Toy, Matilda
Title
Toy, Matilda
Description
Matilda Toy is an example of an itinerant boarding house operator, moving to different rented houses from year to year.
Biographical Text
Matilda Toy operated a boarding house during 1887 at 37 Cooper Street, where she lived with her husband, Jacob, an electrician. Their boarders included Bowman Shivers, sergeant-at-arms office (doorkeeper) for the United States Senate; John Willits, a laborer; Amos Homan, a cigar dealer; and Matilda's brother Harry Lounsberry, a tinsmith. Matilda Toy subsequently operated boarding houses at other addresses in the vicinity of the Camden waterfront. Following the death of Jacob Toy c. 1895, Matilda met her second husband, widowed railroad foreman William P. Lewis, when he lived as a boarder in her home at 422 Stevens Street. They married in 1904.
Time period on Cooper Street
1887
Location(s) - Cooper Street
37 Cooper Street
Location(s) - Other
309 Market Street (operated boarding house, 1888)
403 Arch Street (operated boarding house, 1891)
422 Stevens Street (operated boarding house from at least 1895 until at least 1900)
403 Arch Street (operated boarding house, 1891)
422 Stevens Street (operated boarding house from at least 1895 until at least 1900)
Occupation
Boarding house operator
Birth Date
January 1849
Birthplace
New Jersey
Death Date
March 8, 1911
Associated Individuals
Jacob Toy (first husband, d. by 1895)
Harry T. L. Toy (son), b. February 1872, a paper hanger in 1900
Vera H. Toy (daughter), b. November 1883
Bowman H. Shivers (boarder)
John Willits (boarder)
Amos Homan (boarder)
Harry Lounsberry (brother and boarder)
Charles B. Lounsberry (brother, Elizabeth NJ in 1912)
Alfretta Lounsberry (sister, in Camden in 1912)
Arilia L. Phillips (sister, in St. Paul in 1912)
William P. Lewis (second husband, married in 1904)
Harry T. L. Toy (son), b. February 1872, a paper hanger in 1900
Vera H. Toy (daughter), b. November 1883
Bowman H. Shivers (boarder)
John Willits (boarder)
Amos Homan (boarder)
Harry Lounsberry (brother and boarder)
Charles B. Lounsberry (brother, Elizabeth NJ in 1912)
Alfretta Lounsberry (sister, in Camden in 1912)
Arilia L. Phillips (sister, in St. Paul in 1912)
William P. Lewis (second husband, married in 1904)
Sources
Camden City Directories (Ancestry.com)
New Jersey Marriage Index (Ancestry.com)
Obituary for Matilda Lounsberry, Monmouth Democrat, March 14, 1912 (Newspapers.com)
U.S. Census (Ancestry.com)
New Jersey Marriage Index (Ancestry.com)
Obituary for Matilda Lounsberry, Monmouth Democrat, March 14, 1912 (Newspapers.com)
U.S. Census (Ancestry.com)
Research by
Charlene Mires
Posted by
Charlene Mires
Collection
Citation
“Toy, Matilda,” Learning From Cooper Street, accessed February 13, 2025, https://omeka.camden.rutgers.edu/items/show/33.