J. H. Mathers Correspondence

Finding aid prepared by Jessica Kim.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2009
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.


Descriptive Summary

Title: J. H. Mathers Correspondence
Dates: 1884-1947
Collection Number: mssMathers correspondence
Creator: Mathers, J. H.
Extent: 154 items in 1 box
Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: J. H. "Harry" Mathers was a surveyor for railroad and mining companies in the American west (primarily California) and Baja California. The collection is composed entirely of correspondence between various members of the Mathers family.
Language of Material: The records are in English.

Access

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Administrative Information

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. J. H. Mathers Correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

Purchased from Michael Vinson Western Americana, November 2, 2006.

Biographical note

J. H. "Harry" Mathers was a surveyor for railroad and mining companies in the American west (primarily California) and Baja California. He moved to California from the Midwest in the late 1880s in search of work. He obtained a job with a railroad company in Baja California in 1889 surveying a line between Ensenada and the Gulf Coast and moved his family, including his wife Nettie, to Escondido, California. In the 1890s, the Mathers family moved to Chicago Park, California, near the mining town of Grass Valley. The family remained in Chicago Park for about a decade. Around the turn-of-the-century the family relocated to Los Angeles, California.

Scope and Content

The collection is composed entirely of correspondence between various members of the Mathers family. The bulk of the collection consists of letters between Harry and his mother, A.C. Mathers, and his wife, Nettie Mathers. Harry's letters reflect his experiences working as a surveyor in the railroad and mining industries in California and northern Mexico during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Correspondence between A.C.Mathers, Harry Mathers, and Nettie Mathers also discusses the personal details of the Mathers' family life, especially Harry and Nettie's children. The collection also includes some letters between A.C., Harry, and Nettie and the couple's sons, Donald, Frank, and Paul Mathers. There are also a few letters between Nettie and her parents, C. Dibble and C. A. Dibble, as well as a few from her siblings, Ethel, Karl, Katie, and "Stell." The collection's 134 letters are arranged in folders alphabetically by author and then by addressee. Within each folder, letters are sorted chronologically. The last folder contains empty envelopes that could not be matched to letters in the collection.

Indexing Terms

Personal Names

Mathers, J. H.

Subjects

Gold mines and mining -- California.
Railroads -- California, Southern.
Railroads -- Mexico -- Baja California (Peninsula)

Geographic Areas

California -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
California -- History -- 20th century -- Sources.

Genre

Letters (correspondence) California 19th century.
Letters (correspondence) California 20th century.


Box 1

Correspondence

 

Dibble, C. 5 letters to Nettie Mathers. 1889-1902

 

Dibble, C. 1 letter to J. H. Mathers and Nettie Mathers. 1897, Feb. 8

 

Dibble, C. A. 2 letters to Nettie Mathers. 1889-1910

 

Dibble, C. A. 1 letter to Nettie Mathers and Katie -----. 1890, Aug. 8

 

Emerson, Anna M. 1 letter to J. H. Mathers. 1888, Dec. 27

 

Emerson, Anna M. 1 letter to Nettie Mathers. 1902, Nov. 9

 

Goodno, E. M. 3 letters to Donald Mathers. 1894-1898

 

[Goodno, E. M.]. 1 letter to Frank Mathers. 1896, Apr. 9

 

Goodno, E. M. 1 letter to J. H. Mathers. 1893, Apr. 25

 

Goodno, E. M. 1 letter to [Nettie Mathers]. 1894, Mar. 23

 

Jimeson, M. J. 1 letter to "Dear Sister." 1894, June 18

 

Loughridge, C. P. 1 letter to J. H. Mathers. 1900, Apr. 7

 

Mathers, A. C. 4 letters to Donald Mathers. 1894-1899

 

Mathers, A. C. 3 letters to Frank Mathers. 1899-1900

 

Mathers, A. C. 23 letters to J. H. Mathers. 1889-1902

 

Mathers, A. C. 1 letter to Louise A. Mathers and Anna Mathers. 1895, Jan. 11

 

[Mathers, A. C.]. 1 letter to "My Very Dear Cousin." 1907, Sept. 2

 

[Mathers, A. C.]. 1 letter to "My Darling Granddaughter." 1895, Aug. 7

 

Mathers, A. C. 15 letters to Nettie Mathers. 1888-1900

 

Mathers, Donald. 1 letter to [J. H. Mathers]. 1900, Dec. 29

 

Mathers, Frank. 2 letters to [Nettie Mathers]. 1911

 

Mathers, J. H. 2 letters to [A. C. Mathers]. 1902

 

Mathers, J. H. 4 letters to Donald Mathers. 1894-1899

 

Mathers, J. H. 2 letters to Frank Mathers. 1899-1900

 

Mathers, J. H. 8 letters to Nettie Mathers. 1888, Apr. 25-Dec. 23

 

Mathers, J. H. 15 letters to Nettie Mathers. 1889-1899

 

[Mathers, Nettie]. 1 letter to Frank Mathers. 1936, Dec. 9

 

Mathers, Nettie. 19 letters to J. H. Mathers. 1884-1891

 

Mathers, Nettie. 1 letter to unidentified addressee. undated

 

Mathers, Paul. 1 letter to Donald Mathers. undated

 

[Mathers, Nettie]. 1 letter to unidentified addressee. undated

 

Mathers, Paul. 1 letter to [Nettie Mathers]. 1904, Aug. 5

 

Tangye, E. 1 postcard to Frank Mathers. 1947

 

-----, Carrie. 1 letter to Katie -----. 1889, Apr. 29

 

-----, Ethel. 1 letter to Nettie Mathers. 1889, Aug. 30

 

-----, Karl. 1 letter to Nettie Mathers. 1889, July 11

 

-----, Katie. 1 letter to "My Dear Sister and Brother." 1889, July 10

 

-----, Katie. 1 letter to Nettie Mathers. 1897, Feb.

 

-----, Stell. 1 letter to [Nettie Mathers]. 1905, June 19

 

-----. 1 letter to J. H. Mathers. 1888, Sept. 19

 

-----. 1 letter to J. H. Mathers and Nettie Mathers. 1898, Dec. 19

 

-----. 20 envelopes.