User talk:Lilliebb

Ella Sheppard

Early Life Ella Sheppard (born February 2, 1851) was a member with the Jubilee singers fro eleven years. During this time, she was a soprano, pianist, an assistant director. Sheppard was born to Sarah Hannah Sheppard, a slave, and Simon Sheppard, a former slave in Nashville, Tennessee. Simon bought his and Ella's freedom, but didn't have the same opportunity to do so for Ella's mother before she was moved to Mississippi. Shortly after, Simon moved himself and Ella to Cincinnati, Ohio, to protect them from being kidnapped and sold as slaves. Later, she moved on to illegally take piano lessons with a prominent teacher after hours. With the money earned form her piano playing, she attended Fisk University for to years and subsequently became a music teacher there.