

UPDATE! THIS MAY BE A COUSIN OR UNCLE AND NOT A GRANDFATHER. I AM STILL TRYING TO VERIFY THIS.

Sir Goddard Oxenbridge - Also known as the Brede Giant - in St.Geroge Church, Brede, East Sussex, England (Image found on Wikipedia)

If you happen to have any additional information about this family tree please contact me. I am looking for pictures of anyone that may be linked to this family as well.

Follow the Blog for updates!

Header image courtesy of pixabay.com

2 comments

UnknownMay 9, 2021 at 9:07 PM
Hello Lisa,

I was in touch with you a few years back. Joseph Warren was my 2x great-grandfather and I'm the 1x granddaughter of Henry Warren and Olive via their son, Sherwood and my father Edward.

I would very much appreciate any information you might have that extends further back from Richard and Eliza.

Thank you so much!
Carol (Warren) Arnold

Family and Forebears