San Jacinto Museum of History

Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library

Manuscript Collections

Finding Aid

Thomas Jefferson Chambers Papers

1830 - 1942 (Bulk: 1870 - 1925)

Manuscript Collection: MC018

Publication Rights:   Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jacinto Museum of History. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Jacinto Museum of History as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Citation:  [Identification of Item], Thomas Jefferson Chambers Papers, MC018, San Jacinto Museum of History, Houston, Texas.

Creator Sketch:

Thomas Jefferson Chambers (1802-1865), an accomplished lawyer, land speculator, army general and politician in Texas, served under the rule of Mexico, the Republic, the Union and the Confederacy.  Born in Virginia, he moved to Mexico City in 1826.  In 1829 he was appointed the surveyor general of Texas.  Through purchase and land grants, Chambers obtained title to 16 leagues of land located in present day Ellis, Navarro, Chambers and Hays counties. In 1830, Chambers received Mexican citizenship and license to practice law.  He was state assessor briefly in 1834 and authored the Chambers Jury Law which brought jury trial to Texas.  Also in 1834, he became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.  In payment for this office, Chambers was granted thirteen leagues of land which he selected from the site of present day Austin.  During the Texas Revolution, Chambers received a commission to raise the Army of the Reserve on his own credit and was reimbursed with 1,280 acres of land in 1846.  He entered and lost four political elections between 1839 and 1861.  These years also brought the loss of much of his land due to lawsuits in 1855 and 1862.  In 1861 he represented Chambers County at the state secession convention.  As a volunteer aid to an officer in Hood’s Texas Brigade, Chambers was wounded during the Seven Days’ Battles.  In 1865, Chambers was shot and killed by an unknown assassin at his home in Anahuac while holding his daughter Kate on his lap.  

The state of Texas failed to reimburse Chambers or his estate for large tracts of Austin land condemned in 1839 to establish the capital.  This fact led to a long series of legal contests by Chambers’ heirs who eventually won monetary compensation by an act of the Texas legislature in 1925.

Bibliography:

“Chambers, Thomas Jefferson.”  The Handbook of Texas Online.

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/fch8.html

Scope and Content Note:

The Thomas Jefferson Chambers Papers document the fifty-five year legal battle from 1870 to 1925 by the Chambers heirs to obtain restitution for lands condemned by the State of Texas for construction of the capitol.  The papers are divided into four groups, each composed of records created by Chambers or one of his heirs.  Documents of Thomas Jefferson Chambers include correspondence sent and received that concern business ventures on his property, personal diaries (1836, 1856), legal briefs and opinions regarding Chambers v. Fisk et al, land grants and other legal documents.  Records of his wife Abbie Chambers Thompson Saladee deal mostly with the administration of the Chambers estate.  The collected documents of Kate C. Sturgis include correspondence by O.M. Roberts, William Martin Walton and other attorneys concerned with the case, memorials to the Texas Legislature (1886 – 1925), newspaper reports of the Chambers’ legal battle (1925) and  maps of Travis and Liberty counties (1824-1874).  Her  collected reports include many unsigned and undated documents, most likely created by her legal counsel, that address the legal issues of the land claim.  The records of Katharine S. Evans include newspaper clippings about Thomas Jefferson Chambers and the legal battles of his heirs (1935 – 1936, 1942), correspondence from her attorneys regarding the final settlement (1925), legal documents, a photograph of Chamber’s house and other materials which she collected for historical value, primarily in regard to the claim of the Chambers’ heirs.  Many documents in this collection are retained only in transcript form, but are arranged as the originals which were at one time part of this collection.

Thomas Jefferson Chambers Papers, 1830 - 1942 (1870 - 1925)

Manuscript Collection:  MC018

Size:  .8 linear feet

Boxes:  02

Inventory

     Group:  Thomas Jefferson Chambers

     Series:  Correspondence

     Series:  Financial

     Series:  Legal

     Series:  Printed Materials

     Series:  Creative Works

     Series:  Photostats

     Group:  Abbie Chambers Thompson Saladee

     Series:  Correspondence

     Series:  Legal

     Series:  Printed Materials

     Group:  Kate C. Sturgis

     Series:  Correspondence

     Series:  Legal

     Series:  Printed Materials

     Series:  Creative Works

     Series:  Reports

     Series:  Collected Correspondence and Notes

     Series:  Maps

     Series:  Photographs

     Series:  Photostats

     Group:  Katherine S. Evans

     Series:  Correspondence

     Series:  Legal

     Series:  Printed Materials

     Series:  Reports

     Series:  Photographs

     Series:  Photostats

     Group:  Stella J. MacGregor

     Series:  General