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Mary Chambers Wiese, daughter of Lucy Matthews Chambers and William Lionel Chambers, donated the Matthews-Chambers papers to the State Historical Society of Missouri in December 1983. Additional material was donated by Patricia Stehlin Boykin in 2003.
The Matthews-Chambers papers document the daily lives of two families. In 1911, William Lionel Chambers married Lucy Matthews (1875-1965), the daughter of a prominent St. Louis family.
While serving as a British Army officer in India in the 1860s, William Eubank Chambers (1841- ?) and his wife, Mary Jane Baker Chambers (1843-1920), had two children, William Lionel Chambers (1865-1927) and Robert Stuart Chambers (c.1866). In 1877, Mary Chambers and the boys returned to England.
In 1879, the couple sent William Lionel Chambers to work on a farm in Allen, Michigan. Chambers disliked farm work and tried other occupations. He went to New Mexico to be a cowboy, sold jewelry in Indiana, and served as an army major in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. Meanwhile, he read enough law to pass the bar exams and become a lawyer in St. Louis. Chambers served as Pardon Attorney in Jefferson City for Governor Herbert Hadley from 1908-1913. William Lionel Chambers and Lucy Matthews had two children, Mary Levering (Mrs. William Wiese) born in 1914 and William Nisbet (c.1916).
From 1915-1922, Chambers worked for the Mercantile Trust Co. in Joplin, Missouri. In 1922, the family moved to Rolla where Chambers opened his own law firm. After his death in 1927, Lucy Chambers and the children returned to St. Louis.
Lucy Matthews Chambers' father, Leonard Matthews (1828-1931), first came to Missouri in 1841. During the 1849 Gold Rush, he went to California. With his $2,500 stake from the gold field, Matthews started a successful business in California. In 1851, Matthews came to St. Louis where he founded a wholesale drug company. He sold the business to the Meyer Bros. Drug Company in 1865. Later he opened the Matthews and Company brokerage firm.
In 1861, Leonard Matthews married Mary Spottswood Nisbet Matthews (1839-1918). They had eight children: Mary Nisbet (b. 1862), Isabel (b. 1864), Nina (b. 1867), William Nisbet (b. 1869), Edmund Orville (b. 1871), Leonard (b. 1873), Lucy (b. 1875), and Claude Levering (b. 1880). Nina's son, L. Matthews Werner, founded the Sebago Club in St. Louis in 1923. (See collection 206.)
Lucy Matthews attended Mary Institute and the old St. Louis Art School. Later, she studied art in New York, under William Merritt Chase,and Europe. She became a member of the Artists' Guild and remained active in art groups until her death in 1965.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Matthews-Chambers papers document the work, social activities, and travels of the Matthews and Chambers families from 1811-1974. The collection also reflects social and political conditions in St. Louis, England, and India during the 19th century and early 20th century. Correspondence (1877-1884) among members of the Chambers family reveals inter-familial tensions over child rearing, education and finances. These letters also describe military duties, social activities, living conditions, and attitudes toward natives among British Army officers and British planters living in India during the late 19th century.
The collection contains copies of the original papers which were returned to the donor. Three series comprise the collection. Series 1 consists of correspondence from 1852-1921. Series 2 contains family history, 1811-1974, and Series 3 includes 31 photographs, 1860s-1920.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
SERIES 1 - CORRESPONDENCE, 1852-1921, 17 FOLDERS
Grouped by author and arranged chronologically. Principal authors include: William Eubank Chambers (51 letters), Mary Jane Baker Chambers (42 letters), Robert Stuart Chambers (5 letters), and Ethel Wilkinson (3 letters). The series also contains one letter from each of the following: Thomas R. Reynolds, William Nisbet, Fred Baker, Commander Tarleton, Sarah Endle, C.W. Winchester, Mr. Farrar, Hamilton Cummings, and Isabel Skinker. Topics include: Mary Chambers' nursing course; educational plans for Lionel and Stuart Chambers, family finances; Lionel's various occupations in America; Colonel Chambers' health, living conditions, and duties in India; military action against the native tribes in India; and atittudes toward the natives by British tea planters and the military.
SERIES 2 - FAMILY HISTORY, 1811-1974, 16 FOLDERS
Arranged chronologically by family. Folders 18-20 concern the Chambers family history compiled by Mary Chambers Wiese. Folders 20-33 document the Matthews' family activities. Lucy Matthews autobiography (1875-1918) comprises a large part of the series (folders 23-30). Other folders include an article, birth records, newsclippings and the proceedings of Leonard Matthews vs. the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Co. in 1893.
SERIES 3 - ACCESSION SEPTEMBER 30, 2003, 1 FOLDER
This series includes an unidentified letter fragment,report concerning the Leonard Matthews estate, photocopy of Matthews house, poetry recollections of Leonard Matthews, and newsclipping of Patricia Stehlin Boykin, Leonard Matthews' great granddaughter.
SERIES 4 - PHOTOGRAPHS, 1860s-1920 (440.1-440.31)
This series contains 34 photographs located in the Photograph Collection. Numbers 401.7, 401.8 , and 401.16-401.24 include photographs of Chambers family members. Photographs 440.1-440.6, 440.10-440.14, and 440.24-440.31 portray members of the Matthews family, their houses, and a garden. Photographs 440.29-440.30 show medallions of Leonard and Mary Spotswood Nisbet Matthews by Rinaldo Rinaldi of Rome in carrara marble (18"x15" with a walnut frame approximately 2" wide, 30 lbs). Photograph 440.31 is a family portrait, with members identified. Photographs 440.32-440.33 portray Matthews family houses.
FOLDER LIST
SERIES 1 - CORRESPONDENCE, 1852-1921, 17 FOLDERS
BOX 1, FOLDERS 1-33
1. Commander Tarleton to Baker Family, April 16, 1852
2. William Nisbet to Leonard Matthews, June 11, 1861
3. William E. Chambers to Mary Jane Baker Chamber, 13 letters, October 1877 - April 1878
4. William E. Chambers to Mary Jane Baker Chambers, 16 letters, April 1878 - May 1881
5. William E. Chambers to William Lionel Chambers, 9 letters, March 1877 - January 1881
6. William E. Chambers to Williaam Lionel Chambers, 13 letters, March 1882 - December 1884
7. Mary Jane Baker Chambers to William Lionel Chambers, 19 letters, December 1879 - June 1880
8. Mary Chambers to William Lionel Chambers, 23 letters, July 1880 - December 1884
9. Robert Stuart Chambers to William Lionel Chambers, 5 letters, August 1880- May 1881
10. Letter of recommendation for William Lionel Chambers from Thomas R. Reynolds, Sept. 9, 1880
11. Fred Baker to William Lionel Chambers, Sept. 2, 1880
12. A friend (HVY) to William Lionel Chambers, August 1881
13. Sarah Endle to William E. Chambers, Sept. 1, 1895
Eden Hospital, Calcutta, India, to William E. Chambers, October 9, 1895
14. C.W. Winchester to William Lionel Chambers, May 27, 1882 Hamilton Cummings to William E. Chambers, November 22, 1920 Isabel Skinker to William E. Chambers, December 30, 1920
15. Ethel C. Wilkinson to Mary J. Chambers, July 15, 1920 Waldmar ? (nephew) to Mary Chambers, November 9, 1920
16. Ethel C. Wilkinson to William Lionel Chambers, 2 letters, 1920-1921
17. Envelopes and Cards, 1881-1920
SERIES 2 - FAMILY HISTORY, FOLDERS 18-33
18. Chambers Family History, 1811-1974
19. Notes on Family History, 1877-1974
20. Poem, 1903
21. Birth Records, Matthews Family, 1862-1880
22. Lawsuit, Leonard Matthews vs. St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Co., November 21, 1893
23. Lucy Matthews Chambers, autobiography, 1875-1899
24. Lucy Matthews Chambers, autobiography, 1899
25. Lucy Matthews Chambers, autobiography, pp. 1-30, 1901
26. Lucy Matthews Chambers, autobiography, pp. 31-65, 1901-1903
27. Lucy Matthews Chambers, autobiography, pp. 66-99, 1903-1906
28. Lucy Matthews Chambers, autobiography, pp. 100-134, 1906-1908
29. Lucy Matthews Chambers, autobiography, pp. 135-182, 1909-1914
30. Lucy Matthews Chambers, autobiography, pp. 183-218, 1914-1918
31. Certificates of Safe Passage, 1861, 1903
32. Newsclipping, re: Leonard Matthews, 1925-1931
33. Article, re: Lucy M. Chambers, 1965
34. Mary N. Matthews Journal, New Orleans, LA, November 30, 1865
35. Leonard Matthews Narrative, May 1915
SERIES 3 - ACCESSION SEPTEMBER 30, 2003, FOLDER 36
36. Unidentified letter fragment
Report of the estate of Leonard Matthews
Photocopy of Matthews house
Poetry recollections by Leonard Matthews
Life Magazine, January 23, 1950, Patricia Stehlin Boykin on page 100
Newsclipping, re: Patricia Stehlin Boykin, Leonard Matthews' great granddaughter, Mary Chambers Wiese, Stratford Lee Morton, and Robert Lee Morton
37. Index for "A Long Life In Review" by Leonard Matthews, edited by Patricia S. Boykin
SERIES 4 - Folder 38. PHOTOGRAPHS, 440.1-440.34, 1860s-1920
38. Ponte Vedra Beach: How It Got The Name and The Driving Force Behind The Development of Jacksonville Beach, 1929-1934 by Patricia Sarah Stehlin Boykin, October 1998; Reprint, August 2003
INDEX
Boykin, Patricia Stehlin, f. 36
Chambers Family, f. 1-20, 26-33
Chambers, Lucy Matthews, f. 21-33
Chambers, Mary Jane Baker, f. 1, 3-9, 14-16, 18-20, 29
Chambers, Robert Stuart, f. 3-9
Chambers, William Eubank, f. 1, 3-9, 18-20
Chambers, William Lionel, f. 1, 3-20, 26-30, 33
Family History, f. 1-33
Gellhorn, Edna, f. 28
Louisiana Purchase Exposition-St. Louis, 1904, f. 27
Matthews Family, f. 21-33
Matthews, Leonard, f. 2, 21-33
Matthews, Mary Nisbet, f. 2, 21-33
Rumbold, Frank, f. 29
St. Louis History--19th Century, f. 18-33
St. Louis History--Social Conditions, f. 18, 21-33
St. Luke's Hospital, f. 29
Smith, Luther Ely, f. 29
Shaw's Gardens, f. 32
Werner, L. Matthews, f. 29
Wiese, Mary Chambers, f. 18, 29-30
WESTERN HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
222 THOMAS JEFFERSON LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
8001 NATURAL BRIDGE ROAD
ST. LOUIS, MO 63121
(314) 516-5143
whmc@umsl.edu