Call Number:

MC.975.01.056

Repository:

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections

Extent:

0.04 linear ft. (1 volume)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Achilles Pugh journal (HC.MC.975.01.056), Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

Date:

1869

Creator:

Pugh, Achilles

Form:

Diaries and travel literature

Abstract:

Journal entries describe Pugh's travel from St. Louis, Missouri, to Lawrence, Kansas, Quaker meetings attended, meetings with "Indian agents" and officials, and visits to tribes and make payments.

Achilles Pugh (1805-1876) was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1805, to Thomas Pugh and Esther Gatchell. Pugh's father died when he was young and his mother moved the family to Ohio shortly after. In 1832, Pugh married Anna Maria Davis, and the couple had five children: Ester Pugh (1834), John Davis Pugh (1838), Mary Taylor Pugh (1840), Rachel Pugh (1843), and Achilles Henry Pugh (1846).

Achilles Pugh was the publisher of the "Philanthropist," which was active in the anti-slavery movement. In 1838, its offices were ransacked and in 1844, its presses and furniture were destroyed by a mob of slavery sympathizers.

The Associated Committee Central of the Central Superintendency assigned Achilles Pugh, along with Thomas Wistar and John Butler, to visit the Indian Agencies in Kansas. Achilles Pugh and John Butler went on to visit the "Indian Territory" near the Texas border.

Pugh died October 31, 1876, in Cincinnati at the age of 72.

This collection is comprised of the single volume of Pugh's journal, entitled "On his visit to the Western Indians." The first pages of the volume provide records of destinations and the miles traveled, as well as a list of names and their title/position or affiliation with a certain organization or Indigenous tribe. Also lists tribal populations according to the most recent census data.

Entries describe Pugh's travel from St. Louis, Missouri, to Lawrence, Kansas, Quaker meetings attended, meetings with "Indian agents" and officials, and visits to tribes and make payments.

The last page is a copied "Article of Agreement between the Shawnees and Cherokees."