Dates: 1936; 1967-1976.

Size: 0.10 cubic ft.

 

Biography:
Nettie Craig Lambuth Lewis

Nettie Craig Lambuth was born February 28, 1889 in a bunagalow near the mission home of her grandparents in Kobe, Japan, the only child of Robert William Lambuth (1867-1908) and Alice Eugenia Craig (1865-1894). Robert and Alice married on October 21, 1887. Robert was the second son of James William Lambuth (1830-1892) and Mary Isabella McClellan (1832-1904), and brother to Bishop Walter Russell Lambuth (1854-1921). Robert’s grandfather was Reverend John Russell Lambuth (1901-1864), and is part of the Lambuth family who settled in Madison County and founded the Pearl River Methodist Church.

Nettie’s grandparents were missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS) in Kobe, Japan, and Soochow, China. Before Alice died in 1894, she requested her daughter live with Dr. and Mrs. James William Lambuth in Japan. Soon after her mother’s death, Nettie sailed with her grandmother on the S.S. Coptic for Hawaii, then Japan and China. Sometime after both her grandparents had died, she travelled alone from Yokohama, Japan, on May 24, 1907 and arrived in Seattle, Washington, on June 4, 1907. She lived with her uncle John Hugh Craig and aunt Alice Stuart Paine Craig in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Several times between 1913 and 1917, Nettie traveled to Soochow, China, and Singapore, Straits Settlements. She taught music at the Kindergarten Teacher Training School of the Methodist Mission in Soochow, China. During this time, she met David Johnston Lewis (b. November 8, 1893-), who held such positions as American Vice Consul, Secretary of American Chamber of Commerce, and was employed by United Malaysian Rubber Company, all in Singapore.

On her application for a U.S. passport on September 20, 1917, Nettie stated that she intended to board the ship S.S. China in San Francisco, California, on October 11, 1917 to sail for Japan where she presumably reunited with David. An American consul married Nettie and David on November 28, 1917 at Wesley Church, Singapore, Straits Settlements, and on June 2, 1924 in Shanghai, China, Nettie gave birth to their daughter Jean Craig Lewis.

The Lewises traveled a lot between the United States and China. Nettie and Jean boarded the ship Shinyo Maru that left San Francisco, California, on June 7, 1927, and arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 13, 1927. Traveling again, Nettie, David, and Jean boarded the ship President Pierce that left Shanghai, China, on March 1, 1929, and arrived in Los Angeles, California, on March 24, 1929; their destination was Hawthorne, Florida. By 1940, Nettie and Jean are living in Manhattan, New York City, where Nettie died on June 10, 1965.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains a photocopy of a memoir written by Nettie Craig Lambuth Lewis titled “Mostly About Myself” on the Lambuth family's time in Kobe, Japan, and Soochow, China, from 1889 to 1936. Nettie is a descendant of the Lambuth family from Madison County, Mississippi, who founded the Pearl River Methodist Church. Also included is an introductory letter by her daughter, Jean Craig Lewis dated February 20, 1967; a poem titled “the Tree” by Olivia Sherertz Lanham; a photographic postcard of a Japanese artwork; and a program flyer celebrating the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Dwight Lamar Sherertz and Margarita Mary Park Sherertz, 1969.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Memoir. 1936; 1967.

An introductory letter by Jean Craig Lewis, dated February 20, 1967, in which she gives further biographical notes about her mother Nettie, precedes the unfinished memoir. The manuscript written by Nettie Craig Lambuth Lewis titled “Mostly About Myself” is about the Lambuth family's time in Kobe, Japan, and Soochow, China, from 1889 to 1936. The memoir is 32 pages in length, and it is divided into three sections: (I) The lives of Nettie’s grandparents, parents, and her early childhood before her mother died; (II) Nettie’s move to Japan and her youth with friends and family in Japan and China; and (III) Nettie’s introduction to reading and books. Also included are some reflections on the concerns of war among Japanese citizens in the mid-1930s.

Box 1, folders 1-2

 

Series 2: Program. 1969.

This program flyer is for a celebration on the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Dwight Lamar Sherertz and Margarita Mary Park Sherertz, Silver Springs, Maryland, October 25, 1969.

Box 1, folder 3

 

Series 3: Photographic Postcard. 1976.

This series includes one photographic postcard features a color snapshot of a Japanese artwork. No artwork title or artist is mentioned; however, the postcard image is dated April 1976.

Box 1, folder 4

 

Series 4: Poem. 1976.

This series consists of one typed poem, “The Tree”, signed by its author, Olivia Sherertz Lanham (1924-2007), and dated 1976. Olivia is the daughter of Dwight Lamar and Margarita Mary Park Sherertz, and a distant cousin of Nettie Craig Lambuth Lewis and Jean Craig Lewis.

Box 1, folder 5

 

Box List:

Box 1, folder 1: Introductory letter, Jean Craig Lewis, February 20, 1967 (photocopy).
Box 1, folder 2: Manuscript, “Mostly About Myself”, Nettie Craig Lambuth Lewis, 1936. (photocopy).
Box 1, folder 3: Program, “Our Golden Anniversary”, October 25, 1969.
Box 1, folder 4: Photographic postcard, April 1976.
Box 1, folder 5: Poem, “The Tree”, by Olivia Sherertz Lanham, 1976.