This collection (88 items) is mostly made up of letters between Philip H. Mattes of Easton, Pennsylvania, and his son, Charles Frederick Mattes. Their correspondence pertains to finances and iron manufacturing, though they also commented on local and state politics and family news. Charles's early letters concern his life in Harrison, Pennsylvania, but most of his correspondence pertains to the Lackawanna Iron Works in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He discussed the company's furnaces and "rolling mill," of which he drew a diagram in his letter of May 14, 1843, and he occasionally reported on banks and local businesses. The Philip Mattes correspondence similarly relates to business matters and financial affairs, though he also provided news from Easton, Pennsylvania.
The remaining items are incoming business letters to Philip H. and Charles F. Mattes from various correspondents, including George W. Scranton, and letters between members of the Mattes family.
Philip Heinrich (or Henry) Mattes was born on February 20, 1795, the son of German immigrants John Casper Mattes (1754-1809) and Wilhelmina Dorothea Eberle (d. 1846). He studied theology and became a licensed preacher in 1807, but later changed professions for health reasons. From the 1840s-1860s, he worked for the Bank of Pennsylvania and the Easton Gas and Water Company in Easton, Pennsylvania. Mattes married Catherine Herster on May 21, 1809, and their seven children who lived to maturity included Sabina, Henry, and Charles Frederick (1819-1895). Philip H. Mattes died on May 19, 1870.
Charles Frederick Mattes was a supervisor and vice president for the Lackawanna Iron Works (later the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company) in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and also served on the boards of at least two railroads. He and his wife, Lydia Maria Platt (d. 1861), were married in 1846 and had six surviving children. Following Lydia's death, he married a widow, with whom he had a daughter, Cornelia. Charles F. Mattes died on September 3, 1895.
