Publication Rights:   Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jacinto Museum of History. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Jacinto Museum of History as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Citation:  [Identification of Item], Underwood Family Papers, MC039, San Jacinto Museum of History, Houston, Texas.

Creator Sketch:

Born in Dracut, Massachusetts, on February 13, 1810, Ammon Underwood arrived in Texas in 1834 with the intention of finding partners and establishing a business.  For the next year and a half he traveled and worked for several businesses in Texas.  In October 1835 Underwood joined the Texas army and participated in a skirmish in Bexar.  On November 4, he went on furlough, thereby missing the siege of Bexar.  He was acting post commissary at Columbia during the spring of 1836 and after the Runaway Scrape returned there to live.  For a time, John P. Coles and David H. Milburn joined Underwood as partners in a mercantile business.   In addition to his store, Underwood served as postmaster for Columbia from 1836 to 1845 and became prosperous by growing and investing in cotton.  By 1860 he owned 34 slaves and several plantations.   The Civil War brought financial ruin to Ammon Underwood.  In 1881 he joined his son, Joseph P., in a mercantile business in Columbia.  In 1884 he served one term in the Texas State legislature.  Ammon Underwood married Rachel Jane Carson in 1839 with whom he had four children.  He died November 17, 1887, in the house he built and lived in for fifty years.

Joseph P. Underwood was born on February 26, 1845, in Columbia, Texas.  After spending one year at Austin College in Huntsville, Texas, he joined the Confederate Army where he served for three years in Texas and Louisiana.    After the Civil War, Joseph P. returned to Columbia and attempted to resume his interrupted studies.  By 1870 he set up his own mercantile business and traded in cotton and cattle.  His father joined him in 1881 to establish A. and J. P. Underwood.  This partnership ended in 1887 with the death of Ammon Underwood. In 1888 W. H. Diggs joined Joseph P. Underwood in running the store.  It seems likely that the two men engaged in business together before also becoming partners. In October 1898 Underwood and Diggs failed and W. L. Moody assumed ownership.  Underwood worked as Moody's agent in Columbia from 1898 until 1902 when he again became an independent businessman.  He operated a small general store until 1923. 

Joseph P. Underwood married Louise Hanks in 1867.  The couple had three children:  Laura, Mrs. Louise Munson, and John H. Underwood.  As of 1925, Underwood continued to live in the house built by his father.

Born April 4, 1863, in Columbia, Texas, John C. Underwood grew up in the family business and received his business education by clerking for Ammon and J. P. Underwood.  He later established his own mercantile store and operated it until 1902 when he entered the oil business.  In 1905 he moved his family to Houston.  John C. Underwood married Lucy Harris in June 1886.  They had five children.

Bibliography:

"UNDERWOOD, AMMON."  The Handbook of Texas Online.  http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/UU/fun1.html

Davis, Ellis A and Edwin H. Grobe, eds.  “John C. Underwood,” The New Encyclopedia of Texas, 1602 – 1603.  Dallas:  Texas Development Bureau, 1925.

Davis, Ellis A and Edwin H. Grobe, eds.  “Joseph P. Underwood,” The New Encyclopedia of Texas, 1910 - 1911.  Dallas:  Texas Development Bureau, 1925.

Scope and Content Note:

Financial records, correspondence, diaries, legal documents, newspaper clippings, a scrapbook, and two photographs document the personal and business lives of two generations of the Underwood family in Columbia, Texas, 1834 - 1924.  The Personal Papers include Letter Copy Books containing primarily personal correspondence sent by John C. Underwood (1883 - 1884) and Joseph P. Underwood (1879 - 1880).  The Journal of Ammon Underwood (1834 -1836) reveals the experiences of a young immigrant attempting to establish himself as Texas gains her independence.  J. P. Underwood's diary (December 1864 - July 1865) illustrates the uncertainty facing Confederate soldiers during the last six months of the Civil War and comments on the events of the day including the emancipation of the slaves.  The diary also includes a muster roll of Gibson's Battery and financial accounts.  Three newspaper clippings, one from the Texas Times, "Col. Colwell and His Band," 1842, and two concerning Texas history from the Texas Democrat published in Columbia, Texas, 1853, demonstrate the interest of the young republic and state in its short history.  May Day Scripts (1868 - 1874, 1898) in the Scrapbook contain cast lists in addition to the complete plays.  One of the two photographs is of Ammon Underwood.

The Business Papers of the Underwood Family Papers forms the bulk of the collection.  Arranged by subgroups according to business entities and then series, the documents record a large percentage of the business dealings of one family for almost a century.  The financial records (1836 - 1875) including a Book of Receipts, Journals, Ledgers and a Storage Book of Ammon Underwood contain the names of customers, merchandise ordered and sold, prices, shipping, payments, and possibly names of business partners.  Of particular interest, the Storage Book details the storage and shipment of hides, cotton, and miscellaneous articles from 1855 - 1875.  Contracts between Underwood and W. J. Cash (1860) and Thomas N. Williford (1861) to oversee Underwood's plantation reveal the relationship between owner and overseer and are appended at the back of the book. The Storage Book also includes pages of notes concerning the management of the plantations between 1857 and 1861.

Journals and Ledgers (1870 - 1879) record the early business dealings of Joseph P. Underwood.  An A/C Inventory Book, Cash Books, Daybooks, Journals, and Ledgers (1882 - 1888) offer a nearly complete financial record of the partnership of Ammon and Joseph P. Underwood (A. & J. P. Underwood).  Letter Copy Books (1881 - 1885, 1887) contain business related correspondence with some personal correspondence.  Of interest are letters written to the editor by Ammon Underwood in 1884. 

It is highly probable that definite boundaries did not exist between one business venture and another.  Three sets of records contain a chronological overlap between A. &  J. P. Underwood and Underwood and Diggs mercantile firms:  correspondence in the form of the Letter Copy Books (1884? - 1891, 1898 -1899), financial records in the form of  Cotton Books (1884 -1887, 1889 - 1893), and legal records with Collection Accounts, Claims, Notes, and Drafts (1879 - 1887).  It is likely that Underwood and Diggs were business associates prior to operating the mercantile store together. Cash Books (1890 - 1898), Daybooks (1890 - 1897), Journals (1888 - 1899), and Ledgers (1888 - 1899) comprise the financial records of Underwood and Diggs (the mercantile business) and provide a nearly complete record of a seemingly prosperous business that was destined to fail.  The legal records of the firm include a List of Claims Conveyed to W. L. Moody in 1898 and a Book of Contracts (1888 - 1891) which was used later as a scrapbook with illustrations cut out of magazines and newspapers pasted on the some of the pages. 

The three years Joseph P. Underwood worked as W. L. Moody's agent in Columbia are documented in Letter Copy Books (1898 - 1901), Ledgers (1899 - 1902), and Journals (1898 - 1902).  The Letter Copy Books also contain contracts.  Of interest is correspondence written by Underwood as the Treasurer for the Columbia Relief Committee detailing the destruction wrecked on Columbia in the wake of the Great Storm of 1900.

Journals (1903 - 1923) and Ledgers (1903 - 1924) record the final years of business conducted by Joseph P. Underwood.  A Letter Copy Book with correspondence written by John W. Hanks, A. T. Mecham, and G. W. Mecham is arranged at the end of the Business Papers.

Archivist's Note:

The original copy of the Journal of Ammon Underwood (1834 - 1836) is located at the Center for American History, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas.

UNDERWOOD FAMILY PAPERS, 1834 - 1924 (Bulk: 1880 - 1924)

Manuscript Collection:  MC039

Size:  2 linear feet plus 128 volumes

Boxes:  5

Inventory

Note:  All information in (   ) based on archivist's judgment.

     Group:  Personal  Papers

     Group:  Business Papers

     Series:  Ammon Underwood:  Financial

        Series:  J. P. Underwood:  Financial

       Series:  A. & J. P. Underwood:  Correspondence Sent

     Series:  A. & J. P. Underwood:  Financial

     Series:  Underwood & Diggs:  Correspondence Sent

     Series:  Underwood & Diggs:  Financial