Zachariah T. Shugart papers, 1838-approximately 1900

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Summary

Creators:
Shugart, Zachariah T., 1805-1881
Abstract:
Papers of Zachariah Taylor Shugart (1805-1881), Quaker abolitionist and an operator of the Quaker line of the Underground Railroad in Cass County, Michigan.
Extent:
1.0 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Zachariah T. Shugart papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection of Shugart family papers and photographs dating from 1838 to approximately 1900, most likely preserved by Shugart's widow, Suzanna, and the family of his daughter Lucinda. The collection includes an account book kept by Zachariah T. Shugart from 1838 to 1853, which contains a 10-page list of names of 137 enslaved men, women, and children who he, and his associate Stephen Bogue, helped escape to Canada. There are also two diaries by Shugart, Civil War letters by Joseph Shugart, one land indenture, a pocket New Testament, 46 photographs, a photograph album, ephemera and newspaper clippings.

Biographical / historical:

Zachariah Taylor Shugart was born in December 1805 in Surry County, North Carolina to Quakers George Shugart and Mary Shugart. In the 1820s, the Shugarts left North Carolina for Indiana over the issue of slavery. The family first settled in Wayne and then Randolph County, Indiana. There Zachariah married fellow Quaker Suzanna Harris. Here their first four children were born: Levi, born in 1827; Kelita, born in 1829; Malinda in 1834; and Lucinda, born in 1840. Shortly after Lucinda's birth, the Shugarts left Indiana and moved to Cass County, Michigan, where their youngest child Joseph was born in 1842. In the 1840s and 1850s, Shugart operated a stretch of the Quaker line of the Underground Railroad. His brothers John and George who lived in Indiana, were also conductors of the local line. In 1854, the Shugarts moved to Iowa, first living in Belle Plaine and then Irving. Late in life, Zachariah Shugart became a Universalist. He died in Irving in January 1881. Levi Shugart returned to Indiana and became a farmer and married Nancy Overturf. Kelita Shugart studied medicine and ran a successful medical practice and a drugstore in Belle Plaine. In the 1860s, with his wife Martha Reames, Kelita moved to Colorado and later to Southern California. The youngest son, Joseph, enlisted in the 28th Regiment of Iowa Infantry in August 1862. He was killed in the battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864.

Acquisition information:
Purchased by William Reese Company on behalf of The Huntington from Swann Galleries Sale 2517, Lot 205, September 26, 2019.
Processing information:

The collection was processed by Brooke M. Black in October 2020.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Box 3: due to fragility of Shugart's account book, it is restricted. Access by curatorial permission only. Please use digital copy on the Huntington's Digital Library.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Zachariah T. Shugart papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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