Shepherd was the son of Shepherd Knapp and Emma Benedict, and grandson of Gardiner Spring, pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City. He attended Columbia College (AB 1894) and Yale Divinity School (BD 1897). He was elected to the American Antiquarian Society in 1909, and New York University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1912. Knapp served at the First Congregational Church, Southington, Connecticut (1897–1900); the Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City (assistant pastor, 1901–08); and the Central Congregational Church, Worcester, Massachusetts (1908–36). He retired in 1936 after 28 years of service, including a year with the Young Men’s Christian Association in France during World War I. Less