George & Julia Shugars

December 23rd marks 91 years since the death of Julia V. (Yingling) Shugars.

Julia Yingling was born on May 14, 1846 in Maryland, the first child of Jesse R. Yingling and Annie M. Gettier, and the elder sister of Mary Yingling Brown from October's blog.  Her father Jesse worked as a tailor.  In the 1850 census, Jesse wasn't listed as owning any real estate, but by 1860, his property was valued at $1,200.  Julia and Mary were both attending school then.

George W. Shugars was born in 1840 in Maryland, the son of Daniel Shugars and Mary Lynch.  His parents were originally from Pennsylvania, but moved south to Maryland sometime in the late 1830s.  In the 1850 census, Daniel was working as a farmer, owning real estate valued at $1,250.  George's older brother William was a blacksmith, while George and his sister Margaret were in school.

George Shugars and Julia Yingling were married in the mid-1860s.  By the 1870 census, the couple had two young children, Virginia and Jesse.  George was a farmer, owning real estate valued at $750, and Julia was keeping house.

By 1880, the family included four more children:  Bessie, Edward, Mable, and Frank.  George was working as both a farmer and dairyman, with Julia keeping house.  The two eldest children, Virginia ("Jennie") and Jesse, were working on the farm, while also attending school along with siblings Bessie and Edward.  George's widowed aunt, Bettie Waters, was also living in the household.

On September 2, 1887, George and Julia's daughter Bessie passed away at the age 16.  Coincidentally, her paternal grandfather Daniel died on the same day.

Though the census records are contradictory, they seem to indicate that the Shugars might have had as many as nine children in all.  If that's true, then they very likely had other children who died at a young age, though their names have been lost.

In the 1900 census, George and Julia had four of their children still living in their household:  Jennie, Jesse, Mable, and Frank.  Their son Edward had married and moved out a few years prior.

George Shugars died suddenly of heart failure on January 16, 1905, at the age of 64.

Just over a month later, in late February, the Shugars' eldest daughter Jennie went into labor prematurely.  No records have been found on the child, who likely did not survive.  Jennie had been married less than two years before, to Arthur Keller.  Two weeks later, on March 12, 1905, she died of septicemia, at the age of 37.

In February of 1908, Julia, together with her children and son-in-law Arthur, sold the family's 31-acre property along Hanover Road in Reisterstown for $2,900 to George A. Henry.  According to the Baltimore Sun, it was part of a growing trend in the area.

By 1910, Jesse and Frank Shugars had both married and moved away, and so Mable was the only daughter left living at home with Julia.

In the 1920 census, son Jesse, listed as a widower, had moved back home with his mother and sister.  A cousin of Julia's, Edward Carron, was also living in the household.  Jesse was working as a painter, and Edward was an electrician.

Julia Shugars passed away three years later, on December 23, 1923, at the age of 77.

George and Julia's known children were:

• Virginia "Jennie" M. Shugars, c1867-1905, wife of Arthur S. Keller
• Jesse R. Shugars, c1868-1929, husband of Elizabeth
• Bessie Shugars, 1871-1887
• Edward Shugars, 1872-1957, husband of Mary Elizabeth Vondersmith
• Mable Shugars, 1874-1962, unmarried
• Frank Shugars, 1879-1967, husband of Maggie Brown Uhler

Sources:
Ancestry.com (census records)

• Year: 1850; Census Place: District 1, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: M432_280; Page: 220A.
• Year: 1850; Census Place: District 1, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: M432_280; Page: 239B.
• Year: 1860; Census Place: District 4, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: M653_468; Page: 45.
• Year: 1870; Census Place: District 4, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: M593_569; Page: 243B.
• Year: 1880; Census Place: District 4, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: 495; Page: 556D.
• Year: 1900; Census Place: Election District 4, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: 606; Page: 8A.
• Year: 1910; Census Place: Election District 4, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: T624_550; Page: 25A.
• Year: 1920; Census Place: Election District 4, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: T625_654; Page: 3A.

Baltimore Sun

• "Mr. George W. Shugars Buried." Date: 19 January 1905; Page: 6.
• "Mrs. Kellar Laid To Rest." Date: 15 March 1905; Page: 6.
• "Large Lots Are Sold." Date: 13 May 1908; Page: 8.
• "Deaths." Date: 24 December 1923; Page: 10.

Maryland Archives (land & death records)

Cemetery photos © AgateGS