Why should william henry sheppard be remembered ?

William Henry Sheppard should be remembered because he was the first African American missionary for the Presbyterian Church.

William Henry Sheppard was born as the son of hairdresser William Henry Sheppard the Elder and Fannie Frances Sheppard, who were released from slavery a month before the end of the Civil War. At the age of twelve, William Junior was stabled for two years with a white family. He then worked as a waiter and, in the evening, went through the recently founded Hampton Institute, where Booker T. Washington was one of his teachers. After graduating there, he studied at the Tuscaloosa Theological Institute (now Stillman College) in Alabama. He was ordained a priest in 1888 and became a pastor of a church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Sheppard came to Congo in about 1890. He spent 20 years in Africa, especially in the Congo Free State, and he is best known for publishing material on the Belgian genocide during the Leopold II regime against the Congolese.

In 1891, Sheppard began to work with Presbyterian missionary William McCutchan Morrison. They reported crimes they saw and later founded the Congo Reform Association together with Roger Casement, one of the first humanitarian organizations in the world. After becoming acquainted with language and culture, Sheppard brought with him a group of men across the border to the Kuba Kingdom in 1892, where he was arrested by Prince N'toinzide for illegal presence. However, King Kot aMweeky took him under his protection and Sheppard was able to collect artifacts and eventually be allowed to later establish a Presbyterian mission.

In January 1908, Sheppard published a report of colonial abuse in the American Presbyterian Congo Mission magazine. Sheppard's activities contributed to the contemporary debate on European colonialism and imperialism in Africa.  

pepin the short[a] (german: pippin der kurze, french: pépin le bref, c. 714 – 24 september 768) was the king of the franks from 751 until his death. he was the first of the carolingians to become king.[b][2]

the younger son of the frankish prince charles martel and his wife rotrude, pepin's upbringing was distinguished by the ecclesiastical education he had received from the monks of st. denis. succeeding his father as the mayor of the palace in 741, pepin reigned over francia jointly with his elder brother carloman. pepin ruled in neustria, burgundy, and provence, while his brother carloman established himself in austrasia, alemannia and thuringia. the brothers were active in suppressing revolts led by the bavarians, aquitanians, saxons, and the alemanni in the early years of their reign. in 743, they ended the frankish interregnum by choosing childeric iii, who was to be the last merovingian monarch, as figurehead king of the franks.