Mathews Ancestry

Purpose

The purpose of this site is to provide a space where descendants of LaFayette Mathews and Rohilla Bonnington can share pictures, primary documents, excerpts, or other artifacts of interest pertaining to our Mathews ancestors, whether they were known as Mathews, Matthews, Mathis, Mattheis, Mathies, and/or Matthias.  

Please see other sources for family relationship data, such as Ancestry.com or Rootsweb.com, as this site isn't intended to reproduce that data, just house artifacts that support or otherwise augment that information.

These artifacts are primarily organized by Mathews Ancestor, beginning with LaFayette Mathews, the sixth generation, on back to our original Mathews immigrant to America, Johann Jacob Matheis, with their spouses indented thereunder, (click on the chevron to reveal). 

 A complete, browsable list of all files and images currently uploaded can also be accessed here, including many items for our ancestors' siblings.  I will attempt in time to create additional pages for these individuals, but please see the preceding link in the meanwhile if your interest lies with one of our ancestor's siblings.

Top Ten

I have compiled the following list for those of you interested in jumping directly to what I consider to be the most noteworthy artifacts:

1. No one gets to choose their ancestors any more than they get to choose their parents.  Yet it is with profound disappointment that I must share with you that we have at least three ancestors that owned slaves.  But that is part of our family’s history, so you should know that lest you complacently assume that your family was not somehow advantaged by this fact, whether through the generational inheritance of wealth or greater educational or economic opportunities.  Evidence of this ownership can be found in census records for Jacob and Rufus Mathews, and in deeds between the latter and his Father-in-Law, John Berry, who pledged his slaves as collateral.

2. The 1870 census for Rufus Mathews finds one Nancy Mathews, black domestic servant aged 70 years old, incapable of reading or writing, residing in his household.  Her age is consistent with a unnamed female slave enumerated under Rufus in 1860 and another under Jacob in 1840.  Could she be the same individual, and if so, was our ancestor Rufus taking care of her in her old age, or continuing to exploit her after her emancipation since she had no where else she could go?  It's a question that unfortunately can't be answered based on the available artifacts.

3. It's a mystery to me why it would require a formal document much less why it would be necessary to record it with the County clerk, but the Bill of Sale in 1803 between Henry Matthews and his sons Jacob and Henry Jr. provides a highly detailed inventory of their livestock, tools and household belongings, which of course tells us a great deal about their lives.  But why did the father deem it necessary to sell these items to his sons?  Did he need the money?  Was it so the proceeds could eventually be equally divided among all of his offspring?  It's fortunate for us that he did record it, as this deed and the following item below were crucial in establishing a relationship between Jacob Mathews and his father, Henry Matthews, and in turn, between Henry Matthews and Johann Jacob Matheis, as elaborated upon in my hypothesis concerning Henry's parents.

4. The Deed between Henry Matthews and Charles Hedges in 1803 involving the sale of 97 acres in Bourbon County, KY is a fascinating transaction in that it also records the fact that Hedges immediately reassigned the property to Jacob and Henry Jr.  Why wouldn't the father just sell the property directly to his sons? Was he required to sell it to an unrelated party?  Was Hedges' participation required to circumvent some restriction or inheritance tax?  Why would Hedges participate in such an act?  Could he have been related somehow?  How about the witnesses, could they have been related, or just friends or neighbors?

5. The wills of Johann Jacob and Anna Margaretha Matheis are notable just by the fact that such artifacts could be found for individuals that died 238 years ago.  Although extremely tedious to transcribe, the will of the former provides an interesting introduction to Metes and Bounds, an antiquated system of describing real property that seems guaranteed to lead to disputed boundaries.

6. The accounts of Jacob Mathews and George Mathews documenting their tendency to be wise-asses seem quite familiar.  Could the inter-generational recurrence of this tendency be due to a specific gene within the Mathews family?  Or with the regard to the former, could it be related to the fact that he lived in Bourbon County, KY, during the time that Bourbon Whiskey was first developed, or the fact that in all likelihood he was a hemp farmer?

7. The diary excerpts of Catherine Calvert, as recorded throughout the History of Marion County, allow us to imagine the daily challenges of their pioneer life in the very words of our ancestor.  The unusually poor weather described in her diary beginning around 1831 coincides with increased volcanic activity of Mount St. Helens while her entry for November 12, 1833 also documents the Great Leonid Meteor Storm of 1833.

8. The essay by Rolla Mathews contemplating her afterlife allows us to know her through her intimate thoughts to a far greater deal than the handful of pictures I possess of her.  This was personally very meaningful for me, as she died before I had the opportunity to know her.

9. I was able to determine the exact coordinates of where our ancestors lived and acquired land in Maryland and Missouri, meaning we could visit these very sites today.   In the case of Missouri, this was made possible by an ARCGis map that allowed me to convert Township references to present day maps.  See the Google maps embedded on the webpages for Johann Jacob, Jacob and Rufus.

10. Many of our ancestors lived to a very ripe age for the period in which they lived, as documented on their death certificates for some where I have one.

• Johann Jacob Matheis: 78

• Anna Margaretha Jung: 79

• Jacob Mathews: 70

• Catherine Calvert: 71

• Rufus Mathews: 87

• Mary Mathews: 91

• George Mathews: 84

• Ida Mathews: 86

• LaFayette Mathews: 89

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the following individuals who have assisted me at one time or another in researching our common Mathews ancestry: David Mathews, Jack L. Revare, D.M. Landa, James Osbourn, Anne Cissel, and Tom Mathis.

Contact Information

Please contact me if you have anything you would like to contribute to this site or if you have any concerns over what I have posted here.

Matt Mathews

About Me

As depicted below, the origins of my family's ancestors are quite diverse, and this I think has always caused me to be interested in knowing more about them.  So when I received my Grandpa's Riddle via my father's cousin, Pat, I found myself easily hooked on genealogy.

In the course of this addiction, I have discovered how fascinating genealogy can be in terms of investigating clues and formulating hypotheses about one's potential ancestors, like being a detective but investigating events long before one was born.  I have also discovered how much more personal history can feel when considered from the perspective of one's own ancestors, like those I read about in  the History of Marion County .  As pro-Union anti-abolitionists, my Mathews ancestors found themselves in a difficult position between the Union Army and Confederate Bushwhackers inhabiting their area of Missouri, at once coerced into protecting the rail line by the former and penalized for the actions of the latter when they failed to do so. 

I used to describe my genealogical efforts as being, "in honor of those who preceded us, and on behalf of those that follow".  However, I've since questioned whether all of my ancestors are necessarily worthy of honor.  I'm not talking about my infamous ancestor, Isaac C. Glenn, who spent time in San Quentin, as I think he was unfairly convicted, and was in any event later pardoned by the Governor.  I'm instead referring to the three that owned slaves, (identified above in the first item of my Top Ten list).   I'll still include them in our family's history, but only because I think it's vital that their descendants know this fact about them, and not because of any obligation I feel to honor them. 

As to the second half of this clause, it remains my sincerest hope that my descendants for generations to come will find my efforts of interest at some point in their lives.  Hopefully my brothers, cousins and all of their current and future descendants will likewise appreciate knowing more about our common ancestors.

Additional Branches

• Glenn Ancestry

• Poon Ancestry

• Bonnington Ancestry (forthcoming)

• Fuhrman Ancestry (forthcoming)