Helen Miller Gould (1868-1938), principally because she was the daughter of the notorious Jay Gould. There is woman in the backgroind, but it is uncklear if she is Shphard's wife.

Here we have a view of Finley J Shepard (1867-1942) strolling down New York City's fashionanable Fifth Avenue with two of his adopted childrenin her best Easter togs. Fifth Ave was famous for the Easter Prade here society strutted to display their fashionble finery. We do not know much about Mr. Shedpard, other than he was an executive at the the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Rather unusually for the time, we know a great deal about his wife Helen Miller Gould (1868-1938), principally because she was the daughter of the notorious Jay Gould who finally began investing in railways. Shepard presumably becuse Gould gained contol of several railroads. Helen could not have been more different. She was determibed to create a very differnt for the family. She not not only began gining away her ineritance to charitavler groups, but also adopting New York City orphan waifs. They adopted three children and had one foster child. We are not sure how her husband viewed this, but she became known as 'America's Sweetheart'. She gave away much of her inheritance. She was not only a philantropist, but a staunch critic of Soviet Communism, primarily on religious grounds. The boy here is Finley Jay (named for Finley Johnson Shepard and Jay Gould), a 3-year-old abandoned child who was found on the steps of Manhattan's St Patrick's Cathedral in 1914. That would make him about 11 years old here. The girl here is either Olivia Margaret (named for Helen's dear friend Mrs. Russell Sage) or Helen Anna (named for Helen and her sister, Anna). The Shephard also cared for a foster child, Louis Seton. And they cared for her brother Frank Gould's twin daughters, Helen Margaret and Dorothy (1904- ) by his first wife, Helen Kelly.

Created: 7:05 PM 9/16/2021
Last updated: 5:05 AM 4/8/2026