s0841 LEONARD MATTHEWS FAMILY PAPERS, 1861-2003

10 FOLDERS

STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS

 

For a list of the images in this collection click here and go to the WHMC photograph database

PROVENANCE

 

The Leonard Matthews Family Papers are drawn partially from SL 440 Matthews-Chambers Papers and through accessions donated by Patricia Boykin in 2003 and 2005.  

 

HISTORY

 

Leonard Matthews was born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 17, 1828 and died in St. Louis, Missouri on May 5, 1931 at the age of 102 as the result of a heart attack.  He was a prominent St. Louis businessman, community leader, and traveler.  Matthews associated with notable persons of his time such as General U.S. Grant and President William Howard Taft.  He visited Missouri for the first time in 1842 and his family owned a farm near Hannibal, MO.  Leonard Matthews took part in the 1849 California Gold Rush where he made $2,500.  He made $25,000 in a San Francisco, CA business venture and moved to St. Louis in 1851. 

 

Matthews spent the remainder of his life in the city where he pursued ventures as a druggist and investment banker.  He studied chemistry at Pope Medical College from 1854-1856. Matthews founded a drug company with his two brothers and sold it to Meyer Brothers Drug Company in 1865.  On January 31, 1870, he and General A.G. Edwards founded the brokerage firm Edwards & Matthews.  In 1874 Edwards Whitaker joined as a partner and the firm became Matthews and Whitaker.  The investment banking company later became Whitaker & Co. when Leonard Matthews retired around 1905.  Matthews also played an important role in the community.  He served as a trustee of Shaw’s Garden (Missouri Botanical Garden), fiscal agent, charity commissioner, and on numerous boards.  He settled into a house at 5477 Cabanne Ave. in 1890 where he lived the rest of his life and tended his garden.  Matthews married Mary Spotswood Nisbet in 1861 and he survived her 1918 death by 13 years.  They had seven children which included four sons and three daughters.  Their family also included 25 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.    

 

SCOPE & CONTENT

 

The Leonard Mathews Family Papers is divided into 10 folders.  The collection consists of documents and photographs that pertain to Leonard Matthews and his family history. 

 

COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

 

No known copyright restrictions.

 

PREFERRED CITATION

 

From the s0841 Leonard Matthews Family Papers at the State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center-St. Louis, University of Missouri-St. Louis.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

 

State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center- St. Louis

222 Thomas Jefferson Library

University of Missouri-St. Louis

One University Boulevard

St. Louis, MO 63121

(314)516-5143

whmc@umsl.edu

FOLDER LIST

1. Letter, William Nisbet to Leonard Matthews, June 11, 1861

2. Birth Records, Matthews Family, 1862-1880

3. Lawsuit, Leonard Matthews vs. St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Co., November 21, 1893

4. News clipping, re: Leonard Matthews, 1925-1931

5. Mary N. Matthews Journal, New Orleans, LA, November 30, 1865

6. Leonard Matthews Narrative May 1915.

7. 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
News clipping, re: Patricia Stehlin Boykin, Leonard Matthews' great granddaughter, Mary Chambers Wiese, Stratford Lee Morton, and Robert Lee Morton

8. Index for "A Long Life in Review" by Leonard Matthews, edited by Patricia S. Boykin

9. 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

10. Photographs, 841.1 - 841.22

11. A Long Life in Revue by Leonard Matthhews, 1927

INDEX

Shaw's Gardens, f. 4

St. Louis History--19th Century

St. Louis History--Social Conditions