Finding Aid to the Eli Taylor Sheppard Papers, ca. 1858-1927

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Note

Geographical (By Place) --United States (excluding California) History --History, California Geographical (By Place) --California Social Sciences --Political Science --International Relations

Finding Aid to the Eli Taylor Sheppard Papers, ca. 1858-1927

Collection number: BANC MSS 71/253 cz

The Bancroft Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

Processed by:
The Bancroft Library staff
Date Completed:
January 1989
Encoded by:
James Lake
© 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Eli Taylor Sheppard Papers,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1858-1927
Collection Number: BANC MSS 71/253 cz
Creator: Sheppard, Eli T.
Extent: Number of containers: 3 boxes, 3 cartons, 1 oversize folder Linear feet: 5
Repository: The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Eli T. Sheppard papers: Chiefly relating to his diplomatic career as U.S. Consul to China and later as Advisor on International Law to the U.S. Minister to Japan. Includes correspondence, diaries,chitbooks, writings, certificates, scrapbooks and clippings. Includes some material pertaining to his ownership of the Madrone Vineyards near Sonoma in the 1880s.

Miscellaneous family and other papers : Includes accounts of his father-in-law, Lewis Lewton, 1864-1889 (the earliest including accounts for the Ohio National Guard) and of the Lewton estate; records of the Glen-Ellen Viticultural Club (minutes, constitution and by-laws); account by Marguerite Brindley (E.T. Sheppard's daughter) of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English and Chinese

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Eli Taylor Sheppard Papers, BANC MSS 71/253 cz, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Removed or Separated Material

  • Pictorial materials have been transferred to the Bancroft Library's Pictorial Collections.
  • Some published materials have been transferred to the Bancroft Library's book collection.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The Eli T. Sheppard papers came as a gift to The Bancroft Library, June 16, 1971, from his granddaughter, Mrs. William E. Hilbert. A small number of additional items were received from the estate of Mrs. Hilbert, through the assistance of her cousin, Mrs. Evelyn Stewart.

Biography

When the distinguished professor of history of the University of California at Berkeley, Henry Morse Stephens, returned some letters he had borrowed from Eli Taylor Sheppard, he wrote the former American Consul to China, "May I beg you to see that this most interesting correspondence...is preserved in some safe place, -I dare not suggest the Bancroft Library, -on account of its very real historical value." Fifty-four years later, the Bancroft Library, through the generous gift of Mrs. William S. Hilbert was indeed to receive the fascinating and rich collection of Papers of her grandfather, Eli Taylor Sheppard.
Eli Taylor Sheppard, lawyer and diplomat, was born in Belmont County, Ohio, on September 26, 1842, and spent his early years on his father's farm. By 1858, he had begun teaching in the nearby Pumpkin Ridge county school. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted with the 85th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving until April 1863. Encouraged by Mr. John A. Bingham in his desire to read law, Sheppard entered the Union Law College in 1864, graduating with honors in March 1865. His early practice with the firm of Bingham, Stanton and Lewton led to his appointment as Proctor in Admiralty in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States, and in 1867 as Register in Bankruptcy.
Soon after the visit in 1868 of the first Chinese Ambassador to the United States, the commercial exchanges between the two countries necessitated the sending of American officials to China. At the instigation of Anson Burlingame, who had been instrumental in the development of relations with China, Sheppard, eager to apply his knowledge of international law, applied for, and obtained an appointment as U.S. Consul to China in April of 1869. He took up residence in Chinkiang for two years, after which he was transferred, with the title of U.S. Consul for North China, to the port of Tientsin.
Throughout these years, Mr. Sheppard gained a reputation for dealing with firmness and tact in such varied matters as his intervention in the case of the persecution of an American missionary at Chimi near Chefoo. His friendly relations with the metropolitan viceroy, Li Hung Chang, the real ruler of China, were instrumental in Sheppard's ability to adjust differences between China and the treaty powers, especially in the Formosan difficulty with Japan in 1873, and later in disputes arising between China and Japan concerning Korea and the Lew Chew Islands.
At this time, however, his mentor, Mr. Bingham, now minister to Japan, urged Sheppard to come to Japan as Advisor in International Law. Upon his arrival in Japan in 1877, he found the country to be undergoing exciting changes in its transition from insular feudalism to the mainstream of international life, responsive to outside aid, and generally more in touch with the West than was China. Here Sheppard assisted in establishing a consular service modeled on European and American systems, worked in clarifying rights and duties of foreigners residing in China and Japan in relation to treaty revisions and extraterritoriality. Other legal questions to be untangled included the nature of the rights of foreign vessels in offshore Japanese waters, issues of naturalization, etc.
Suffering from ill health, Sheppard decided to abandon his post, returning to California in 1881. He settled down temporarily in Napa, then near Sonoma, growing grapes at the Madrone Vineyards which he later sold to Senator George Hearst in 1889. After traveling in Europe, he resumed his law practice in San Francisco in 1890. He travelled to Mexico and Washington D.C., lectured at the University of California, Berkeley on international law and on the American Consular Service, and from 1912 spent his remaining years in Oakland, where he died in 1927.

Scope and Content

The correspondence, diaries and photographs, carefully preserved all these years, depict the day to day life of a diplomat --revolving around Chinese officials, intricate ceremonials, and ticklish questions of diplomacy, the whole interwoven with accounts of revolts and political intrigue. In addition to rich details of Chinese life and customs, and of travels throughout the country, one finds in these papers accounts of innumerable receptions, interaction with consuls from Germany, England, and France, as well as details of the delicate negotiations between the Chinese and the Peruvian commission over an accusation of coolie trafficking. Herein also are described small pox epidemics, the death of the old Emperor and the subsequent period of official mourning, negotiations to curb Chinese taxes on imported foreign goods, the Transit of Venus in 1874 with attendant scientific dignities, and the funeral arrangements for the United States Minister to China, Benjamin P. Avery.

 

Outgoing letters, 1871-1927

Physical Description: (4 folders)
Box 1

Transcripts of outgoing letters, 1871-1879

Additional Note

(N.B.: Originals of some letters, particularly those written from Japan in 1877-1879, are lacking)
 

Letters from his wife, Lida (Lewton) Sheppard, 1871-1928

 

Incoming letters

Box 1

Single letters in an A-Z Miscellany

Physical Description: (2 folders)
 

Miscellany, unidentified

Physical Description: (1 folder)
 

Incoming, A-K.

Physical Description: (15 folders)

Additional Note

Two or more letters, arranged alphabetically by author, then chronologically within each folder. A partial list of correspondents may be consulted at the end of the report.
Box 2

L - Z

Physical Description: (39 folders)
 

Transcripts of miscellaneous letters

 

Letters, 1858-1880, written to Mrs. Sheppard by girlhood friends in Ohio, some of them concerning the Civil War

Physical Description: (3 folders)
 

Calling cards and miscellaneous publications

Box 3

Calling cards and miscellaneous publications

 

Diaries, accounts, and chitbooks

Ctn. 1

Diary, 1869: Begun in May when in Washington D.C., prior to beginning his consulship and kept during his trip across the country to the west coast.

 

Diary, 1873-1875: Kept as U.S. Consul in Tientsin, China

 

Diary, 1875-1876: Kept as U.S. Consul in Tientsin, China

 

Diary, 1877-1878: Describes return voyage from San Francisco to Tokyo and his duties as advisor upon international law to the Japanese Office of Foreign Affairs.

 

Diaries, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889: Madrone Vineyards, farming near Sonoma

 

Diaries, 1892-1895: San Francisco

Physical Description: (4 v.)
 

Diaries, 1896-1898: Oakland

 

Diary, 1900: Washington, D.C.

 

Account book for U.S. Consulate at Tientsin, 1873-1875

 

Check stubs, 1874/5-1875/6

 

Chitbooks, 1886-1881

Physical Description: (6 v.)
 

Miscellaneous papers and writings

 

Misc. papers

Ctn. 2

Certificates of appointments, passports, etc., relating to his military, consular and legal careers, 1862-1899

Physical Description: (some oversize)
 

Accounts, 1872-1876, relating mainly to his consular service in China

 

Map of Mexico, annotated

 

Misc. relating to consular service including:

 

Copy of John A. Bingham's speech in support of General Grant, July 10, 1872, translated into Chinese and published in Tientsin, China.

 

Notice of the reception of the ministers of western powers by the Emperor of China. Printed, 1873.

 

Memorandum of an interview between E. T. Sheppard and the Toutai at Chefoo, May 4, 1874

 

Program for entertainment, Jan. 1875

 

Order of funeral procession for Benjamin Avery, Nov. 1875

 

Invitation for consular celebration of U.S. Independence in Tientsin, July 14, 1876

 

Program, printed on silk, for July 1876 celebration in Shanghai

 

Inventory of public property of U.S. Consulate at Tientsin, Sept. 30, 1876

 

Testimonial to E. T. Sheppard, Oct. 1876

 

Memo of articles proposed by Mr. Wade in settlement of the Yin Nan affair, n.d.

 

Sketch map of Tientsin, annotated

 

Invitation to reception in Tokyo in honor of General U. S. Grant, ex-president

 

Agreements with R. B. Mostyn, 1873, re rental of consular buildings

 

Communications in Chinese

 

Madrone Vineyards (Napa Valley): Account Book, 1884-1888, kept by Eli Taylor Sheppard.

Scope and Content Note

Also included are other accounts, not for the vineyard, 1874-1888.
 

Accounts of Sheppard's father-in-law, Lewis Lewton, 1864-1889.

Physical Description: (3 v.)

Scope and Content Note

Early accounts were for the Ohio National Guard. Accounts of the Lewton estate also included.
 

Misc., including minutes, constitution and by-laws of the Glen-Ellen Viticultural Club, 1885; account by Marguerite Brindley, oldest daughter of E. T. Sheppard, of the San Francisco Earthquake and fire around the "Flag House," April 20, 1906.

 

Writings of Eli Taylor Sheppard - manuscripts, reprints, clippings

Ctn. 2

American Consular Service

 

An American Missionary Statesman

 

[China]

 

Korean War

 

The Future Of China

 

The Future of the Pacific Ocean

 

General Grant in the Orient

 

Ideals of American Diplomacy

 

[Japan]

 

Memoirs of Li Hung Chang

 

Our Relations with the Orient

 

The Pacific Ocean in the Twentieth Century

 

A Pilgrimage to Dai Butz

 

Port Arthur, The Tragic Monument to Li Hung Chang's Diplomacy

 

Prince Ito, The Maker of Modern Japan

 

Results of the War in the Orient

 

Russia and Japan

 

Russian Expansion in Asia

 

[Theodore Roosevelt]

 

A Traveler's Notes

Additional Note

(articles written for the Napa Register, 1889)
 

Treaty Revision

 

Notes

Ctn. 2

Autobiographical; John A. Bingham; China; Japan; railroads and traveling; miscellaneous

 

Biographical material

Ctn. 2

Hilbert, Mrs. William E.: Fugitive Scraps and Patches

Scope and Content Note

Drafts of her biography of Eli Taylor Sheppard, and notes assembled for this purpose
 

Kellogg, Annie (Sheppard): [Reminiscences]

 

Scrapbooks and clippings

Ctn. 3

Scrapbooks containing clippings, programs, menus, calling cards, etc. relating to China and to Eli Taylor Sheppard, including some articles written by him

Physical Description: (2 v.)
 

Clippings

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Roughly arranged by subject: John A. Bingham, China, William Denman, humor, Japan, Abraham Lincoln, Divie Bethune McCartee, Mexico, San Francisco, Eli Taylor Sheppard, trains, Mark Twain, miscellaneous
oversize Oversize folder

Bachelor of law degree from Ohio State and Union Law college, 1865

 

Certificates of appointment as United States Consul to China

 

April 19, 1869

 

April 19, 1871


 

A-Z Miscellany

 

Balfour, Frederic Henry

 

Letter, March 16, 1875

 

Beard, James E.

 

Letter, n.d.

 

Bigelow, Samuel C.

 

Letter, March 25, 1899

 

California, University. President, written by secretary Victor Henderson

 

Letter, March 21, 1901

 

Campbell, John Allen, 1835-1880

 

Letter, June 19, 1876

 

Carr, Wilbur John, 1870-1942

 

Letter, April 3, 1902

 

Chipman, Norton Parker, 1838-1924

 

Letter, August 30, 1917

 

Davidson, George, 1825-1911

 

Letter, May 13, 1899

 

Deering, Frank Prentiss, 1855-1939

 

Letter, February 13, 1902

 

Delano, M. M., re his efforts as U.S. Consul at Foochow to obtain telegraphic service in China.

 

Letter (with transcript), February 3, 1875

 

Denman, James, 1829-1909

 

Letter, January 28, 1900

 

DuBois, James T., 1851-1920

 

Letter, March 19, 1902

 

Estee, Morris M., 1838-1903

 

Letter, March 29, 1899

 

Fitz, W. W.

 

Letter, June 2, 1875

 

Flint, W. Ston., 1835-1906

 

Letter, January 5, 1874

 

Garcia y Garcia, Aurelio, as Peruvian emissary to China

 

Letter, June 16, 1874

 

Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 1822-1895, received Correspondence from O. E. Babcock

 

Letter, February 3, 1873

 

Hanks, Abbot Atherton, 1869-

 

Letter, n.d.

 

Hayes, Rutherford Binchard, 1822-1893

Additional Note

Includes autographs and photographs
 

Hopkins, Anna B., re her experiences in Mexico

 

Letter, March 14, 1913

 

Japan, Department of Foreign Affairs, received letter by Terashima Nuneori concerning Sheppard's appointment as assistant adviser to the Japanese government upon international law

 

Letter, October 23, 1876

 

Johnson, Hiram Warren, 1866-1945

 

Letter, June 20, 1917

 

Johnson, N. M., re consular activities at Hankow

 

Letter (with transcript), January 3, 1875

 

Jordan, William H., 1849-

 

Letter, March 23, 1899

 

Li, Hung-chang, translation in Sheppard's handwriting

 

Letter, October 20, 1874

 

Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924

 

Letter, February 18, 1902

 

Low, F. C.; contains recollections concerning her father, F. F. Low

 

Letter, March 22, 1914

 

Martin, William Alexander Parsons, 1827-

 

Letter (with typed transcript), September 15, 1876

 

Meadows, John A. T., d. 1875

 

Letter (includes transcript), April 6, 1872

 

Montgomery, Douglass William, 1859-

 

Letter, September 22, 1925

See also: Chit-Chat Club

 

Moore, M. T.

 

Letter, July 28, 1874

 

Murray, David, 1830-1905

 

Letter, September 7, 1902

 

Nichols, William Ford, 1849-1924

 

Letter, October 25, 1909

 

Osborne, Antrim Edgar

 

Letter, n.d.

 

Pacific Commercial Museum, letter from Irving M. Scott

 

Letter, November 10, 1900

 

Porter, Robert Cushman

 

Letter, April 13, 1899

 

Priestley, Herbert Ingram, 1875-1944, enclosed copy of an article on Low

 

Letter, n.d.

 

Seward, Kate (Sherman), (Mrs. George Frederick Seward)

 

Letter, July 1, 1876

 

Sheppard, C. A.

 

Letter (includes typed transcript), August 1, [1873?]

 

Shepard, Morgan, 1865-1947

 

Letter, March 4, 1902

 

Stevens, Durham White, 1852-1908

 

Letter, February 25, 1902

 

Taussig, Rudolph Julius, 1861-1922

 

Letter, June 3, 1917

See also: Chit-Chat Club

 

Twinem, James

 

Letter, March 23, [187?]

 

U.S. Library of Congress, written by J. F. Jameson

 

Letter, December 21, 1928

 

Wilson, Henry, 1812-1875

 

Letter, February 1, 1873

 

Woodruff, Francis Eben, 1844-1914

 

Letter, March 25, 1875

 

Separately foldered correspondents

 

Adams, Ephraim Douglass, 1865-1930

 

17 letters, 1915-1925

Additional Note

Copies of his pamphlets, Why We Are At War With Germany also included (no. 1 missing).
 

Avery, Benjamin Parke, 1829-1875

 

17 letters, 1874-1875

Additional Note

Mainly transcripts.
 

Babcock, Orville Elias, 1835-1884

See Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 1822-1885

 

Bentley, Charles Harvey, 1869-1922

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Bingham, John Armor, 1815-1900

 

5 letters, 1872-1875

Additional Note

Some are transcripts only.
 

Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893

See U.S. Department of State

 

Cadwalader, John Lambert, 1837-1914

 

2 letters, 1877-1878

Additional Note

1877 letter written for U.S. Department of State.
 

Campbell, Donald Y.

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Chit-Chat Club

 

2 letters, 1914-1919

Additional Note

1914 letter signed by F. H. Wheelan, Charles A. Murdock, Donald Y. Campbell, Horace Davis, H. Moses Stephens, Rudolph Taussig, Bradford Leavitt, James Eaves, Henry M. Sherman, W. A. Doble, C. H. Bentley, James K. Moffitt, Louis T. Hengster, D. W. Montgomery, O. L. Elliott, E. P. Lewis, J. M. Stillman, M. W. Haskell, Payson J. Treat.
 

Clark, George Thomas, 1862- 1940

See Stanford University. Library

 

Cornabe, W. A.

 

3 letters, 1874-1875

Additional Note

With transcripts.
 

Davenport, James LeRoy, 1845-1914

See U.S. Bureau of Pensions

 

Davis, Horace, 1831-1916

 

2 letters, 1902-1916

See also: Chit-Chat Club

 

Davis, John Chandler Bancroft, 1822-1907

See U.S. Dep't of State

 

Doble, W. A.

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Elliott, Orrin Leslie, 1860-1940

 

2 letters, 1902 and n.d.

See also: Chit-Chat Club

 

Elmore, J. Federico

 

4 letters, 1874-1875

Additional Note

Peruvian minister to China.
 

Forbes, F. B.

 

3 letters, 1874

 

Fyffe, Joseph

 

2 letters, 1876-1877

Additional Note

Transcripts and photographs included.
 

Gundy, R.

 

7 letters, 1874-1875

Additional Note

Some for the North China Herald.
 

Haskell, Melon Woodman, 1863-1948

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Henderson, Victor Hendricks

See California. University. President

 

Hengstler, Louis Theodore, 1861-

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Hinckley, Frank Erastus, 1871-1950

 

2 letters, 1903

 

Holcombe, Chester, 1844-1912

 

6 letters, 1875-1876

Additional Note

With transcripts.
 

Jameson, John Franklin, 1859-1937

See U.S. Library of Congress

 

Leavitt, Bradford

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Lewis, Exum Percival, 1863-1926

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Lewton, Lewis, 1816-

 

40 letters, 1869-1879

Additional Note

Father-in-law. 1870-1871 letters are transcripts only. Letters from October 1878 written from Napa, California.
 

Low, Frederick Ferdinand, 1828-1894

 

66 letters, 1872-1874

Additional Note

Transcripts only of letters written while U.S. Minister to Peking and upon his return to San Francisco.
 

Lyman, Benjamin Smith, 1835-1920

 

2 letters, 1899-1902

 

McAdie, Alexander George, 1863-1943

 

5 letters, 1917-1927

 

McCartney, sir Samuel Halliday, 1833-1906

 

2 letters, 1875 and n.d.

 

McCormick, Frederick, 1870

 

3 letters, 1924-1925

 

Mills, Susan Lincoln (Tolman), 1826-1912

 

4 letters, 1900-1902

 

Mills, William Harrison, 1837-1907

 

3 letters, 1896-1906

 

Moffitt, James Kennedy, 1866?-1955

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Morgan, James

 

12 letters, 1874-1876

Additional Note

With typed transcripts.
 

Mori, Arinori Ju-goi, 1847-1890

 

2 letters, [1876-1880?]

Additional Note

Transcripts and photograph included.
 

Murdock, Charles Albert, 1841-1928

 

3 letters, 1899-1927, mainly re Chit-Chat Club.

Additional Note

Memorial on Sheppard's death included.

See also: Chit-Chat Club
 

Osborne, John Ball, 1868-

 

2 letters, 1902

 

Page, Thomas Walker, 1866-1937

 

3 letters, 1901

 

Pethick, William N., 1848-

 

16 letters, 1871-1874

Additional Note

Typed transcripts of most letters and E. T. Sheppard's comments on Pethick included.
 

Raaslow, W.

 

8 letters, 1874-1875

Additional Note

With typed transcripts.
 

Rankin, Henry William

 

8 letters, 1902-1923, re his work on Dr. McCartee.

 

Salter, A. E.

 

2 letters, 1874

Additional Note

Typed transcripts included.
 

Sandore, Peyton

 

2 letters, 1880-1892, re his experiences in Tokyo.

 

Scott, Irving Murray, 1837-1903

See Pacific Commercial Museum

 

Scott, Winfield, 1879-

See U.S. Bureau of Pensions

 

Seward, George Frederick, 1840-1910

 

71 letters, 1874-1904

Additional Note

Some, for 1874-1876, are transcripts only.
 

Sherman, Harry Mitchell, 1854-1921

See Chit-Chat Club

 

Smith, Pat R.

 

2 letters, 1874, from the North China Herald office.

 

Stanford University. Library

 

3 letters, 1923-1924, by George T. Clark

 

Stanwood, Edward B.

 

2 letters, 1917

Additional Note

re F. F. Low, 1856 Vigilance Committee
 

Stephens, Henry Morse, 1857-1919

 

2 letters, 1916-1917

Additional Note

Also included: inscribed copy of his article, Nationality and History.

See also: Chit-Chat Club
 

Stillman, John Maxson, 1852-1923

 

3 letters, 1902-1918

 

Treat, Payson Jackson, 1879-

 

18 letters, 1917-1927

See also: Chit-Chat Club

 

U.S. Bureau of Pensions

 

2 letters, 1903-1926, by J. L. Davenport and Winfield Scott

 

U.S. Department of State

 

4 letters, 1871-1881, by J. C. B. Davis and James G. Blaine.

Additional Note

1881 letter is copy only.

See also: Cadwalader, John Lambert
 

Watson, James Craig, 1839-1880

 

2 letters, 1874, with typed transcripts.

 

Wheelan, Fairfax Henry, 1856-1915

 

7 letters, 1899-1914

See also: Chit-Chat Club

 

Williams, Samuel Wells, 1812-1884

 

37 letters, 1873-1876.

Additional Note

Transcripts only (except in one letter, June 8, 1874). (Originals in Library of Congress)
 

Wood, Arthur B.

 

3 letters, 1873-1877