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John Mathews (American pioneer)

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John Mathews
Personal details
Died 1757
Augusta County, Virginia
Nationality British-American
Spouse(s) Ann Archer
Children
Eleven, including:
Occupation
  • Public officer
  • militia officer
  • farmer
Military service
Allegiance Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain
Service/branch Virginia provincial militia
Rank Captain
Battles/wars French and Indian War
 • Braddock expedition

John Mathews (died 1757) was an early American pioneer in the present-day U.S. state of Virginia. Likely born in Ireland, Mathews was among the first residents of Augusta County, Virginia (present-day Rockbridge County), and served as an officer in the county militia, a vestryman, justice, and de facto public officer, tending to local religious, administrative and infrastructural needs. He was the progenitor of the Mathews political family from Virginia and the American South. His sons included George Mathews (1739–1812) and Sampson Mathews (c. 1737–1807). Other descendants include Henry M. Mathews (1834–1884) and Mason Mathews Patrick (1863–1942).

Origin[]

John Mathews' place of birth and parentage are subject to debate. He arrived in the Valley of Virginia in the years before the establishment of Augusta County, Virginia in 1738.[1] Many sources identify him as a Scotch-Irish immigrant or of Irish ancestry,[2][3][4] with others specifying that he or his descendants were of Welsh ancestry.[5]

The Scotch-Irish immigration to America began in 1717, with an influx of immigrants settling in Chester, Pennsylvania from 1719 to 1722,[6] which at that time encompassed the banks of the Susquehanna River to the north and south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.[7] The majority of these early Scotch-Irish settlers of Chester County, Pennsylvania are thought to have come from the northwest of Ireland due to their naming conventions of Pennsylvania towns (such as Derry, Donegal, and Toboyne, all named for their respective towns in northern Ireland to the west of the River Foyle),[8] and it is believed that all of the early settlers of Augusta County, Virginia came from these settlement in Pennsylvania.[9]

An 1869 London publication states that a branch of a prominent Welsh Mathew family settled "in the north-west of Ireland,"[10] leading some to suggest that John Mathews of Augusta County, Virginia was a descendant of this family through a Theobald Mathew (d. 1699), whose father George Mathew moved from Radyr, Wales to Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland in 1625.[11][12] Others have claimed that John Mathews descended from the same Welsh Mathew family, but through different branches. A great-grandson of John Mathews, James Hervey Otey, claims that Mathews descended from Samuel Mathews (1630–1660), a colonial governor of Virginia,[13] and another sources indicates that John Mathews was the son of British admiral Thomas Mathews.[14] None of these connections have been noted by professional scholars.[15][16]

Historians Joseph Waddell and Lymon Chalkley, whose early secondary source works compile records of Mathews' life, do not speculate on Mathews' ancestry, and state that the time and place in which Mathews settled (present-day Rockbridge County, Virginia) was predominately settled by Scotch-Irish immigrants, with Waddell stating that "up to the time of the Revolutionary War, very few persons of any other race [besides Scotch-Irish] came to live in the county."[17]

Life[]

Borden's tract

Map of Borden's Tract, Augusta County, Virginia, circa 1757. Mathews owned land in and around this tract.

John Mathews settled in Augusta County, Virginia, in what is present-day Rockbridge County, around 1737.[1] At this time, Augusta County was a sparsely populated frontier county with an indefinite western boundary.[18] The Colonial Virginia government sought to develop "buffer settlements of European Protestants" to protect the interior of the colony from Indian conflict and prevent French expansion eastward, among other reasons.[19] In pursuit of this aim, the State was willing to grant extensive land and delegate high authority to a select few early settlers of the region, who quickly formed a frontier elite and fashioned a conservative, hierarchical society which closely mirrored those of eastern Virginia.[20] This reality of land distribution in Augusta County runs counter to the long-held belief that the American frontier was a source of opportunity for settlers of low means and status.[21] Mathews settled early in Borden's Tract, a 92,100 acre tract granted by the Virginia Governor's Council to land speculator Benjamin Borden, who recruited immigrants from the Scotch-Irish immigration of 1717–1775.[22][23] When new land opened to for settlement in the upper valley to the south of Borden's tract, Mathews made a rush for these lands and in 1739 received a grant for 1,600 acres,[24] which placed him among the top freeholders in the county by acreage. Only thirteen men owned more than 1000 acres in 1745, at a time when approximately two-thirds of eligible white men owned no land at all.[25] Mathews' tract was located in the valley of Mill Creek, a tributary of Buffalo Creek.[26] Of an oblong diamond shape three miles long and a half mile wide in the middle, this tract extended near present-day Buffalo Forge to the north and Hickory Hill to the south; the Falling Springs Presbyterian Church is now located on this site.[27] Mathews built a log "Manor House" in the southwest corner of this property, where he remained for life.[27] Over ensuing years, he bought and sold numerous landholdings and made improvements to his lands.[28][29] In 1748, he was identified in county records as a yeoman farmer,[30] but by 1750 he was recognized as a gentleman, or a member of the landed gentry of colonial Virginia.[31][32]

In 1746, in what was the first election held in the county, Mathews was elected to the vestry of the Anglican Church for the Augusta Parish, along with eleven other men.[33] At this time in Virginia, vestrymen, though ecclesiastic officials, were de facto public officers who represented the entirety of the local government,[34] and held its first meetings in the county courthouse.[35] While Mathews and his sons identified with the Anglican church, most of the elected vestrymen were Presbyterian.[36] Waddell explains that these Presbyterians "probably pleaded the necessity" of taking the oaths of allegiance to the established Church of England despite their dissent.[37] Despite being a minority, the Anglican coalition shaped early religious life in the county and formed an alliance with its Presbyterian counterpart.[38] Mathews' duties as a vestryman included processioning lands, issuing levies, providing for parish expenses, tending to the poor, and other local administrative needs.[37] Vestrymen also served as churchwardens for the county, and in this role were responsible for the upkeep of public morals.[39] The traditional role of the vestry also included the responsibility for roads in the parish.[37] Mathews acted as an overseer of construction efforts in the county, including, in 1753, a road in the North Forks of the James River, for which forty-five workers were employed,[40] and another, presumably smaller road, begun in 1754, for which three men were employed.[41] Additionally, Mathews house served as an informal church for the Anglican congregation on at least one occasion.[42][43]

Mathews was recommended justice of the peace of the Magistrate's Court for Augusta County in 1746, and qualified by the fall of 1751.[44] In this role, he issued warrants and reviewed arrests.[45] This was the most authoritative position in the county, and it was typically held by the county's largest landholders.[46] Justices controlled appointments to other important offices, which resulted in justices concurrently occupying multiple positions of high authority.[47]

Mathews, like all able-bodied men of Augusta County, served as a member of the county militia,[48] and in 1742 became a captain of militia.[27][49] At this time, the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, finding the white settlers of western Pennsylvania and Virginia to be in violation of the 1722 Treaty of Albany, launched numerous offensives against the frontier communities,[50] resulting in significant losses to life and property of Augusta County settlers.[51] Such activity would continue over the years, often during winter, when food and supplies were relatively scarce. Mathews cited "losses by Indians" in the winter of 1745.[52] When the French and Indian War broke out in 1755, up to five of Mathews' sons served in the Braddock's Expedition to capture the French Fort Duquesne in an attempt to secure the border and halt French and Indian advances into British settlement territory.[53][54] The result was a decisive defeat for the British; of the approximately 1,300 men Braddock led into battle, 456 were killed and 422 wounded, with Braddock among the dead. In the following year, 1756, Mathews retained his commission of captain of infantry for the Augusta County militia.[55] It wouldn't be until the years 1758–1761, after Mathews' death, that Augusta County would see a brief reprieve from Indian warfare.[56]

In the year of his death, 1757, Mathews was serving as one of two county churchwardens.[57] In his will he bequeathed his lands and property to his wife and children, and left ten dollars to the poor of the Augusta parish.[58]

Family[]

Main article: Mathews family

John Mathews married Ann Archer, a Scotch-Irish immigrant.[59] They had eleven children: John, Joshua, Richard, Sampson, George, William, Archer, Jane, Anna, Rachel, and Elizabeth.[1] Mathews' eldest son, John, was murdered along with his family in their home in 1763.[1][60] A relative of Joshua Mathews later deeded this land to the trustees of the Falling Springs Presbyterian Church, which now stands on this site.[27] Four of Mathews' sons served in public office in the State of Virginia: Sampson, George, and Archer Mathews were elected to the Virginia General Assembly,[61][62][63] and William Mathews was a justice of the peace in his locality.[64] George Mathews additionally served as a governor of Georgia and a US Representative to the First Congress.[65]

Other notable descendants[]

Numerous descendants of John Mathews have had notable roles in public affairs. Some of them are listed below:

  • George Mathews Jr. (1774–1836); Presiding Judge of the Louisiana Supreme Court[66]
  • John Mathews (1768–1849); Virginia House Delegate[67][68]
  • James W. Mathews (d. 1825); Virginia House Delegate[27][69]
  • Mason Mathews (1803–1878); Virginia House Delegate[70][71]
  • Henry M. Mathews (1834–1884); 5th Governor of West Virginia[70]
  • Alexander F. Mathews (1838–1906); West Virginia University Regent[72]
  • William G. Mathews (1877–1923); Federal Judge[70][73]
  • Mason Mathews Patrick (1863–1942); Chief of U.S. Army Air Service/Corps[72]
  • George Mathews Edgar (1837-1913); President of University of Arkansas[74]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Waddell, p. 309.
  2. ↑ * Herndon, G. Melvin (1969). "George Mathews, Frontier Patriot". pp. 307–328. JSTOR 4247487. 
  3. ↑ Washington & Lee University (1890). Washington and Lee University (1890). Historical Papers, Volumes 1-2. Lexington, Virginia: The New York Public Library. p. 88. https://books.google.com/books?id=9p4gAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA87. Retrieved April 17, 2020. 
  4. ↑ Morton, p. 40.
  5. ↑ Atkinson, p. 229.
  6. ↑ Bolton, p. 271.
  7. ↑ Bolton, p. 276.
  8. ↑ Bolton, p. 272.
  9. ↑ Waddell, p. 26.
  10. ↑ Notes, p. 298.
  11. ↑ Boots, p. 68.
  12. ↑ Mathews, David (2012). Why Public Schools? Whose Public Schools?: What Early Communities Have To Tell Us. NewSouth Books. p. 32. ISBN 978-1603062602. https://books.google.com/books?id=GeVNZYUOASQC&q=%22mathews%22&pg=PA32. Retrieved July 19, 2019. 
  13. ↑ Otey, pp. 161, 117.
  14. ↑ Callahan, p. 8.
  15. ↑ Dorman, p. 636-648.
  16. ↑ Stephen, p. 46.
  17. ↑ Waddell, p. 1.
  18. ↑ "August County, VA: History". Augusta County, Virginia. http://www.co.augusta.va.us/Index.aspx?page=422. 
  19. ↑ Hofstra, Warren (1998). "The Extention of His Majesties Dominions":The Virginia Backcountry and the Reconfiguration of Imperial Frontiers. 84. Richmond, Virginia: Journal of American History. p. 1284. 
  20. ↑ McCleskey, p. 4
  21. ↑ McCleskey, p. 56
  22. ↑ Fischer, David (1989). Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. Oxford University Press. p. 606. ""...early immigration was small,...but it began to surge in 1717."" 
  23. ↑ Hofstra, Warren (2016). Benjamin Borden (1675–1743). Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Borden_Benjamin_1675-1743. Retrieved April 17, 2020. 
  24. ↑ Kegley, p. 60.
  25. ↑ McCleskey, p. 74, 57
  26. ↑ Kegley, p. 63.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 Feamster
  28. ↑ Chalkley3, p. 268, 315, 341,
  29. ↑ Chalkley3, p. 33.
  30. ↑ Chalkley3, p. 268.
  31. ↑ Chalkley3, p. 341.
  32. ↑ CWF
  33. ↑ Waddell, p. 58.
  34. ↑ Peyton, p. 97.
  35. ↑ Waddell, p. 60
  36. ↑ McCleskey, p. 178, 201-202
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Waddell, p. 59.
  38. ↑ McCleskey, p. 175-176, 191
  39. ↑ Waddell, p. 58–59.
  40. ↑ Chalkley, p. 61.
  41. ↑ Chalkley, p. 62.
  42. ↑ Waddell, p. 118.
  43. ↑ McCleskey, p. 178
  44. ↑ Chalkley, p. 17, 48
  45. ↑ Chalkley, p. 434.
  46. ↑ McCleskey, p. 213, 91
  47. ↑ McCleskey, p. 213
  48. ↑ Waddell, p. 45.
  49. ↑ Morton, p. 54.
  50. ↑ Walton, Joseph S. (1900). Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of Colonial Pennsylvania, pp. 114. Retrieved 12/18/18 from https://archive.org/details/cu31924087975466/page/n135
  51. ↑ Waddell, p. 46.
  52. ↑ Chalkley, p. 15.
  53. ↑ Henning, pp. 194-195.
  54. ↑ Withers, Alexander (1831). Chronicles of Border Warfare, or, A History of the Settlement by the Whites, of north-western Virginia: and of the Indian wars and massacres, in that section of the state; with reflections, anecdotes, &c. Clarksburg, Virginia: J. Israel. p. 66. OCLC 644557683. https://archive.org/details/chroniclesborde02drapgoog/page/n90/mode/2up. Retrieved June 21, 2021. 
  55. ↑ Waddell, p. 137.
  56. ↑ Waddell, p. 162.
  57. ↑ Chalkley, p. 494.
  58. ↑ Morton1920, p. 58, 176.
  59. ↑ Waddell, p. 309,
  60. ↑ Morton1920, p. 68.
  61. ↑ Kromkowski, http://vavh.electionstats.com/php/bio.php?pid=4813
  62. ↑ Kromkowski, http://vavh.electionstats.com/php/bio.php?pid=4805
  63. ↑ Kromkowski, http://vavh.electionstats.com/php/bio.php?pid=4797
  64. ↑ McIlwaine, H.R. (1922). Justices of the Peace of Colonial Virginia: 1757-1775. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia State Library. pp. 99, 112. OCLC 857914975. https://archive.org/details/justicesofpeaceo1423virg/page/n5. Retrieved April 17, 2020. 
  65. ↑ Ebel, Carol (2003). "George Mathews (1739-1812)". Georgia Humanities and the University of Georgia Press. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/george-mathews-1739-1812. 
  66. ↑ Louisiana Supreme Court
  67. ↑ Cole, p. 70.
  68. ↑ Kromkowski, C. (2005). "The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2007". University of Virginia Library. http://vavh.electionstats.com/php/bio.php?pid=4803. 
  69. ↑ Kromkowski, C. (2005). "The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2007". University of Virginia Library. http://vavh.electionstats.com/php/bio.php?pid=4802. 
  70. ↑ 70.0 70.1 70.2 White, James T. (1904). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. p. 431. OCLC 1007087389. https://books.google.com/books?id=TnNMAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved April 17, 2020. 
  71. ↑ Kromkowski, C. (2005). "The Virginia Elections and State Elected Officials Database Project, 1776-2007". University of Virginia Library. http://vavh.electionstats.com/php/bio.php?pid=4804. 
  72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 Cole, p. 71.
  73. ↑ Atkinson, George Wesley (1919). Bench and Bar of West Virginia. Charleston, West Virginia: Virginia Law Book Company. p. 279. OCLC 8899470. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_qi8aAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved April 17, 2020. 
  74. ↑ Grose, S.E. (1997). Greenbrier County, West Virginia Heritage. Greenbrier County, West Virginia: Greenbrier Heritage Book Committee. p. 59. ISBN 9780806346687. OCLC 367713986. https://books.google.com/books?id=ea6aAJ01TRkC&q=%22archer+mathews%22+%22general+assembly%22+virginia&pg=PA215. Retrieved April 17, 2020. 

Bibliography[]

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