Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 25, 2015

Elliott Fitch Shepard (1833–1893) was a New York lawyer, the owner of the Mail and Express newspaper, and a founder of three banks as well as the New York State Bar Association. He was born in Jamestown, New York, one of three sons of the president of a banknote-engraving company. During the American Civil War, Shepard earned the rank of colonel and was a Union Army recruiter. After attending the City University of New York, he practiced law for about 25 years. One of his residences, Woodlea, and the church he founded nearby, Scarborough Presbyterian, are contributing properties in the historic district of Scarborough-on-Hudson in the village of Briarcliff Manor. Woodlea, one of the largest privately owned houses in the United States at the time, is now part of Sleepy Hollow Country Club. Shepard was married to Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt, granddaughter of philanthropist, business magnate, and family patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt. Deeply religious, Shepard became the controlling stockholder of the Fifth Avenue Stage Company so he could force it to close on Sundays.