The collection contains papers relating to the Traver family, their businesses, properties and investments, as well as Walter Traver’s service in the U.S. Army, and his resulting disability.

The Traver family is originally from Illinois but Robert A. Traver (known as R.A. Traver) and his family moved to San Diego in the late 1880s. R.A. Traver was born on August 19, 1837 in Schenectady, NY. In 1987, he opened Traver and Nixon, a broom manufacturing company with his business partner M.C. Nixon in Charleston, Illinois. He had two children with his first wife Nancy, Ida and Norman. R.A. married his second wife Margaret Clark in 1873 in Charleston, Illinois. His wife and children resided in San Diego beginning in the late 1880s while Traver travelled for work. His two sons, Walter A. Traver and Robert E. Traver, grew up in San Diego. Walter A. Traver married Letitia Jane Reynolds in 1899, following his discharge from the army. The couple had two children, Leslie V. Traver and Ethel A. Traver. Walter served as a Private in Company B of the 7th Division of the California Infantry in the Spanish-American War in 1898. He fell ill while on active duty and his illness rendered him permanently disabled, thus earning him a discharge from the army and a disabled veterans pension. Following his discharge from the army, Walter worked as a men’s and women’s clothing tailor briefly in Coquille, Oregon from 1909 to 1910, and later in downtown San Diego. Walter died on July 19, 1942 and was buried in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. After his death, his wife Letty was left to deal with the remaining property and getting together the documentation necessary to obtain widow’s benefits from the army. Their son Leslie married twice and had twin boys, Norman L. Traver and Andrew W. Traver. Ethel (Walter and Letty’s daughter) married Francis Packard Campdora in 1923. Letty Traver died in 1950, eight years after her husband’s death.

0.25 Linear feet (1 box)

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

This collection is open for research.