Description
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.
Background
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.
Extent
Number of containers: 3 boxes, 3 cartons, 1 oversize folder
Linear feet: 5
Restrictions
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.
Availability
Collection is open for research.