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Moses Sheppard Papers

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Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
RG5.137
Repository:
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Extent:
5 linear ft. (10 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item or series here], RG 5/137, Moses Sheppard Papers, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.
Date:
1794-1927 (inclusive)
Creator:
Sheppard, Moses, 1775-1857, Sheppard Asylum, Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879, Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, Maryland State Colonization Society, Dungan, Joshua, Ellicott, Thomas, 1779-1859, Gassett, Henry, 1813-1886, McGill, Samuel F. (Samuel Ford), Shoemaker, Nathan, 1788-1868, Tyson, Elisha, 1750-1824, Hallowell, Benjamin, 1799-1877, Jackson, John, 1809-1855, and Stewart, Joshua H.
Abstract:
Moses Sheppard (1775-1857) was a Quaker humanitarian and businessman of Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of Nathan and Sarah Shoemaker Sheppard, born outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After their property was confiscated during the Revolutionary War, the family settled in Maryland. Sheppard never married and devoted most of his life to a number of social reforms, including the treatment of the insane and the colonization movement. As a member of Baltimore Monthly Meeting, he was active in a number of committees, including that of Indian Affairs of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. He was also involved in the Maryland State and American Colonization Societies and believed strongly in colonization as a means of eliminating slavery in the U.S. At his death, his bequest established the Sheppard Asylum. The collection includes correspondence on the subjects of antislavery and colonization in Liberia, plans for a mental hospital, and on personal affairs. Also includes manuscripts relating to the Maryland State and Pennsylvania Colonization Societies and the Sheppard Asylum, material on the libel trial of William Lloyd Garrison, and other papers. Of particular note is the correspondence of Moses Sheppard with Henry Gassett of Boston on Freemasonry and with Benjamin F. Taylor of Loudon Co., Virginia, on anti-slavery issues and the "spiritual tyranny" of the Catholic Church. Other correspondents include Benjamin Hallowell, John Jackson, Joshua Dungan, Thomas Ellicott, Dr. Nathan Shoemaker, Elisha Tyson, and many others. Collection also includes a list of applicants for Liberia and correspondence from Joshua H. Stewart in Africa and Samuel Ford McGill, a Liberian physician who was sponsored by Sheppard.

Moses Sheppard (1775-1857) was a Quaker humanitarian and businessman of Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of Nathan and Sarah Shoemaker Sheppard, born outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After their property was confiscated during the Revolutionary War, the family settled in Maryland. Moses began work as an errand boy for Quaker merchant, John Mitchell; he eventually went into partnership with him and was also involved in a number of other business ventures. Sheppard never married and devoted most of his life to a number of social reforms, including the treatment of the insane and the colonization movement. As a member of Baltimore Monthly Meeting, he was active in a number of committees, including that of Indian Affairs of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. He was also involved in the Maryland State and American Colonization Societies and believed strongly in colonization as a means of eliminating slavery in the U.S. At his death, his bequest established the Sheppard Asylum.

The collection includes correspondence on the subjects of antislavery and colonization in Liberia, plans for a mental hospital, and on personal affairs. Also includes manuscripts relating to the Maryland State and Pennsylvania Colonization Societies and the Sheppard Asylum, material on the libel trial of William Lloyd Garrison, and other papers. Of particular note is the correspondence of Moses Sheppard with Henry Gassett of Boston on Freemasonry and with Benjamin F. Taylor of Loudon Co., Virginia, on anti-slavery issues and the "spiritual tyranny" of the Catholic Church. Other correspondents include Benjamin Hallowell, John Jackson, Joshua Dungan, Thomas Ellicott, Dr. Nathan Shoemaker, Elisha Tyson, and many others. Collection also includes a list of applicants for Liberia and correspondence from Joshua H. Stewart in Africa and Samuel Ford McGill, a Liberian physician who was sponsored by Sheppard.

The collection is divided into six series:

  1. Biographical
  2. Correspondence
  3. Business papers
  4. Writings by Moses Sheppard
  5. Social concerns
  6. Reference material

Donor: Sheppard Asylum, 1958

Donor: Bliss Forbush, 1958-1972

The collection was given by Bliss Forbush, Director of Friends School, Baltimore, and by the Sheppard Asylum.

See also:

  1. Moses Sheppard, Quaker Philanthropist of Baltimore, by Bliss Forbush. BX7796.S601F6

The following material, originally part of the collection, was removed and integrated into appropriate FHL files.

  1. The African Repository and Colonial Journal. (Colonial Journal dropped from title after Aug. 1850 issue) Jan. 1848 to March 1853, with gaps).
  2. The Friends' Weekly Intelligencer. 5/3/1845 to 3/10/1849, with gaps.
  3. The Liberator, 1/1/1831
  4. The Pennsylvania Freeman. 3/11/1847, 4/11/1850 to 10/6/1853, with gaps (1851 missing)

Subject
Place

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
FHL staff
Finding Aid Date
1958
Sponsor
Encoding made possible by a grant by the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Friends Historical Library believes all of the items in this collection to be in the Public Domain in the United States, and is not aware of any restrictions on their use. However, the user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status before reproducing. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/.

Collection Inventory

General biographical papers.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

Bound volume containing mss. and newspaper accounts of Moses Sheppard's life, his plans for a mental hospital, and descriptions of the buildings and grounds of the Sheppard Asylum in process of construction. Also, copies of correspondence received by Sheppard from persons seeking charity upon reading of his large bequest to the hospital.

Physical Description

bound volume

List of visitors to Sheppard during the last three months of his life.
Box 1
Picture of Sheppard.
Box 1
Inventory: Moses Shepherd [sic], 1753.
Box 1
Visit of a previously unknown relative, n.d.
Box 1
Physical Description

ms.

Clipping re: Geo. S. Sheppard., n.d.
Box 1
Physical Description

with picture

Miscellaneous notes containing mention of Elisha Tyson.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

See accompanying notes by Bliss Forbush.

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1801-1927.
Box 1
Correspondence with Joshua Dungan, 1844-1850.
Box 1
Letters to Thomas Ellicott, 1840-1850.
Box 2
Typewritten copies of letters to Thomas Ellicott, 1841-1850.
Box 2
Correspondence with Henry Gassett, on Anti-Masonry, 1847-1852.
Box 2
Letters, 1832-1856.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

With some letters by Dempsey R. Fletcher, 1845-1854

Physical Description

3 folders

Photocopies of letters, 1832-1856.
Box 2
Physical Description

3 folders

Ms. volume, copies of letters, 1835-1838.
Box 2
Photocopy of ms. volume of letters, 1835-1838.
Box 2
Bound ms. vol., copies of letters, 1833-1853.
Box 3
Correspondence with Nathan Shoemaker, 1835-1855.
Box 3
Correspondence with and about Nathan Tyson, 1846-1849.
Box 3
Correspondence with Benjamin F. Taylor, 1842-1858.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

re: Catholicism, slavery, etc.

Physical Description

in folder

Invitations: personal and business.
ms. copies of letters by Moses Sheppard to various recipients, 1851-1855.
Box 3
Physical Description

bound volume

Physical Description

2 large bound vols.

Volume 1, miscellaneous correspondence, ca. 1828-1856.
Box 3a
Scope and Contents

Includes letter to Henry Ward Beecher re: old ring sent from Liberia by S.F. McGill for Beecher's sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe (p. 274); also, essays by Moses Sheppard on such subjects as the Laws of Nature, as the basis for Protestant Christianity: misc. articles such as Puritan marriage ceremony; Papal Bull of Leo X conferring on Henry VIII the title of "Defender of the Faith;" allegory of "Gonzalmo;" the miseries of walking in city streets; genealogy of Moses Sheppard.

Volume 2, miscellaneous correspondence, Ms. copies of letters with various authors and recipients, 1854-1857.
Box 3b
See also Ser. 4: writings by Moses Sheppard.

Business papers and financial statements of partnership with John Mitchell, 1794-1819.
Box 4
Correspondence and legislation concerning Tobacco Warehouse, 1820-1827.
Box 4
Warehouse rental dispute with Elisha Tyson and other papers concerning E. Tyson., 1821-1822.
Box 4
Notices of meetings of business organizations of which Sheppard was a director, 1819-1830.
Box 4
Scope and Contents

Includes Savings Bank of Baltimore.

Baltimore Fire Insurance, 1816-1833.
Box 4
Baltimore and Fredericktown Railway, 1819-1822.
Box 4
Maryland Penitentiary, 1817-1824.
Box 4
Union Mfg. Co. notices, 1823-1846.
Box 4
Maryland State Colonization Society, 1831-1841.
Box 4
Miscellaneous notices of meetings, 1818-1848.
Box 4
Miscellaneous deeds, land descriptions and sales, wills, etc., 1713-1844.
Box 4
Receipts, promissory notes, certificates of stock, etc., 1809-1862.
Box 4

Physical Description

ms. essays

"Essay.".
Box 4
"Mausoleums, Monuments, Tombstones.".
Box 4
"Rambles in Green Mount.".
Box 4
See also Ser. 2, for essays included in 2 large bound volumes of miscellaneous correspondence.

Material on Sheppard asylum, n.d.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Includes annual report for 1963-1965.

Physical Description

2 folders

Mss. relating to libel trial of Wm. Lloyd Garrison.
Box 5
Bound volume of lists of applicants for Liberia.
Box 5
List of contributors to funds.
Box 5
Titles of books and pamphlets on Sheppard concerns, names of persons to whom copies were given.
Box 5

Clippings and other printed material.
Box 5
"The Epistle from the Yearly Meeting held in London 1784. To the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings of Friends in Great Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere.", 1784-1792.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Same document included for 1785, 1786, 1790, 1791, 1792.

"An Epistle from the Yearly Meeting held in Phila... 1821.".
Box 5
"The Epistle from the Yearly Meeting held in London...1824.", 1824-1831.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Same document included for 1827, 1831.

"Epistle from Genessee Yearly Meeting of Women Friends...1842.".
Box 5
An Appeal to that Society of Friends which holds its Yearly Meetings at Cherry St.. Phila., Merrihew, etc.
Box 5
Sixth Annual Report of the Friends' Association of Phila. for the Aid and Elevation of the Freedman. Phila., 1870.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Stuckey, printer.

James Panell, Tract Association of Friends.
Box 5
A Confession of Faith, 1858.
Box 5
Physical Description

copy

Plan to Improve the Condition of the Indians.
Box 5
Dissertation by John Jackson.
Box 5
Ground Plan of Friend Asylum near Frankford, Pa.
Box 5
Catalogue of books on single subjects.
Box 5
Pamphlets.
Box 6
Scope and Contents

See list in Box 6 for titles of pamphlets filed in RG 5 as well as titles and location of those pamphlets filed elsewhere in FHL.

The Christian Rationalist, 9/2/1848-11/18/1848 with gaps.
Box 7
The Christian Register, 4/29/1848 & 10/7/1848.
Box 7
The Colonization Herald, 2/1853-1/1857 with gaps.
Box 7
The Genius of Universal Emancipation, 7/1830.
Box 7
The North Star, 5/26/1848, 9/8/1848.
Box 7
The Spirit Messenger, 8/10/1850.
Box 7
The Spirit of the Age, 7/7/1849-4/27/1850 with gaps.
Box 7
The Univercoelum and Spiritual Philosopher, 1/6/1848-6/30/1849 with gaps.
Box 8
Scrapbook of Clippings on a variety of subjects.
Box 9

Print, Suggest