Benjamin Henry Jesse Francis Shepard (September 18, 1848 – May 29, 1927) was a composer and pianist, who also wrote under the pen name of Francis Grierson. He was born in Birkenhead, England, but his family migrated to Illinois, United States while Jesse was still a baby. In early adolescence he had a love relationship with John C. Frémont, who took on the thirteen year old Shepard as his page, a role he filled for two years, until 1863.

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  • Benjamin Henry Jesse Francis Shepard (September 18, 1848 – May 29, 1927) was a composer and pianist, who also wrote under the pen name of Francis Grierson. He was born in Birkenhead, England, but his family migrated to Illinois, United States while Jesse was still a baby. In early adolescence he had a love relationship with John C. Frémont, who took on the thirteen year old Shepard as his page, a role he filled for two years, until 1863. It is claimed that he chose Jesse to be his page because the boy was homosexual, and the two were constantly together, the boy displaying a great affection for Frémont. Shepard traveled in Europe, finding audiences even among royalty. Shepard impressed the French novelist Alexandre Dumas, fils to such a degree that he remarked "With your gifts, you will find all doors open before you. " Shepard was involved with Spiritualism; he stated that many of his musical performances were the result of the spirits of famous composers channeling through him. Shepard traveled through California in 1876 performing at several of the old religious missions founded by the Spanish. He was invited to live in San Diego by a pair of real-estate developers, the High brothers, who enticed him by promising to build a mansion to his specifications. The result was the Villa Montezuma (named after the ocean liner which brought Shepard to America). Shepard died on May 29, 1927 during his last piano performance.
  • Benjamin Henry Jesse Francis Shepard war ein amerikanischer Pianist, Schriftsteller und Okkultist. Im ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert erwarb er mit seiner Begabung für Improvisationen auf dem Klavier einige Berühmtheit in den Salons und Hofzirkeln von Paris, St. Petersburg und anderen europäischen Metropolen. Daneben wusste er sich erfolgreich als Medium in spiritistischen Séancen in Szene zu setzen. Nachdem er sich 1896 in London niedergelassen hatte, nannte er sich nach dem Geburtsnamen seiner Mutter Francis Grierson und begann unter diesem Namen eine mäßig erfolgreiche Karriere als Autor von Essays über Kunst, Gesellschaft und Spiritualität. Während seine musikalischen Leistungen - als Improvisationen nie notiert - völlig der Vergessenheit anheim fielen und seine Essays kaum noch gelesen wurden, rückte Grierson 1948 unerwartet wieder ins Interesse der amerikanischen Literaturwissenschaft, als Bernard DeVoto Griersons erstmals 1909 erschienene Kindheitserinnerungen The Valley of Shadows neu herausgab. In diesem Buch, in den Worten von Edmund Wilson eine der „seltsamsten Anomalien“ der amerikanischen Literaturgeschichte, schilderte der alternde Grierson seine Kindheit in einer Blockhütte in Illinois in den Jahren vor dem Ausbruch des amerikanischen Bürgerkriegs.
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  • Benjamin Henry Jesse Francis Shepard (September 18, 1848 – May 29, 1927) was a composer and pianist, who also wrote under the pen name of Francis Grierson. He was born in Birkenhead, England, but his family migrated to Illinois, United States while Jesse was still a baby. In early adolescence he had a love relationship with John C. Frémont, who took on the thirteen year old Shepard as his page, a role he filled for two years, until 1863.
  • Benjamin Henry Jesse Francis Shepard war ein amerikanischer Pianist, Schriftsteller und Okkultist. Im ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert erwarb er mit seiner Begabung für Improvisationen auf dem Klavier einige Berühmtheit in den Salons und Hofzirkeln von Paris, St. Petersburg und anderen europäischen Metropolen. Daneben wusste er sich erfolgreich als Medium in spiritistischen Séancen in Szene zu setzen.
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  • Francis Grierson
  • Francis Grierson
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