A Guide to the Jefferson Chaison-Holland Family Papers, 1880-1999

Biographical Note

Claude Elery Holland was born in 1904 to William Claude Holland, son of William E. Holland and Josephine Brown, and Ola Gripon. Claude Elery Holland graduated from Beaumont High School; South Park Junior College; The University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a bachelor’s in business administration; and Houston’s School of Law. After graduating from law school, Claude Elery held many positions in insurance, the military, and law. He worked for T.H. Mastin and Company, in the insurance industry, as a territorial manager, and eventually retired as the owner-operator of Holland Insurance Agency. While working for T.H. Mastin and Company Holland married Eloise Chaison, who was born in 1909, and who also attended Beaumont High School. Prior to her marriage to Claude Elery, Eloise was wed to Edward Laughlin, who died May 13, 1937. She was a civic and church leader involved in the Junior League of Beaumont and the Texas Gulf Historical Society. Together Claude and Eloise had two children, David and Jimmie. While the children were still young, Claude Elery began a lengthy career in the Navy spanning 1942 to 1962. He sailed on the USS Starlight to Pearl Harbor, where he was an administrative assistant to the commander of the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. Additionally, he was an air raid warden for Harris County in 1942. Claude Holland was a member of many organizations including the Beaumont Country Club, International Hospitality Committee, and Royal Order of Jesters. Both Claude and Eloise were members of the Anglo-Texan Society founded in 1953 to foster and promote friendship between Texas and the United Kingdom. One of Claude Elery’s cousins, Corwin G. Mendenhall, had a celebrated military career in the Navy. He was the Captain of the USS Warrington and wrote about his experiences aboard the USS Sculpin and the USS Pintado in his book, Submarine Diary.

Eloise Chaison Holland was born to Charles James Chaison and Lola Lebleu. Charles founded both the Jefferson Townsite Company, which engaged primarily in the rental of real estate and the construction of homes, and the Texas Rice Land Company, which profited from rice farming and cattle raising. Her grandparents were Clara Baldwin and Thomas Jefferson Chaison, who served as Jefferson County’s first county judge in 1890. Her great-grandparents were Elizabeth McFaddin and a cattle rancher, Magloire Chaison. Eloise Chaison’s lineage traces back to Jean Baptiste Chaison, the father of Magloire Chaison, and one of two veterans of the American Revolution buried in Jefferson County.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, legal and financial documents, printed material, case files, maps, photographs, scrapbooks, and artifacts document the Chaison and Holland families in Beaumont, Texas from 1897 to 1999. The collection is comprised of five series: Claude Elery Holland papers, Eloise Chaison Holland papers, Holland family papers, Chaison family papers, and family business interests. Family members are listed chronologically within the Holland family papers and Chaison family papers. The majority of the records were created by Claude Elery Holland and Eloise Holland. Claude Elery’s papers document his life in the navy from 1941 to 1962, including military education, training orders, guides, and a typed diary of his experiences at Pearl Harbor. Eloise Chaison Holland’s papers document the resolution of her first husband, Edward Laughlin’s, estate, as well as Eloise’s presidency of the Junior League of Beaumont and membership in the Texas Gulf Historical Society. The Holland family papers reflect the lives of William Claude Holland, Ola Gripon, William E. Holland, Tracy Gripon, David Holland, Jimmie Holland, and Corwin Guy Mendenhall, including William Claude Holland’s career as an auto mechanics teacher at South Park Public Schools. The Chaison Family papers are comprised largely of correspondence between Charles J. and Lola Lebleu Chaison and their daughter Eloise. Assorted correspondence, ephemera, and newspaper clippings document Beaumont history, including early church history, Spindletop, and social events, as well as Chaison family members and friends, including Jefferson Chaison, Jean Houk, Jean Baptiste Chaison, Clara Chaison, and other prominent members of the Beaumont community. Family business interests include the Texas Rice Land Company, Chaison Construction Company, and Jefferson Chaison Townsite Company. Records of the Texas Rice Land Company and its parent company, the Jefferson Chaison Townsite Company, document the administrative history of the company, family struggles over the company’s management, and property lines. The Chaison Construction Company is documented only by a company calendar.

Restrictions

Use Restrictions

A portion of these papers is restricted. Contact repository for further information.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Jefferson Chaison-Holland Family Papers, 1897-1999, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Detailed Description of the Papers