Manuscript Department
The Library at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#657
William A. Shaffer Papers
Inventory
Abstract: Shaffer family of Terrebonne Parish, La.,
including William A. Shaffer (1797-1887), sugar planter; his sons
Thomas J. Shaffer (1843-1915) and John J. Shaffer (fl.
1876-1906), sugar planters and Confederate veterans; and John
Dalton Shaffer (fl. 1875-1919), sugar planter, lawyer, and state
senator. The Shaffers' plantations, all in Terrebonne Parish,
were Crescent Farm, Magnolia, Anna, and Ardoyne.
Plantation journals, account books, scrapbooks,
and various types of financial and legal papers, chiefly
documenting the operation of sugar plantations owned by members
of the Shaffer family. The plantation journals contain brief
daily records of agricultural activities, business transactions,
and personal events, 1825-1846 and 1876-1918 (with occasional
gaps) at the Shaffer plantations, Crescent Farm, Magnolia, Anna,
and Ardoyne, all in Terrebonne Parish, La. A diary of John
Dalton Shaffer includes records of treatment of sick Italian
workers in 1905. The scrapbooks provide some information on
family members, particularly on John Dalton Shaffer's career as a
state senator and Democratic Party leader, 1906-1918, and on
Thomas J. and John J. Shaffer's involvement in Confederate
veterans associations, 1905-1911. They also include clippings on
sugar legislation and the race question, 1884-1919, New Orleans,
and the Louisiana gubernatorial campaign of 1919. The financial
and legal papers date chiefly from the 1830s to the 1850s, and
include bills of sale for land and slaves.
Index Terms:
Ardoyne Plantation (Terrebonne Parish, La.).
Diaries--Louisiana.
Crescent Farm Plantation (Terrebonne Parish, La.).
Democratic Party (La.)--History.
Farm journals--Louisiana. [local heading]
Italian Americans--Employment--Louisiana.
Louisiana--Agriculture [local heading].
Louisiana--Politics and government--1865-1950.
Magnolia Plantation (Terrebonne Parish, La.).
Plantation owners--Louisiana.
Plantations--Louisiana.
Scrap-books--Louisiana.
Shaffer, John Dalton, fl. 1875-1919.
Shaffer, John J., fl. 1876-1906.
Shaffer, Thomas J., 1843-1915.
Shaffer, William A., 1797-1887.
Slave bills of sale--Louisiana.
Sugar growing--Louisiana.
Sugarcane industry--Louisiana.
Terrebonne Parish (La.)--Social life and customs--
19th century.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Veterans--
Louisiana.
Size: About 350 items (3.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from John D. Shaffer, Jr., before 1940.
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by authors of items in these papers or their
descendants as stipulated by United States copyright law.
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
William A. Shaffer (1797-1887) was a sugar planter who
owned Crescent Farm, a plantation in Terrebonne Parish,
Louisiana. He married Emilie Bourgeois (fl. 1830s). It is
believed that he had two sons: Thomas J. Shaffer (1843-1915), who
owned Anna Plantation in Terrebonne Parish, and John J. Shaffer
(fl. 1876-1906), who owned Magnolia Plantation, also in
Terrebonne Parish. Both Thomas and John served in the
Confederate Army and were subsequently heavily involved in
Confederate veterans associations. John Dalton Shaffer (fl.
1875-1919), is believed to have been the son of John J. Shaffer.
He was a lawyer, state senator, and the owner of Ardoyne
Plantation, near Houma, in Terrebonne Parish.
Collection Overview
This collection chiefly documents the operation of
plantations owned by the Shaffer family. Very little personal or
family material is included. The collection includes forty-four
volumes, chiefly plantation records and scrapbooks, of William A.
Shaffer, John J. Shaffer, and John Dalton Shaffer. The
management of the Shaffer's sugar plantations is heavily
documented, particularly Magnolia Plantation, for which John J.
Shaffer kept annual plantation journals from 1876 to 1906.
The loose papers in this collection, almost all of
which are financial and legal items, belonged primarily to
William A. Shaffer and include mortgages, deeds, and bills of
sale for land and slaves, documenting how Shaffer acquired his
property. Also included are other bills, receipts, promissory
notes, checks, tax returns, and licenses.
The collection also includes eight scrapbooks of
newspaper clippings, a few letters, and occasional items of other
types. The scrapbooks provide a some information on family
members, particularly on John Dalton Shaffer's career as a state
senator and Democratic leader, 1906-1918, and on Thomas J. and
John J. Shaffer's involvement in Confederate veterans
associations, 1905-1911. They also include clippings on sugar
legislation and the race question, 1884-1919, New Orleans, and
the Louisiana gubernatorial campaign of 1919.
The arrangement scheme is as follows:
Series 1. Financial and Legal Papers
Series 2. Volumes
Subseries 2.1. Plantation Records
Subseries 2.1.1. Plantation Records of William A.
Shaffer
Subseries 2.1.2. Plantation Records of John J.
Shaffer
Subseries 2.1.3. Plantation Records of John Dalton
Shaffer
Subseries 2.1.4. Other Plantation Records
Subseries 2.2. Scrapbooks
Subseries 2.3. Miscellaneous Account Books
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Financial and Legal Papers
1818-1895 and undated. About 300 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Financial and legal documents, and a few business
letters, relating chiefly to William A. Shaffer and his business
affairs. Items dated 1818-1857 are chiefly deeds, mortgages, and
bills of sale for land and slaves of William A. Shaffer and other
individuals apparently unrelated to the Shaffer family. Included
in 1844 and 1845 are deeds for land purchased by William A.
Shaffer under an act of Congress titled "An Act Making Further
Provision for the Sale of the Public Lands."
A few pieces of business correspondence are included
after 1864, as well as documents that belonged to Thomas A.
Shaffer, John J. Shaffer, and John Dalton Shaffer. Also included
in 1885 is a subscription sheet for a canal to be built off Bayou
Black, near William A. Shaffer's plantation. The sheet contains
a list of signatures and amounts of money to be paid by William
A. Shaffer and his neighbors. In 1886 there is a list of
quotations of cane prices.
There also is a folder of bills, receipts, promissory
notes, and checks, 1846-1887, and a folder of tax returns, bills,
receipts, and licenses, 1860-1887, that include data on federal,
state, and parish taxes paid by the Shaffers.
Folder 1 1818-1836
2 1837-1839
3 1840-1849
4 1850-1857
5 1864-1895
6 Undated
7 Bills, receipts, promissory notes, and checks,
1846-187 and undated
8 Tax returns, bills, receipts, and licenses, 1860-1887
and undated
Series 2. Volumes
1825-1921 and undated. 44 items.
Arrangement: by type, then chronological.
Subseries 2.1 Plantation Records
1825-1918. 32 items.
Subseries 2.1.1. Plantation Records of William A. Shaffer
1825-1886. 2 items.
Volume 1, 1825-1848, lists transactions of money,
goods, and labor made on an unnamed plantation. There are
occasional entries about planting and other work performed.
Though not entirely clear, it is believed that the volume
belonged to William A. Shaffer.
Volume 2, 1867-1886, lists cash accounts for Crescent
Farm, owned by William A. Shaffer. See Volume 37 for records of
expenses for Crescent Farm, 1894-1895. See also Volume 33.
Folder 9 Vol. 1, 1825-1848
10 Vol. 2, 1867-1886
Subseries 2.1.2 Plantation Records of John J. Shaffer
1876-1906. 26 items.
Annual plantation records kept by John J. Shaffer for
Magnolia Plantation, Terrebonne County, Louisiana, which he
purchased in 1876. Shaffer wrote about the weather, crops, sugar
production, and hiring hands to work on the plantation.
Occasionally he mentioned personal and family happenings, such as
his father's birthday and his own illnesses. See also Volume 33.
Folder 11 Vol. 3, 1876
12 Vol. 4, 1877
13 Vol. 5, 1878
14 Vol. 6, 1879
15 Vol. 7, 1880
16 Vol. 8, 1882
17 Vol. 9, 1883
18 Vol. 10, 1884
19 Vol. 11, 1885
20 Vol. 12, 1886
21 Vol. 13, 1887
22 Vol. 14, 1889
23 Vol. 15, 1890
24 Vol. 16, 1891
25 Vol. 17, 1892
26 Vol. 18, 1895
27 Vol. 19, 1896
28 Vol. 20, 1897
29 Vol. 21, 1898
30 Vol. 22, 1899
31 Vol. 23, 1900
32 Vol. 24, 1901
33 Vol. 25, 1902
34 Vol. 26, 1903
35 Vol. 27, 1904
36 Vol. 28, 1905
37 Vol. 29, 1906
Subseries 2.1.3 Plantation Records of John Dalton Shaffer
1890-1905. 1 item.
A diary, 1890, that belonged to John Dalton Shaffer of
Ardoyne Plantation near Houma, Louisiana. In the front are
several pages listing ticket sales for an unknown event. In the
back is a record of the treatment of sick Italian workers dated
1905. There was apparently an outbreak of yellow fever in which
a number of the workers died. See Volume 39 for later Ardoyne
accounts.
Folder 38 Vol. 30, 1890-1905
Subseries 2.1.4 Other Plantation Records
1910-1918. 3 items.
Miscellaneous plantation records. The identity of
individuals who kept the records is not certainly known;
presumably, they were members of the Shaffer family.
Volume 31 is a time book, dated 1910, containing
records of workmen's time and miscellaneous notes on property
owned.
Volume 32 is a plantation record, 1912-1913, containing
notations on planting, expenses of sugar cane production, and
supplies, at Ardoyne Plantation, Magnolia Plantation, and
Crescent Farm.
Volume 33, entitled "Sugar House Time Book," and dated
December 1918, actually contains notes on the annual production
of sugar at Magnolia Plantation and Crescent Farm, 1879-1901.
Folder 39 Vol. 31, 1910
40 Vol. 32, 1912-1913
41 Vol. 33, 1918 [1879-1901]
Subseries 2.2 Scrapbooks
1875-1919. 8 items.
Eight scrapbooks that belonged to the Shaffer family,
several of which were owned by John Dalton Shaffer.
Volume 34, 1875-1880, appears to have been kept by John
Dalton Shaffer while he was attending the University of the South
and the Law Department of the University of Louisiana. It
contains programs for commencement exercises, invitations to
various events, a few pieces of correspondence, and newspaper
clippings dealing with strange stories, poetry, events, and
places in New Orleans.
Volume 35, 1876-1899, contains articles and stories
taken from Munseys and other magazines. One concerns the Dreyfus
case.
Volume 36, 1884-1919, contains newspaper clippings
dealing with sugar legislation and race relations.
Volume 37, 1905-1916, contains items concerning
Confederate veterans organizations. Included are newspaper
clippings on the organizations and various members, reunion
programs and badges, and notes from speeches given at reunions,
all of which are pasted in an account book of the expenses for
the operation of Crescent Farm, 1894-1895.
Volume 38, 1906-1918, contains letters and newspaper
clippings dealing chiefly with the political career of John D.
Shaffer.
Volume 39, 1918-1921, contains clippings from
newspapers and other publications relating to New Orleans and
giving data about Louisiana. The volume is labelled "Ardoyne
Plantation, 1918," and the items are pasted over accounts.
Volumes 40 and 41, September-December 1919, contain
newspaper clippings dealing with the Stubbs-Parker campaign for
governor of Louisiana in 1919. It appears to have been kept by
John Dalton Shaffer.
Folder 42 Vol. 34, 1875-1880
43 Vol. 35, 1876-1899
44 Vol. 36, 1884-1919
45 Vol. 37, 1905-1916
46 Vol. 37 (loose enclosures)
47 Vol. 38, 1906-1918
48 Vol. 39, 1918-1921
49 Vol. 40, 1919
50 Vol. 41, 1919
Subseries 2.3 Miscellaneous Account Books
1921 and undated. 3 items.
Three volumes containing miscellaneous accounts.
Volume 42, dated 1921, contains farm notes, lists of houses and
lots, auto expenses, and miscellaneous accounts. Volumes 43 and
44 are undated and contain miscellaneous accounts.
Folder 51 Vol. 42, 1921
52 Vol. 43, Undated
53 Vol. 44, Undated
SHELF LIST
Box 1 Series 1. (folders 1-8)
Series 2.1.1. (folders 9-10)
Box 2 Series 2.1.2. (folders 11-19)
Box 3 Series 2.1.2. (folders 20-26)
Box 4 Series 2.1.2. (folders 27-36)
Box 5 Series 2.1.2. (folder 37)
Series 2.1.3. (folder 38)
Series 2.1.4. (folders 39-41)
Series 2.2 (folders 42-43)
Box 6 Series 2.2 (folders 44-48)
Box 7 Series 2.2 (folders 49-50)
Series 2.3 (folders 51-53)
Items separated:
OP-657/1-3
Volume S-35