G. D. Shands

Garvin Dugas Shands was born on December 5, 1844, in Burnt Factory, Spartanburg District, South Carolina, and was raised in the family home there.[1][2][3] He was the oldest son of South Carolina natives Dr. Anthony Capel Shands (1815 or 1816 - 1876) and Frances Jane (Ferguson) Shands, his wife.[1][3][4] Shands began attending Wofford College in 1859.[1] When the American Civil War began in 1861, Shands enlisted at the age of 17 in Manigault's Battalion in the Confederate Army.[2][3] At the end of the year, he was transferred to the 6th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment.[3] His unit helped guard the Port of Charleston until May 1864, when they were transferred to the command of General Wade Hampton.[3] Shands was among Hampton's and Joseph E. Johnston's troops during the surrender in April 1865 in Bennett Place in Durham, North Carolina.[3] He then returned to Wofford College in the same year, graduating with a B. A. in 1866.[1][2] In 1867, Shands moved to Panola County, Mississippi, where he was a teacher and also read law, and lived there for two years before moving to Tate County, Mississippi, in 1869.[3] He then attended the University of Kentucky, graduating in January 1870[5] with a Bachelor of Laws degree.[2]

After graduating, Shands opened a law office in Senatobia, Mississippi, and his law practice grew.[2][3] He was elected to represent Tate County as a Democrat in the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1875 and reelected in 1877, serving from 1876 to 1880.[6][5] In 1881, Shands was elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi and served from 1882 to 1886.[5] In 1885, he was re-elected and served a second term from 1886 to 1890.[5] From 1890 to 1894, Shands was a trustee of both Vanderbilt University and Millsaps College.[1] In 1894, Shands accepted the position of dean of the University of Mississippi School of Law and also served there as a law professor.[2][3] He received an honorary L. L. D. from Wofford in 1897.[2][1] In October 1906, Shands accepted a position as a professor of common law at Tulane University.[2][7] Shands retired in 1909, and was granted a retirement allowance by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.[1][2]

Shands was a member of the Methodist Church and served as a delegate to its national conventions in 1882, 1886, 1890, 1894, and 1906.[4][7] He married Mary Endosia Roseborough on December 14, 1870.[3][1] They had five children together: Hubert Anthony (1872-1955; an English professor and author[8]), Mabel I., Audley W., Harley R., and Cecil.[1] Shands died in New Orleans, Louisiana, on July 1, 1917.[2] His widow Mary died on October 7, 1934.[9]