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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 3.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 350 items) |
| Abstract | Shaffer family of Terrebonne Parish, La., included William A. Shaffer, sugar planter; his sons Thomas J. (1843-1915) and John J. (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. The collection includes Plantation Journals, account books, scrapbooks, and financial and legal Papers, chiefly documenting Shaffer family sugar plantations. The journals contain brief daily records of agricultural activities, business transactions, and personal events, 1825-1846 and 1876-1918 (with occasional gaps). 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. The financial and legal papers date chiefly from the 1830s to the 1850s and include bills of sale for land and slaves. |
| Creator | Shaffer, William A., 1797-1887. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
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.
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Scope and Content
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 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.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Financial and Legal Papers, 1818-1895 and undated.
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.
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Series 2. Volumes, 1825-1921 and undated.
Arrangement: by type, then chronological.
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Subseries 2.1 Plantation Records, 1825-1918.
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Subseries 2.1.1. Plantation Records of William A. Shaffer, 1825-1886.
| Folder 9 |
Volume 1, 1825-1848 #00657, Subseries: "2.1.1. Plantation Records of William A. Shaffer, 1825-1886." Folder 9Lists 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. |
| Folder 10 |
Volume 2, 1867-1886 #00657, Subseries: "2.1.1. Plantation Records of William A. Shaffer, 1825-1886." Folder 10Lists 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. |
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Subseries 2.1.2 Plantation Records of John J. Shaffer, 1876-1906.
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.
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Subseries 2.1.3 Plantation Records of John Dalton Shaffer, 1890-1905.
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 |
Volume 30, 1890-1905 #00657, Subseries: "2.1.3 Plantation Records of John Dalton Shaffer, 1890-1905." Folder 38 |
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Subseries 2.1.4 Other Plantation Records, 1910-1918.
Miscellaneous plantation records. The identity of individuals who kept the records is not certainly known; presumably, they were members of the Shaffer family.
| Folder 39 |
Volume 31, 1910 #00657, Subseries: "2.1.4 Other Plantation Records, 1910-1918." Folder 39Time book, dated 1910, containing records of workmen's time and miscellaneous notes on property owned. |
| Folder 40 |
Volume 32, 1912-1913 #00657, Subseries: "2.1.4 Other Plantation Records, 1910-1918." Folder 40Plantation record, 1912-1913, containing notations on planting, expenses of sugar cane production, and supplies, at Ardoyne Plantation, Magnolia Plantation, and Crescent Farm. |
| Folder 41 |
Volume 33, 1918 [1879-1901] #00657, Subseries: "2.1.4 Other Plantation Records, 1910-1918." Folder 41Volume is titled "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. |
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Subseries 2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919.
Eight scrapbooks that belonged to the Shaffer family, several of which were owned by John Dalton Shaffer.
| Folder 42 |
Volume 34, 1875-1880 #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 42Volume 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. |
| Folder 43 |
Volume S-35, 1876-1899 #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 43Volume 35, 1876-1899, contains articles and stories taken from Munseys and other magazines. One concerns the Dreyfus case. |
| Folder 44 |
Volume 36, 1884-1919 #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 44Volume 36, 1884-1919, contains newspaper clippings dealing with sugar legislation and race relations. |
| Folder 45 |
Volume 37, 1905-1916 #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 45Volume 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. |
| Folder 46 |
Volume 37, (loose enclosures) #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 46 |
| Folder 47 |
Volume 38, 1906-1918 #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 47Volume 38, 1906-1918, contains letters and newspaper clippings dealing chiefly with the political career of John D. Shaffer. |
| Folder 48 |
Volume 39, 1918-1921 #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 48Volume 39, 1918-1921, contains clippings from newspapers and other publications relating to New Orleans and giving data about Louisiana. The volume is labeled "Ardoyne Plantation, 1918," and the items are pasted over accounts. |
| Folder 49 |
Volume 40, 1919 #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 49Contains 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 50 |
Volume 41, 1919 #00657, Subseries: "2.2 Scrapbooks, 1875-1919." Folder 50Contains newspaper clippings dealing with the Stubbs-Parker campaign for governor of Louisiana in 1919. It appears to have been kept by John Dalton Shaffer. |
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Subseries 2.3 Miscellaneous Account Books, 1921 and undated.
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.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Ellen Strong, 1964; Shonra Newman, August 1990
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
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