As a lawyer, U.S. Attorney, son of a Maine Supreme Judicial Court judge, and a native of Maine who had lived in Saco, Bangor, and Portland, George F. Shepley was well known and well connected.
The Civil War disrupted an important part of Maine's economic activity: shipping, and especially the shipping of southern cotton.
Ship owners as well as others seeking to do business in the Union-occupied territories contacted Shepley, looking for introductions to be able to conduct business or looking for permission to load and unload cargo in Louisiana ports.
