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J. H. Mathers Correspondence
mssMathers correspondence
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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.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
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. H. Mathers Correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased from Michael Vinson Western Americana, November 2, 2006.
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.
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.
Mathers, J. H.
Gold mines and mining -- California.
Railroads -- California, Southern.
Railroads -- Mexico -- Baja California (Peninsula)
California -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
California -- History -- 20th century -- Sources.
Letters (correspondence) California 19th century.
Letters (correspondence) California 20th century.