John W. Shepard was born around 1837. By the early 1860s, he was probably living in Kendallville, Indiana. He was drafted into the Union army, and he mustered in as a private in Company E of the 13th Indiana Infantry on October 3. 1864. The regiment took part in the Carolinas campaign. He mustered out on September 5, 1865. He applied for a federal pension in July 1890 and eventually received one. He died sometime before February 1903.