J. Perry Worden Collection: Finding Aid mssHM 31354-31425
Gayle Richardson
The Huntington Library
February 2021
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: J. Perry Worden collection
Creator:
Worden, J. Perry,
1866-
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 31354-31425
Physical Description:
4.84 Linear Feet
(14 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1821-1936
Abstract: A collection of material related to the
work of James Perry Worden, California lecturer and writer.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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.
[Identification of item]. J. Perry Worden collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Mrs. James Perry Worden, June 1948.
James Perry Worden (1866-1945) was a historian and newspaperman. Worden was born in New
York and graduated from Columbia University in 1895; he continued his education in Europe,
receiving his Ph.D. in Germany in 1900. He was a special correspondent for the New York Sun
and the New York Tribune and was the author of "Agua Mansa," a feature of the Pasadena Star
News. Worden wrote book reviews and works on California history and was the advisory editor
for Harris Newmark's Sixty years in Southern California (1916).
A collection of approximately 500 items from 1821 to 1936, which contains original
manuscripts and secondary source material collected by J. Perry Worden. The original
material assembled by Worden includes manuscripts, eighty-three pieces of correspondence and
legal documents, and is composed of three unrelated groups: the Chilton-Rice-Bowdon letters,
the Chaffin-Conant letters, and the papers of Henry E. Shelley and Jacob Tripp Chandler. The
Chilton-Rice-Bowdon letters constitute the largest part of the collection; the letters
center around the family of Thomas Chilton (1798-1854), a U.S. representative from Kentucky
from 1827 to 1833. Chilton had thirteen children, including Frances Jane and Sara Elizabeth.
Frances Jane Chilton married into the Rice family of South Carolina and Sara Elizabeth
Chilton married Franklin Welch Bowdon (1817-1857), a Congressman from Alabama. These letters
mostly focus on the Chilton-Rice-Bowdon families as well as on issues of national politics.
The second group of original manuscripts, the Chaffin Conant letters, consist of eighteen
letters pertaining to the Civil War. The majority were written by Robert C. Chaffin of the
32nd Massachusetts Infantry. Other authors in this group include brothers Nahum Conant and
Marcus Conant, cousins of Robert C. Chaffin. The third group of original manuscripts contain
a miscellaneous collection of letters and legal documents belonging to Henry E. Shelley and
Jacob Tripp Chandler and originated in Texas. The collection's secondary source material
contains information on California history and California pioneers; it contains typewritten
notes, printed material, and a group of unidentified photographs. The secondary material may
have been gathered by Worden for newspaper articles or for background material in his
collaboration with Harris Newmark on Sixty years in Southern California.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1955. In 2021, Gayle Richardson created the
finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.
Organized in the following series: 1. Original items collected by James Perry Worden; 2.
Secondary source material.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Legislators -- Alabama
Legislators -- Kentucky
California -- History -- 19th century
California -- History -- 20th century
United States -- History -- Civil War,
1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
United States -- Politics and Government
-- 19th century
Family papers -- United States
Letters (correspondence) -- United States
Manuscripts (documents) -- United States
Photographs -- United States
Professional papers -- United States
Bowdon, Franklin Welsh,
1817-1857
Bowdon, Sara Elizabeth
Chaffin, Robert C.
Chandler, Jacob Tripp
Chilton, Thomas,
1798-1854
Conant, Marcus
Conant, Nahum
Rice, Frances Jane
Shelly, Henry E.
United States. Army.
Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, 32nd (1862-1865)
Box 1
1828-1859
Box 2
1860-1901
Box 3-12
Typewritten material: John Francis Temple, California notes, Francis Mellus journal, California history, California pioneers
Box 13
Material on California history and California pioneers
Box 14
Uncataloged correspondence and material on California