| Archer Mathews | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates | In office 1780–1782 | ||
| Preceded by | John Stuart | ||
| Succeeded by | James Reid | ||
| Personal details | |||
| Born | 1744 Augusta County, Virginia | ||
| Died | c.1796 Lewisburg, West Virginia | ||
| Spouse(s) | Letitia McLanahan | ||
| Relations | Mathews family | ||
| Occupation | Saddler Politician | ||
| Military service | |||
| Service/branch | Virginia militia | ||
| Battles/wars | American Revolution | ||
Archer Mathews (1744 - c. 1796) was an American pioneer and politician from Greenbrier County, Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Greenbrier County and a founder of the city of Lewisburg, West Virginia.[1][2]
Life[]
Archer Mathews was born in 1744 in Augusta County, Virginia to John and Anne (Archer) Mathews. His parents were among the first settlers of Augusta County who had immigrated to America during the Scotch-Irish immigration of 1710-1775.[3] John Mathews was a prominent member of the community who held several elected positions in the county.[4] On his father's death, he inherited a part of the family property.[5] He sold his share to a brother and moved to Greenbrier County, where brothers Sampson and George had established the county's first mercantile outpost.[6] In Greenbrier County, he was saddler.[2] He was active in the Virginia frontier skirmishes between European settlers and local Native American tribes, and when Fort Randolph was erected at the site of the Battle of Point Pleasant of Dunmore's War—fought primarily between Virginia militia and Shawnee Indian and Mingo—he acted as commissary, purchasing a large drove of cattle and hogs for the post.[2] He served in the Virginia militia during the American Revolution,[5] afterward marrying Letitia McLanahan.[7]
Greenbrier Lodge A.F. & A.M., chartered December 5, 1796 by Archer Mathews, James W. Williams, and John C. Brown
He served as one of Greenbrier County's first magistrates, overseeing road construction, surveying the land, and holding court.[7] He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from Greenbrier County from 1780-1782.,[1] and in the latter year was appointed one of eight original trustees of the city of Lewisburg, Greenbrier County on its foundation by the Virginia General Assembly.[2] As trustee he divided the city land into plots to be sold.[8] One such plot was bought by a nephew, Joseph Mathews, who was the grandfather of West Virginia Governor Henry Mason Mathews.[9]
In later life he was a charter member of the Greenbrier Masonic Lodge A.F. & A.M. when it was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Virginia on December 5, 1796.[10] This lodge is the oldest Masonic Lodge west of the Allegheny Mountains.[7][10] He died c. 1796 and was buried at the Old Stone Church in Lewisburg, West Virginia.
See also[]
- Mathews (Augusta) political family
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Leonard, Cynthia Miller 1978. The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619-January 11, 1978: a bicentennial register of members. Virginia State Library
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Rice, Otis K. 1986. A History of Greenbrier County. Greenbrier Historical Society, p. 116 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Rice" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Waddell, Joseph A (1902) "Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 Waddell's Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871, Retrieved October 20, 2012
- ↑ Cole, J. R. (1917). "History of Greenbrier County." Greenbrier Historical Society: Lewisburg, WV. p 67-72 http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/WV-FOOTSTEPS/1999-09/0937846706Retrieved November 2, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Boots, John R. (1970). The Mat(t)hews family: an anthology of Mathews lineages. The University of Wisconsin - Madison
- ↑ Handley, Harry E. (1963), "The Mathews Trading Post", published in The Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society: Volume 1, Number 1 (Lewisburg, West Virginia: Greenbrier Historical Society, August 1963) http://www.gillilandtrails.org/pages/MathewsTradingPost.asp Retrieved October 28, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Dayton, Ruth W. (2009). "Greenbrier Pioneers and Their Homes." The History of West Virginia, Old and New (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009) p.215. http://books.google.com/books?id=ea6aAJ01TRkC&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=%22archer+mathews%22+%22general+assembly%22+virginia&source=bl&ots=P3DYBHzamc&sig=7eQ4v9M4q3Ipu3Xy58b73GFk-v8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pmOHUJahGoLM9gT8uoGIDg&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22archer%20mathews%22%20%22general%20assembly%22%20virginia&f=falseRetrieved October 23, 2012
- ↑ Greenbrier Historical Society (1938) Greenbrier Historical Society Historical Booklet, Greenbrier Co., 1938. http://www.lewisburg.org/history/mathewsbio.htmRetrieved 2012-10-19
- ↑ Combs, James Thurl (1987). "Greenbrier, C.S.A. Wartime Letters of Mason Mathews to his son Captain Joseph William Mathews, C.S.A." The Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society (Parsons, West Virginia: Greenbrier Historical Society) V (1): 5-44.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lewisburg History Project (2005). http://www.lewisburg.org/history/firstmasoniclodge.htm Retrieved December 5, 2012.
The original article can be found at Archer Mathews and the edit history here.