Shelburne, Bereman S. (1817–1895)

Bereman S. Shelburne, physician, farmer, and state representative, was born in Nelson County, Kentucky, on May 10, 1817. He was the son of Bereman and Francis (Wells) Shelburne. He was raised in Spencer County, Kentucky, and began studying medicine under a local doctor there in 1836. On March 7, 1839, Shelburne married Elizabeth Rowel LePage. The couple had four sons and one daughter. Later in 1839 Shelburne received a medical degree from the University of Louisville. Following his graduation, he practiced medicine in Taylorsville and Bradfordsville in Kentucky until 1857, when he immigrated to Texas and settled in Lebanon in Collin County. In addition to his medical practice, Shelburne engaged as a farmer.

In 1862, following the outbreak of the Civil War, Shelburne accepted a position as surgeon for the Eighteenth Texas Cavalry Regiment. He served in this capacity briefly before accepting another position as surgeon with Gen. Albert Pike’s brigade. Shelburne resigned from the army and returned home late in the summer of 1862 in response to the death of his wife in July of that year. He married the widowed Susan F. (Hersman) Yager on January 6, 1863. They had two daughters. Shelburne won election as representative, on the Democratic ticket, for Collin, Dallas, and Tarrant counties, to the Twelfth Texas Legislature and served from February 9, 1870, to January 14, 1873. He ceased his medical practice in 1885 because of poor health and retired to his farm in Lebanon. Shelburne died there on June 7, 1895, and was buried at Rowlett Creek Cemetery in Collin County. He was a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Baptist, and was a member of both the Collin County and North Texas medical associations.