Zachariah T. Shugart Papers: Finding Aid mssShugart

Brooke M. Black
The Huntington Library
October 2020
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org

Note

Finding aid last updated on March 29, 2022, by Maggie Hughes.


Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library
Title: Zachariah T. Shugart papers
Creator: Shugart, Zachariah T., 1805-1881
Identifier/Call Number: mssShugart
Physical Description: 1.0 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1838-approximately 1900
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

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.

Conditions Governing Use

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.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

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

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.

Scope and Contents

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.

Processing Information

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

Existence and Location of Copies

This collection has been digitized, with the exception of the contents of Box 1, Folder 2. The digital reproductions are available in the Huntington Digital Library. 

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Abolitionists -- Michigan
African Americans -- Michigan
Antislavery movements -- Michigan
Champion Hill, Battle of, Miss., 1863 -- Personal narratives
Drugstores -- Iowa
Fugitive slaves -- United States
Quakers -- Michigan
Underground Railroad -- Michigan
Cass County (Mich.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Michigan -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Middle West -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
United States -- History -- 1815-1861 -- Sources
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
Account books -- Michigan -- 19th century
Diaries -- Iowa -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Photographs -- Middle West -- 19th century
Shugart, Joseph R., 1842-1864
Shugart, Kelita Davis, 1829-1879
Confederate States of America. Army. Virginia Cavalry Battalion, 43rd
United States. Army. Iowa Infantry Regiment, 28th (1862-1865)

Box 3

Account book 1838-1853

Scope and Contents

Shugart's account book he kept from 1838 to 1853. Entries list land acquisitions, general financial expenses and income, the opening and operating of a boarding house, which also served as an Underground Railroad station, and the sales of medicine. The ledger also lists expenses for the education of his children, the medical bills and funeral expenses for his daughter Malinda who died at sixteen after a long illness. On page 96 of the volume, Shugart began his 10-page list of names of 137 enslaved men, women, and children who he and his associate Stephen Bogue helped escape to Canada.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Due to the fragile nature of the account book, it is restricted. Access by curatorial permission only. Please use digital copy on the Huntington's Digital Library.
Box 1, Folder 2

Diaries and Bible 1853-1880

Scope and Contents

The diaries consist of two volumes kept by Zachariah Shugart. The first is a diary Shugart kept from January to September 1867 while running a drugstore in Belle Plaine, Iowa. The second diary, kept from September to October 1880, documents a trip Shugart took to Ohio and Indiana. The Bible is a pocket edition of the New Testament published in 1853. It has a pencil note on flyleaf, in Shugart's hand: "A. Shugart, [illegible word] Bureau Co., Ill." and "Princeton, Ill. Bureau Co."
Box 1, Folder 3

Letters, documents, and ephemera 1851-1893

Scope and Contents

This folder contains seven letters written by Joseph R. Shugart to his parents from 1862-1864 during his Civil War service. One letter is written on pictorial letter sheet featuring: "Naval Combat off Fort Wright." The letter of May 27, 1863 describes the battle of Champion Hill, in which Joseph was slightly wounded. The last letter, dated October 17, 1864 (two days before Joseph's death), talks about the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry, better known as Mosby's Raiders. Enclosed with the letter is a swatch of fabric, described as "a piece of our old banner." This folder also contains a portion of a copy of an unknown Civil War soldier's diary, May 1864, a land indenture between Levi Shugart and his father Zachariah, September 1851, an invoice of Zachariah T. Shugart to Hope Lodge, May 1873, some ephemera, and the newspaper clipping listing the death of Joseph R. Shugart at the Battle of Cedar Creek, October 1864.
 

Joseph R. Shugart letter to parents 1862 November-1864 March

Scope and Contents

Incomplete.
 

Joseph R. Shugart letter to parents 1863 February 18

Scope and Contents

With typescript.
 

Joseph R. Shugart letter to parents 1863 May 27

Scope and Contents

With typescript.
 

Joseph R. Shugart letter to parents 1864 February 23

Scope and Contents

With typescript.
 

Joseph R. Shugart letter to parents 1864 October 17

Scope and Contents

With typescript and cloth square from banner. Written two days before Joseph R. Shugart's death.
 

Joseph R. Shugart letter to parents undated

Scope and Contents

On illustrated lettersheet "Naval Combat off Fort Wright." On verso: sketch of battle. Incomplete.
 

Joseph R. Shugart letter to parents undated

 

A portion of a Soldiers diary 1864 May 13

Scope and Contents

Copy of typescript. Found with Shugart material. Author unknown.
 

Indenture between Levi H. Shugart and Zachariah T. Shugart 1851 September 1

 

Invoice of Zachariah T. Shugart to Hope Lodge 1873 May 1

 

Invitations 1878-1879

 

Newspaper clipping listing the death of Joseph R. Shugart, Battle of Cedar Creek 1864 October

 

Ephemera 1863-1893

Box 1, Folder 4-5

Photographs 1860s-approximately 1900

Scope and Contents

The 46 loose photographs in the collection are mostly unidentified and undated. The dates for the photographs are the 1860s to approximately 1900. It is assumed the individuals in the photographs are Shugart family members. There is one daguerreotype of Zachariah T. Shugart. There are two tintypes of unknown men (one standing with a bicycle). The rest are cabinet cards by various photography studios, mostly in Iowa. The photography studios heavily represented are: Boyd, Des Moines, Iowa; J. L. Hudson and Hudson's Gallery, Tama City, Iowa; J. S. Moore, Toledo, Iowa; J. B. Scholl, Chicago; and I. L. Townsend, Iowa Falls, Iowa.
Box 2

Photograph album 1850s-1890s

Scope and Contents

The photograph album contains 42 cabinet cards of Shugart and Overturf families, from the 1850s to the 1890s. Only a few are identified and none are dated. It looks like two cabinet cards fell out at some point and the edges around some of the cabinet cards are ripped, making it possible for more to come loose.