Short Biography of Abel Shed

Soon after his marriage in 1768 he settled in Mason, N.H. remaining there quite a number of years, and his wife was admitted to the church there in 1773. He took an active part in the stirring events preceding and during the Revolution; was one of the town committee of inspection in 1776 to see that no Tories were harbored in town, and in many ways evinced his patriotism. He also served as one of the selectmen of Mason in 1776 and 1777.

Sometime before or in 1780 he removed to Rindge, N.H., and took up a farm upon which he passed remainder of his life; like many others of that period he combined the trade of a shoemaker (or cordwainer) with his farming, and by diligence became well-to-do. He is listed at Rindge in the United States Census of 1790 as head of a family of four males over sixteen years, five males under sixteen years and two females. Of his eight children, all sons, seven grew up to manhood becoming active and respected citizens; they were noted for their large stature and athletic superiority, and it has been facetiously said of them "that there was forty-two feet of shed in the family." Many are the anecdotes related of their strenght. This characteristic may in part have been inherited from their mother who is reported to have been large and somewhat masculine in appearance and late in life to have had a beard upon her face quite as heavy as some men. As he was blessed with no daughter by birth in his family, he adopted one, a Miss Susanna White of Leominster; she later became the wife of his son John Haskell Shedd.

Source: "Daniel Shed genealogy : ancestry and descendants of Daniel Shed of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1327-1920" ¹⁷¹⁰