Helen Miller Gould Shepard (June 20, 1868 – December 21, 1938) was an American philanthropist and member of the wealthy Gould family born in New York City.[1]
Birth
Born as Helen Miller Gould, she was the first-born daughter of Jay Gould and Helen Day Miller (1838–1889).[1] Her sister Anna Gould was another prominent heiress.[2]
They adopted three children and had one foster child, Louis Seton. The adopted children were:
Finley Jay (named for Finley Johnson Shepard and Jay Gould), a three-year-old abandoned child who was found on the steps of Manhattan's St Patrick's Cathedral in 1914,
At the commencement of the Spanish–American War, she donated US$100,000 to the United States government in support of the war. She gave an additional US$50,000 toward military hospital supplies and was active in the Women's National War Relief Association,[5] working in a hospital for wounded soldiers. She donated the library building at New York University and began the Hall of Fame. She gave US$10,000 for the engineering school. She gave additional contributions to Rutgers College. Both the YMCA and the YWCA benefited from her contributions, as well as other organizations. She was a member of the board of the Russell Sage Foundation and of the national board of the YWCA.[5]
Golf Course
She purchased Shepard Hills in Roxbury, New York, including Kirkside Lake. The facility originally produced ice for the Roxbury in the winter months and the lake was used for recreation for the community in the summer months. Construction of the 9-hole golf course began around 1916 and upon completion served her estate.[1]
Death
She died on December 21, 1938, and was buried in the family mausoleum on December 23, 1938.[7][8]
^"Useful Daughter". Time. January 2, 1939. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved 2007-06-18. When the late Jay Gould, maker and breaker of railroads, lay dying, his devoted daughter Helen, then 24, was a constant attendant at his bedside. Last week at Roxbury, New York, Jay Gould's birthplace, she died, after a stroke, an extraordinary daughter of an extraordinary father, of an extraordinary family.
^"Helen Against Revolution". Time. January 25, 1932. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved 2008-07-30. It was not until 1913 that she married Railman Finley Johnson Shepard.
