Ninus Eugene Shands, who was called "N.E." all his life, was born on November 23, 1848 in Mississippi, son of Hilliard Judge Shands and Melissa Boydston Penry.

     He moved to Texas with his family and the family of his mother at the end of the Civil War when he was about 17 years of age.  Because of his age, N.E. did not serve either army during the conflict, although the war ravaged their home and left his father near bankrupt.  His ambitions were to follow his father into medicine.  He graduated from the Louisville College of Medicine in Kentucky and returned to Texas.  On May 20, 1875, he married Julia Cox Douglass in Kaufman County.  They lived in Forney, Texas, where N.E. had his practice, interest in a pharmacy and had holdings in land and owned one of the first brick buildings in the town.  He and his family are considered some of the most prominent pioneers of the town of Forney.

     N.E. died on April 10, 1926 and is buried in the Hillcrest Cemetery in Forney next to his parents and family.

1. Jonnie Vanda Shands
2. Clinton Percival Shands
3. Bessie Melissa Shands
4. Ned Douglass Shands
5. Julia Bell Shands
6. Ninus Eugene Shands II
7. Hilliard Judge Shands
8. Henry Gilchrist Shands

• Kaufman County's Medical History