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J. H. Mathers Correspondence
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Title: J. H. Mathers Correspondence
Dates: 1884-1947
Collection Number: Consult repository.
Creator:
Mathers, J. H.
Extent:
154 items
1 box
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2203
Fax: (626) 449-5720
Email: manuscripts@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.
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information,
please go to following
web site .
In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission
from the office of the Library Director. In most instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical
property rights only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In some instances,
the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate
curator for further information.
[Identification of item], J. H. Mathers Correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased from Michasel 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.