Titus Sheard was born on October 4, 1841, in Batley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

[1] After his parents died, he came to the United States in 1856, and settled first in Mottville, New York, later in Little Falls.

[1] He was a member of the New York State Assembly, representing Herkimer County, in 1878, 1879 and 1884, and was elected Speaker in 1884 after defeating Theodore Roosevelt in the Republican assemblymen's caucus.

[1] He lost in his quest for renomination in the Republican State Convention at Utica, New York in October 1891 as the candidate of the Miller faction, when his adversary John E. Smith, the candidate of the Platt faction, was nominated on the 937th ballot.

[1][2] He was a member of Little Falls Methodist Church and was superintendent of its sunday school for 25 years.