Title: Moffat-Hughes Family Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1807-1912

Creators:

• Moffat, John Shaw, 1814-1903
• Hughes, Thomas, 1848-1912

Call Number: River Falls Mss K

Quantity: 3.8 cubic feet (5 archives boxes and 7 volumes)

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives and Area Research Center, Chalmer Davee Library, University of Wisconsin-River Falls; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-River Falls, Chalmer Davee Library / River Falls Area Research Ctr. (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of the pioneer family of John Shaw Moffat who settled at Hudson, Wisconsin, in 1854 and of his son-in-law Thomas Hughes who joined Moffat in his law practice and business ventures. The collection includes letters of Moffat's father Samuel on New York land speculations, the personal correspondence of his wife Nancy Bennet Moffat, 1863 letters from his daughter Mary while a teacher in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, and materials on his father-in-law Phineas Bennet and early steamboat inventions. The bound volumes include the store accounts of John Moffat after he settled in Hudson; the records of his law firm; records of the Hudson Produce Company and its successor, the St. Croix Valley Produce Company; and the accounts of his brother William, who had settled at Jewett, Wisconsin. Genealogical information concerns the Moffat, Hughes, and Ingram families through 1949.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-rf000k

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John Shaw Moffat was born in Etna, New York, in 1814, the son of Samuel Moffat. Until 1854, he lived and worked, primarily as a storekeeper, in New York; then, on the advice of his brother-in-law, John O. Henning, he emigrated from New York to Hudson, Wisconsin, with his wife, Nancy Bennet Moffat. John Henning was the Register in the United States Land Office for the Chippewa District, and Moffat became a clerk in the office.

In 1857, Moffat became a police justice in Hudson, Wisconsin, and in 1867, he was admitted to the bar. He became a county judge in 1869, a position he held until 1877. While a judge, in 1871, he went into a law partnership with his son-in-law, Thomas Hughes. Moffat practiced law until his death in 1903.

Thomas Hughes, in addition to his law practice, was a director of the Hudson Produce Company, with offices in Hudson, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota. In 1904, the Hudson Produce Company became incorporated as the St. Croix Valley Produce Company, with Thomas Hughes as president.

Hughes remained president of the St. Croix Valley Produce Company until his death in December 1912. His son, John M. Hughes, assumed all the assets and liabilities of the company, and it was formally dissolved on December 27, 1912. John M. Hughes became a land commissioner for the Northern Pacific Railroad, a position he held until his retirement in 1948.

Genealogy

Parents	Children
Samuel Moffat and ____ Howe	William S. Moffat
	John Shaw Moffat, 1814-1903
Phineas Bennet and ____	Nancy Bennet, 1822-1894
	Fidelia Bennet (married John Henning)
	Lucinda Bennet (married Garrett Lacy)
John Shaw Moffat and Nancy Bennet	Mary Moffat, 1844-1913 (married Thomas Hughes, 1848-1912)
Mary Moffat and Thomas Hughes	John M. Hughes
	Thomas M. Hughes

Within the Moffat-Hughes Family Papers is a group of letters, including: early letters to Samuel Moffat from his brother-in-law, Bezaleel Howe, concerning New York land speculation; personal correspondence of Nancy Bennet Moffat both before and after her marriage to John S. Moffat; materials concerning Phineas Bennet, Nancy Bennet's father, and early steamboat inventions; letters, 1863, of Mary Moffat to her parents written while engaged as a schoolteacher in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, discussing teaching, local affairs, and other concerns, and one 1874 letter to Mary's husband, Thomas Hughes, from Mary and her mother; and several letters from John L. Moffat concerning genealogical information on the Moffat family. There is also genealogical information on the Moffat, Hughes, and Ingram families by an anonymous compiler, and a report of a visit by James Abajian to John Moffat Hughes and the John S. Moffat Octagon House in Hudson, Wisconsin, in April 1936.

Volumes in the collection begin with store accounts kept by John S. Moffat after he moved to Hudson, Wisconsin. Other volumes contain accounts and records kept by William S. Moffat, John's brother, of Jewett, Wisconsin; records of John Moffat's law office and the law firm of Moffat and Hughes; records of the Hudson Produce Company and the St. Croix Valley Produce Company; and two unidentified cashbooks.

Acquisition Information

Presented by John M. Hughes, Hudson, Wisconsin, December 15, 1952, via Dr. Walker Wyman, River Falls, Wisconsin, May 16, 1962; and by Willis H. Miller, Hudson, Wisconsin, 1982. Accession Number: M62-202, M85-397

River Falls Mss K	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	Samuel Moffat, 1807, 1811-1822
Box   1 Folder   2	Nancy Bennett Moffat, 1832-1842
Box   1 Folder   3	Mary Moffat, 1863-1874 Note: Includes transcriptions prepared by Willis H. Miller.
Box   1 Folder   4	John Moffat, 1850-1854, 1893, 1899, undated
Box   1 Folder   5	Genealogy of John Shaw Moffat family
Box   1 Folder   6	Abajian, James: report on 1936 visit to John M. Hughes and the John S. Moffat house in Hudson, Wisconsin
	John S. Moffat business records
Box   2 Volume   1	Store accounts, 1857 February-1858 April
Box   2 Volume   1 (continued)	Law office accounts, 1862?-1892
Box   2 Volume   2	Store accounts, 1857 December-1859 December
Box   2 Volume   2 (continued)	Law office accounts, 1867 January-1881 June
	William S. Moffat papers
Box   2 Volume   6	Minutes of meetings of the Temperance Society of Dryden Village, Wisconsin, 1859 January-1860 January
Box   2 Volume   6 (continued)	Accounts, 1862 October-1881 March
Box   3 Volume   7	Store accounts, 1876 May-1881 March
Box   3 Volume   7 (continued)	Fragmentary stories; letters on the evils of liquor
Box   3 Volume   7 (continued)	Letters on the evils of liquor
	Moffat-Hughes law firm
Box   2 Volume   3	Tax certificate record, 1874-1889
	Law office letterbooks
Box   2 Volume   4	1877 June-1885 November
Box   2 Volume   5	1879 February-1886 October
Box   3 Volume   8	1868 July-1879 January
Box   3 Volume   10	1877 June-1885 May
Box   4 Volume   11	1881 April-July
	Account books Note: See also the law office accounts included in Volumes 1 and 2, listed above.
Box   3 Volume   9	1872 February-1895 August
Box   4 Volume   12	1893 October-1904 February
	Hudson Produce Company and St. Croix Valley Produce Company
Box   4 Volume   13	Account book, 1884 November 11-1912 November 23
Volume   14	Orders, 1890 December-1891? October
Volume   14 (continued)	Accounts, 1891 July-1892 August
Box   4 Volume   15	Accounts, 1891-1912
Box   5 Volume   16	Cash book, 1900 November 1-1912 December 7
Volume   17	Freight records, 1902? March 1-1904 May 19
Volume   18	Storage book, 1902? April 21-1912 November 25
	Receipts
Volume   19	1903 November 27-1905 March
Volume   20	1903 December 17-1906 March 23
Box   5 Volume   24	1905 November 2-1906 August 6
Volume   25	1906 August 6-1909 August 3
Volume   27	1909 August 4-1912 December 6
Box   5 Volume   21	Lists of contracts, 1903
Box   5 Volume   22	Articles of incorporation, 1904 April 5-6
Box   5 Volume   22 (continued)	Dissolution, 1912 December 27
Box   1 Folder   7	Documents regarding articles of incorporation, 1908-1909
Box   5 Volume   23	Letter book, 1904 April 7-1905 January
Box   5 Volume   26	Minutes of the Board of Directors meeting, 1908 December 8-1912 January 29
	Unidentified cashbooks
Box   5 Volume   28	1873 December 27-1882 February 24
Box   5 Volume   29	1882 February 24-1891 April 22