Notes:

Data on Gen. George Mathews continued.


The Augusta Chronicle, in its issue of Friday, September 11, 1812, carried the following account of the death and funeral of General Mathews:
"CHRONICLE, Friday, September 11, 1812:

"It is not to embelish a character that ever shone without any false lustre, that you are requested to record the death of General GEORGE MATTHEWS, one of our real heroic and patriotic revolutionary fathers. On his journey to Washington from Florida he became indisposed in this city, and after an illness of 12 days expired on the 30th ult. aged 73 years - He was a native of Augusta County in the state of Virginia, & at an early period of life commanded a company against the Indians, where he distinguished himself as a brave and gallant officer at Point Pleasant, on the great Kanhawa. - He was among the earliest asserters, and defenders of our country's rights, in the times that "tried mens souls" and at the commencement of the revolutionary war he was appointed a colonel in the ninth regiment in the Virginia line - at the head of which he fell in the battle of Germantown covered with wounds, when he was taken prisoner and remained two years in captivity; being afterwards exchanged he entered again into the active service and was a zealous and valuable officer in the army of Gen. Green at the southward. In the tented field his martial spirit, prudence, enterprize and activity, entitled him to the affection and confidence of the common father of his country, and to the gratitude of all who held in veneration the liberties and independence of America. - Soon after the revolutionary war he removed to this state - his superiority of natural intellect - his wisdom in discerning, and firmness in pursuing the general good of the community, entitled him to a seat in Congress, to which he was elected in 1789 - and to the first honors of this state which have been several times conferred on him. He lately accepted an unsolicited appointment to act as an United States commissioner at the southward, and although his heart might have been stung by some recent transactions, yet never was his patriotism more conspicuous, than when he made every feeling of personal resentment yield to it - He was a stranger to adulation and equally above the smiles and frowns of power - for which, although he entertained a proper respect, yet his approach to it was ever untainted with servility and with a freedom not bordering upon rudeness, nor did he regard the rash tumultuary opinions of the day; conscious that he never had or could neglect or betray his country's interest - but that with invincible resolution he had pursued what he deemed the true intent of his instructions, and the good of the community even amidst, and against, the murmurs of interested individuals.

"In private life he was kind and benevolent - sincere ln his professions, faithful to his engagements, and inflexibly just in his dealings. He was uncommonly active for his time of life, and relying on the firmness of an excellent constitution, he neither regarded fatigue or difficulty in pursuing what he conceived to be his duty; and the disease which terminated his existence, was doubtless contracted in the service of his country. For learning before he left the southward that the Indians in that quarter were becoming troublesome, he made a visit to Col. Hawkins, to concert with him a plan to defeat or prevent their mischievous designs; that the heat of the weather, the high waters, and numerous difficulties he encountered on this rout, added to other unmerited circumstances to which he had been subjected, sensibly affected his bodily powers, and he only reached this city in time to receive the last offices of friendship, during the progress of that disease, which closed his connection with earthly things.

"On the afternoon of Monday, the 31st ult. his remains were interred in St. Paul's Church Yard, with military honors; and attended by a large concourse of citizens, who assembled to pay the last respect, to a brave soldier and worthy man the procession moved from Mr. Eabley's to the Church Yard, in the following order:--

CAVALRY (Dismounted.); Independent Blues; RANGERS with arms reversed and drumbs muffled; Clergyman and Physicians; Colonel McKinne; Colonel Ware; Maj. Hutchinson; Major Walton; Major Lark; Major Watkins; CORPSE; CHIEF MOURNERS; Mr. Charles Matthews; General Walker; Col. Isaacs; and John Forsyth, esq.; MILITARY OFFICERS; Intendant and Members of Council; CITIZENS, ARTILLERY

"Minute guns were fired till the procession reached the Church Yard; after the interment, three guns were fired over the grave by the Artillery, and three vollies by the infantry companies - Thus pass the Heroes of the Revolution one after another, to that "undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns."
-----
The WILL of General George Mathews is on record in Augusta County, Virginia, in Will Book 11, page 285, a Certified Copy of which is in my [Not the Douglas Archives] possession. It is as follows:

"Be it known to all persons whom it may concern that I George Mathews Senr. of the Mississippi Territory do make and ordain the following my last will & testament.

"1st. I give and bequeath to my dear daughters Rebecca Meriweather & Jane Telfair a tract of land in Kentucky on the waters of Green River containing by estimation two thousand four hundred acres, known by the name of the Poplar Lick, being a part of a Four Thousand acres Survey, on which Henry Roads lives, to them and their heirs forever, and to be equally divided between them as to quantity & quality.

"2nd. I give and bequeath unto my son John Mathew's three sons George Mathews, Archer Mathews and John Mathews a tract of land in the State of Ohio containing one thousand acres lying on the Ohio River about four miles below the mouth of Sciota to them & their heirs forever to be equally divided between them.

"3rd. I give and bequeath to my son Wm. Mathews' four sons George Mathews, Francis Merriweather Mathews, Charles L. Mathews & Samuel B. Mathews, a tract of land lying on Dew Creek in the State of Ohio containing by estimation one Thousand and four hundred & some acres to them & their heirs forever to be equally divided them.

"4th. I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Mary all the estate both real & personal which I received with her in marriage, also two negro women Caty & Rachel & Caty's son Burwell, a Negro slave David and all the debts due to me in the Mississippi Territory also my gold watch to her and her heirs forever. I further give and bequeath unto her for and during her widowhood, the use of the following negroes, Sam, Daniel, Joe, Edmund, Charles, Affable & her children.

"5th. I give and bequeath unto Miss Sarah Carpenter Nelson, a Mulatto child of the aforesaid of the aforesaid Negro woman Rachel to her and her heirs forever.

"6th. It is my will that all the remaining land of which I may die possess'd, shall be sold five years after my deceased, on a credit of one, two and three years, and the money arising from such sales be equally divided between my children and grandchildren who may be in then in existence; and all my personal property of which I may die possess'd I will and desire to be equlaly divided between my sons & daughters & my grandchildren of the deceased to represent their Fathers & Mothers in sharing.

"7th. I authorize my executors to complete & carry into effect an agreement entered into between myself and the agents of certain Brittish Creditors, and for that purpose I give them power to convey any of my lands.

"8th. I appoint my sons George Mathews and Charles L Mathews Executors of this my will hereby revoking all others by me heretofore made. As witness my hand & seal this 24th day of October 1806.

Geo. Mathews (Seal)

"Signed & sealed in presence of
Savinia Lewis; Archd Lewis; John Cavet

"Mississippi)
Territory) Orpham Court of Adam County

"I certify the foregoing to be a true transcript from the original filed of record in this office. In file A fold. 66 &c of "Register of Wills."

"In Testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand as Clerk of said Court and affixed the seal of office this 6th day of April 1813.

SEAL J. A. Girault D. Clk.

"Adam County Js. I Samuel Brooks, Chief Justice of the Orpham Court of said County do hereby certify that John Girault is Register of said Court, and that the above certificate is in due form, and that all acts of his as Register of said Court full faith and credit is due.

"April 6th 1813 S. Brooks J.Q.

"David Holmes Governor of the Mississippi Territory, To All, who shall see these presents. Be it known, that J Girault was on the 6th day of April 1813 Clerk of the Orpham Court of Adam County in said Territory, and that S. Brooks was on the said 6th day of April 1813, a Justice of the Quorum in and for said County of Adam in said Territory, and that full faith and credit are due to all their acts respectively as such. SEAL Given under my hand and seal of the said Territory at the Town of Washington, the 6th day of April 1813.

David Holmes

"Commonwealth of Kentucky,
Scott County set. September Court 1813

"This an authenticated transcript of the last will & testament of George Mathews is produced in Court by Charles L. Mathews one of the Executors therein named & by virtue of the certificates thereon endorsed it is admitted to record, & Executorship on the said will is granted to the said Charles L. Mathews, who thereupon took the oath required by law, and entered into bond in the sum of four thousand dollars with George Trotter Senr. his security & probate of the said will is granted him &c. SEAL In Testimony that the foregoing is a true extract from the record & proceedings of the said Court. I Cary S. Clarke Clerk of the said Court have hereunto set my hand & affixed the seal of the said County the 6th day of September 1813.
Cary S. Clarke, C.S.C.C.

"I Jeremiah Tarlton the senior & presiding Justice of the Scott County Court in the Com'th. of Kentucky, do hereby certify that Cary S. Clarke, whose name is subscribed to the above certificate, was at the time of making the same & is now the acting clerk of the said Court & that the above certificate is in due form.

"Given under my hand & seal the 6th day of Sept. 1813.
Jeremiah Tarlton - Seal

"At a Court held for Augusta County, September the 27th 1813.

"A transcript of the original last will & testament of George Mathews, Senr. deceased, was presented in Court, duly authenticated from the Orpham Court of Adam County in the Mississippi Territory, and is ordered to be recorded. And on the motion of Charles L. Mathews one of the Executors therein named, who made oath, and together with Samuel Clarke his security entered into, and acknowledged their bond, in the penalty of Four Thousand Dollars, conditioned according to law; Certificate is granted him for probat thereon in this State in due form; which said bond is also ordered to be recorded.
Teste: Erasmus Stribling, C.C.

"Recorded in the Augusta County Clerk's Office, Staunton, Virginia, in Will Book 11, Page 285."
------
The foregoing Will, from Augusta County, Virginia, lends credence to the statement in GILMER's Georgians (which will be quoted later on) about General Mathews' activities in purchasing Military Land Warrants in Ohio, Kentucky and elsewhere. He evidently died owning thousands of acres of land. Following these pages, it will be shown what happened to some of these lands, notably in Scioto and Highland Counties, Ohio.

Turning now, to a book written in the early 185O's by Governor George R. Gilmer, Sketches of Some of the First Settlers of Upper Georgia, etc., commonly referred to as Gilmer's "Georgians", we find a considerable amount of information on General Mathews and his family. Gov. Gilmer (of Georgia) was distantly related to the Mathews family and his family had also come from Virginia. He described the General as follows:

"General Mathews was a short, thick man, with stout legs, on which he stood very straight. He carried his head, rather thrown back. His features were full and bluff; his hair, light red; and his complexion, fair and florid. His looks spoke out that he would not fear the devil, should he meet him face to face..... His dress was in unison with his look and conversation. He wore a three-cornered cocked hat, fair top boots, a full, ruffled shirt at the bosom and wrists, and occasionally, a long sword at his side..... He was unlearned. He pronounced fully the "l" in would, should, etc., and "ed" at the termination of compound words, with a long drawling accent. He spelled coffee "Kaughphy". He wrote congress with a "k". When Governor, he dictated his messages to his secretary, and then sent them to James Mason Simmons, the Irish schoolmaster, to put them into grammar.

"His memory was unequalled. Whilst he was a Member of Congress, an important document, which had been read during the session, was lost. He was able to repeat its contents verbatim. Previous to the Revolutionary War, he was Sheriff of Augusta County (Virginia), and had to collect the taxes from the inhabitants. He recollected for a long time the name of every taxpayer. His memory, and sharpness in trade, enabled him to make lucrative speculations in the most unusual way. He used to go from Philadelphia to Ohio with three or four horses for his capital in trade. He knew all of the officers of the Revolutionary Army entitled to land in Ohio. He found that men would take a horse for an uncertain claim who would refuse to sell at all if money were offered, from the opinion that money, which was very scarce, would not be given but for what was known to be very valuable. He acquired a large estate in lands, principally by this kind of traffic."

General Mathews purchased the "Goose Pond", a large tract on the Broad River in what is now Oglethorpe County, Georgia. He was instrumental in persuading others from Virginia to locate in Georgia. Among them were Francis Meriwether, Benjamin Taliaferro and many others. These people formed what was known as the "Broad River Settlement." Gilmer says that they formed a society of the greatest intimacy - mutual wants making the surest foundation for the interchange of mutual kindness. As time went by these families became even more closely associated by virtue of the numerous intermarriages between their younger members. A fascinating project for someone with several dozen hours to spare would be to prepare a chart outlining the various marriages between the Mathews, Meriwether, Marks, Barnett, Jordan, and other families, but any such chart would, by its very nature be so complicated as to be unworkable. It was quite common in those days for cousins, even first and second cousins in some cases, to marry.

An account in the 1920 issue of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography gives us a first-hand account of General Mathews:

"A welcome addition to our very slender stock of information relating to the biography of this officer of the Revolutionary War is contained in the accompanying papers, in the handwriting of Col. Thomas Rodney, who was a member of the Continental Congress and, in later years, Judge of the U. S. Court for the Territory of Mississippi. They were purchased at the recent sale, in Philadelphia, of the correspondence of Caesar, Thomas, and Caesar A. Rodney.

"George Mathews served in the Indian Warfare in Virginia prior to the Revolutionary War..... It is evident from the statements made by Rodney in these papers that Gen. Mathews visited the Mississippi Territory - presumably Natchez - for the purpose of seeing his son, whom President Jefferson had appointed a Judge of one of the U. S. Courts of the Territory in 1805." [NOTE: we know, now, of course, that General Mathews, in his later years, resided in the Mississippi Territory. jrb]

"After reading Rodney's remarkable spelling of celebrated names of ancient times, it is difficult to repress a smile at his comment on the General's lack of accurate historical knowledge and his bad English.

"Sunday, March 31st 1805

"Robt. Williams, Col. Steel, Major R. Claiborne, T. Stark, Mr. W. B. Shields and Myself Dined with Genl. Mathews to day by Invitation - The Genl. is an Old officer Commanded the 9th Virginia Regmt in the Revolution - Was in the Indian Battle near the Canawa River near Mount Pleasant and was wounded at Germain Town &C and Since the Revolution was Governor of Georgia when the Famous or Rather what some think the Infamous Misisipi Georgia Grants were made - He Came here and was Married last Summer to the widow Carpenter by My self -

The Genl. Was Talkative and spoke of Hanible, Sipeo, Fabricius, Carolanus, Marius, &c &c but his historical knowledge was detached and some Times he Erred as To Time and place and frequently Spoke bad English - yet he seemed To have a pretty Strong memory - & repeated parts of Hanible & Sipeo - yet combined parts of different Speeches together without distinction of Time & place &C. He also fought his own Battles o'er e o'er & and gave us a good many other Anecdotes - In a word he was the Orator of the day - Seldom did any of us Interrupt him - I only now & then Expressed a few words to help to rectify some mistakes of Persons, Time & place in his Historical Sketches and I believd we left the Generl. highly pleased with himself - The Genl. However is a Ruff brave old Soldier - and is in many respects Respectable - nor does he lack Strong Talants but all his Opertunities have not polished them much - His wife is an Amiable woman--

"To day Munday April 1, 1805. I went to Natches in My Carriage and Took Stark With me - Dined at Boumonts - but Visited Mrs Murry, Mrs Wooldridge and Mrs Claiborne and returned in the Evening - Met Fitspatrick With Col. Girault, going to Natches - just before My Coffee Came in the Evening Mr. Brandon & Mr. Leamon Called & Took a glass of wine & I Promised to go to Brandons before he Sets of for the States - some Time next week.

Memo.

"When I Dined with Genl. Mathews at his own House He was disposed To Tell his Military Exploits - When he Dined with me a few days ago he was disposed to relate his Civil adventures as a Councillor Ec.

"He was in Congress on the first Meeting and Organization of the Federal Government - and related Several Anectdotes Shewing how he had Conducted himself and what his Sentiments had been on sever Important questions which also involved the Conduct and Sentiments of several other Members of Congress particularly Mr. Madisons the Present Secrety. of the U.S. "The General was reputed a brave officer - was in The Battle with the Indians at Point Pleasant at the Mount of the Great Canawa River - and received 5 wounds in the Battle of German Town - was a Prisoner some time to the Brittish & resided on Long Island - Since the War he has been a Representative in Congress & was once Governor of Georgia at the Time of the Yazoo Speculations?

"He is Still Healthy and Active & Comfortably Settled in this Territory Misisipi--."
[NOTE: the spelling in the foregoing is Rodney's own, and is not in the nature of typographical errors on my part. jrb].

In the July, 1969 issue of The Virginia Magazine, Volume 77, No. 3, pages 307 through 328, there appeared an article entitled "George Mathews, Frontier Patriot", by G. Melvin Herndon, associate professor of history at the University of Georgia.

In addition to many of the details of the life of Gen. George Mathews already given in this chapter, the article mentioned, adds the following data:--

".....He (George) was by far the crudest, most dynamic, energetic, colorful, and capable of the seven boys. He spent virtually all of his life on frontiers: western Virginia, upper Georgia, the Mississippi Territory, and Florida...... One contemporary of Mathews wrote: "I knew him to be a man of unwavering truth as he was of dauntless courage and gigantic mind. He was indeed illiterate, but I have rarely known his equal in energy, comprehension and moral sense."

"By the time he had reached his early twenties, he was a seasoned veteran of Indian warfare..... By the early 176O's Mathews had become a prominent and prosperous young man in Augusta County..... He and his older brother, Sampson, engaged in several economic activities. They kept an ordinary..... and ran a store..... The two brothers were very active in the purchase and sale of lots in Staunton as well as large and small tracts of land throughout the surrounding area. As merchants, they soon penetrated the whole area west of the mountains..... The Mathews firm dealt in everything from Dutch ovens to contracts for indentured servants and a few Negro slaves..... Naturally, a successful businessman would be called upon to serve his community in other ways. In the period 1763 to 1776 Mathews held numerous local offices and positions of trust in his county. He served as vestryman (1763-1768), as warden (1765-1767), surveyor of road (1768), sheriff (1770-1771), tax collector (1770-1772), and as a justice of the peace (1769-1770, 1773-1775). In addition, he became Captain of the militia in 1766..... In 1772 both Sampson and George Mathews were named trustees for the Town of Staunton.

"Mathews distinguished himself in the ferocious and bloody Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774..... It is not clear who anticipated the intentions of the enemy and initiated the counter movement that brought about the final victory, Mathews or General Lewis. Some accounts give the credit to Mathews, others claim the orders came from the General. Many years later Charles A. Stuart wrote the following account:

""I will say what Genl. Mathews (then Capt. Mathews) told me. Late in the day, he and Capt. Mathew Arbuckle being upon the right wing, and consequently near the Creek (crooked Creek), which was bordered on the east side of a ridge running down it, and terminating near the camp, perceived a movement of the enemy indicative of their intention to cross the creek and gain the heights. They (Arbuckle and Mathews) flanked off to the right, and so checked the movement, driving back the Indians."

"The Battle of Crooked Creek" was of vital importance to the protection of the camp and to the final victory. Had the Indians attained the heights east of the creek, the results might have been calamitous.

"There are several versions as to how Mathews and his regiment came to be captured (at the battle of Germantown)..... Undoubtedly, Mathews' regiment fought its way far in advance of the other American units as it pushed beyond Luken's Mill. When Mathews received orders to retreat, or was forced to do so, he attempted to withdraw via Luken's Mill. Changes in the battle lines had allowed the enemy to man the breastworks again, thus blocking his withdrawal route.

"Despite the fact that the Ninth Regiment was captured at Germantown, the entire unit, and especially Mathews, won considerable fame for their conduct during the campaign. The salvation of the American army at Germantown was ascribed in one early biography of Greene "to the bravery and good conduct of two regiments, one of which was commanded by..... Col Mathews."

"Apparently almost two years lapsed before Mathews fully recovered from the wounds he received at Germantown. Little more is known about the Colonel until the latter part of 1779, when he became active in efforts, to improve the conditions of the American prisoners in New York and effect some kind of a program for the exchange of prisoners, especially Virginians. In September 1779 Mathews appeared at Washington's headquarters at West Point with a letter from Joshua Loring, British Commissary of Prisoners. According to Washington, Mathews was sent at "the request of the Virginia Officers in Captivity, to solicit such indulgence for him and his companions, as will induce the enemy to relinquish the Executions of their threats." The Loring letter expressed deep concern about the treatment of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Hamilton, who had been captured by George Rogers Clark at Vincennes in February 1779. Loring threatened retaliation upon American officers, especially Virginians, held in New York. Since Hamilton was a prisoner of the state of Virginia in Williamsburg, Washington sent Mathews with a copy of the Loring letter to Governor Thomas Jefferson.

"The Loring-Mathews proposal that Mathews "should be permitted to remain in Virginia if Lieutt. Colo. Hamilton were permitted to go to New York on parole." Jefferson not only refused to agree to such an exchange, but stiffly refused to promise better treatment for Hamilton.....

"Undaunted by this failure, Mathews went back to New York and with Major General William Phillips helped work out a general plan concerning an exchange of prisoners.

In the early months of 1780 Colonels Mathews, Robert Magaw, John Ely, and Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Ramsay were paroled to leave New York to present the proposal to Congress. Upon presenting the plan to this body, they learned that Congress had just renewed and confirmed the exchange powers it had granted to Washington earlier..... Throughout the remainder of 1780 negotiations regarding the exchange of prisoners bogged down due to several attempts to depart from the general plan drawn up.....

"In 1781 Mathews made several more trips to Congress, Washington's headquarters, and to Virginia as a parolee. While most of his efforts were directed toward effecting an exchange of his fellow Virginia officers in New York, he also worked for the release of other prisoners, including some held aboard a British ship operating in the vicinity of Newport News. Experiencing little success in the area of prisoner exchange, Mathews sought to improve the living conditions of the prisoners. In 1781 he secured money and provisions from Congress and Virginia to make the lot of the prisoners more comfortable.....

"The atmosphere regarding treatment and exchange of prisoners improved with the passage of time and events in 1781. The British Commissary of Prisoners had written the American Commissary in 1779 that the Virginians in the hands of the British would not be exchanged until relief was granted to Colonel Hamilton. His parole in October 1780 and finally his exchange in March 1781 removed a major obstacle. Following the invasion of Virginia by the British forces, General William Phillips wrote General Weedon from his headquarters at Portsmouth, Virginia: "The two flags by Lt. Col. Mathews and Major Callis have been admitted to this place and your Letter received by them and I hope you will be convinced from these Gentlemen's Report of my conversation with them that I mean to pursue during my stay in Virginia a conduct of the strictest liberality and humanity" with regard to the treatment and exchange of prisoners "Mathews was among those officially exchanged on December 5, 1781; however, he had been at his home in Augusta County on parole for several months. He left Chesterfield County, Virginia, in the spring of 1781 and since that time had been "with care and rigid economy endavering to presarve from rail want a wife and Eight helplis children" left in easy circumstances when he went into service.

"On December 27, 1781, three weeks following the official exchange date for Mathews, he received a letter from General Greene ordering him to duty. Mathews replied that he had been recently attacked "with the appearance of a fistilo which have sence terminated in inward bleeding," which seriously impaired his health. He promised to join Greene in April, if his health permitted. Not until "about 15th November," 1782 did Mathews "and a number of others set off to Georgia....."

"While serving in the lower South, Mathews had occasion to view the Broad River in upper Georgia. This was beautiful frontier country, and the state of Georgia recently had adopted a most generous land policy in an effort to attract settlers..... Soon after his regiment had disbanded, Mathews was petitioning the Georgia Assembly for land. In February, the Legislature acted favorably on a petition made by Mathews and several others requesting that a square district or tract of land of 200,000 acres be reserved for the Virginia families they proposed to bring down.....

"Sometime during the year 1784 Mathews, his wife and eight children, and some of his Virginia friends went to Wilkes County, Georgia, and settled in the Goose Pond area of the fertile Broad River Valley, which became the first permanent settlement in present day Oglethorpe County."
RECOMMENDED READING
For the more serious student of family history the following books are strongly recommended:
For an account of the early life and times of Augusta County, Virginia:
WADDELL, Joseph A., Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, orig. publ. 1902. Reprinted C. J. Carrier & Co., Bridgewater, Virginia, 1953.
PEYTON, J. Lewis, History of Augusta County, Virginia, orig. publ. 1882. Reprinted Bridgewater, Virginia, 1953.
For an account of Georgia, etc., see:
GILMER, George R., Sketches of Some of the First Settlers of Upper Georgia, of the Cherokees and the Author, orig. Publ. 1855. Reprinted Americus Book Company, Americus, Georgia, 1926. There is also available a much more recent reprint of Gilmer, which contains an index, something the original lacked.

Notes:

The amount of material available on General George Mathews exceeds the capacity of this program to store it in one place. To solve this problem, additional children have been created, named
"additional data on George" see the notes on these children for a continuation of the data on Gov. Mathews.


Brigadier General George Mathews was born 30 August 1739, in Augusta County, Virginia, and died in Augusta (Richmond County) Georgia, on his 73rd birthday, 30 August 1812. He is buried in St. Paul's Churchyard, in Augusta, Georgia. A book published many years ago on Georgia's landmarks, memorials, and legends, states that his monument is the most frequently visited in the churchyard. The inscription on his tomb is as follows: In memory of Genl. George Mathews, who died the 30th of August, 1812, in the 73rd year of his age. Great care has been taken to verify the date of death of General Mathews, as there has been considerable variation in the dates given in previously published histories, etc. He was married three times, his first wife being the mother of his eight children. He was married first in Augusta County, Virginia, 13 September 1762, to Anne PAUL, daughter of John PAUL and his wife Margaret LYNN.

General Mathews married for the second time, in Staunton (Augusta County), Virginia, 29 September 1790, Margaret CUNNINGHAM, who was the widow of Robert REED, and the daughter of John Cunningham. This marriage ended in a divorce on 13 February 1797. General Mathews married a third time in Mississippi, in 1804, Mrs. Mary CARPENTER, a widow, whose maiden name was probably FLOWERS. Some sources state that his third wife was Mrs. Flowers, but it is evident from other data that Mrs. Flowers and the widow Carpenter were one and the same person. Other sources intimate that the General was married four times, which accounts probably stem from the confusion over Mary Flowers and Mary Carpenter. Still other sources contend that the General was contemplating a fourth marriage when he died, but this can be rejected out of hand inasmuch as the last two years of his life were spent in almost total preoccupation with the secret mission he had undertaken for the President, all of which is fully documented in the late Dr. Rembert W. Patrick's book, Florida Fiasco, accounts from which will be quoted later in this text. General Mathews and his first wife had eight children.

We turn, now, to various authorities for more explicit accounts of the life of General Mathews, who by any standard was a most extraordinary person. One of the prime sources for a characterization of General Mathews is to be found in the late Dr. Patrick's book, Florida Fiasco. Dr. Patrick was a noted historian and spent nearly ten years in researching the material used in this book, which concerns the abortive attempt by the administration of President Madison to annex Florida to the United States some few years before it was finally purchased from Spain. The following paragraphs are direct quotes from the book alluded to:

""for years after his birth, George played and explored in the woods surrounding his father's home. While still a youth he took over his father's farm, and before the American Revolution, he claimed to have amassed a sizable fortune.

"Mathews first received public notice soon after the opening of the First Continental Congress when he distinguished himself in the bloody battle of Point Pleasant. On October 10, 1774, Cornstalk, the able leader of the Shawnee Indians, with nearly a thousand braves attacked the colonial forces of General Andrew Lewis when ensconced on the promontory between the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. Among the motley colonial army of raw recruits and woodsmen, dressed in hunting shirts and wearing moccasins, was George Mathews.

"It was a typical Indian battle where every man found a tree, and military discipline in the English sense was unknown. In the battle ensuing, Mathews shot nine Indians, and escaped with no more than scratches made by the protecting branches.

"This first pleasant taste of victory and his inherited Irish hatred of Great Britain led him into the Revolutionary War. He recruited a company, and later, as Colonel of the Ninth Regiment of the Virginia line, joined Washington's Army. He was wounded in the Battle of Germantown, and his men, retreating before the advancing British, failed to see him as he lay on the field. An English soldier lifted his bayonet to stab him, but his commander caught the weapon and angrily demanded, "Would you murder a wounded officer?" Turning painfully on his back, Mathews asked, "To whom, sar, do I owe my life?"

"If you call it an obligation, sir, to me," replied the British officer.

"Mathews eyed the British uniform above him and muttered, "Well, sar, I'll have you know I scorn a life saved by a damn Briton."

"Fortunately, his wounds were not fatal. After his recovery, he experienced almost two years of living hell as a captive on board a prison ship in New York harbor; but he was exchanged in time to participate in the southern campaigns under General Nathaniel Greene, and to glory in the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.

"Mathews was a natural storyteller and the war was the source of some of his tallest stories. His own part in it grew with the years. During his lifetime he was known to acknowledge but two superiors: General George Washington, and the Lord Almighty. And as time passed, he questioned the high standing of Washington. Mathews never forgot that he "blead from five wounds in his Countrys service" and sustained a loss in his private interest of twenty thousand pounds by "depreciation of our money" during the war.

"While fighting in the South he bought a large tract of land on the Broad River and established himself and family there in Georgia in 1785. On his plantation at Goose Pond he built a one room log cabin in which he and his wife slept. Their daughters used the attic as a boudoir and their sons occupied another but smaller loghouse in the yard. Despite his later affluence and his high place in Georgia politics, he steadfastly refused to waste money for a more suitable house. It remained for his son, after the father's death, to build a magnificent plantation home.

"Undoubtedly Mathews' frontier frugality caused some of his domestic troubles.....after some years in Georgia, his Virginia born wife (his second wife, that is) wished to visit her relatives and friends. But Mathews would not have it. Evidently she had a will and temper of her own for she took her hoarded money and departed. When in time the joys of her Virginia sojourn palled, she wrote to him to come for her since she had experienced one journey alone and did not want another. Mathews quickly replied, "I didn't take you to Virginia, and I'm not going to trouble myself to go there to bring you back." After remaining separated for a few years the state legislature granted them a final divorce, whereupon each remarried."
An excellent account of the details of General Mathews' second marriage and his divorce may be found in WADDELL's Annals of Augusta County, Virginia -
"The main incidents in the life of George Mathews have been given already. He is one of the most unique and interesting of the natives of Augusta County. The life of his second wife is also full of interest.

"The maiden name of Mrs. Mathews was Margaret Cunningham. She was the daughter of John Cunningham..... Margaret Cunningham was born in, or a little before, 1747, having been baptized by the Rev. John Craig in that year. Nothing is known of her early life, except that, according to tradition, on one occasion of an alarm about Indians, she mounted a horse, and, doubtless with others, fled across the Blue Ridge.

"After attaining womanhood, she became the wife of Robert Reed, at what date is not known, but it was after 1765. Mr. Reed was the son of "John Reed of the Kingdom of Ireland," as he is described in the papers of an old suit to be mentioned. Like many other residents of Staunton in his day, he was a tavern keeper. He was also the owner of 740 acres of land adjoining the town and a house and lot in town.

".....Mr. Reed died in October, 1787, intestate and without issue. Having no heirs-at-law capable of inheriting his real estate, it escheated to the Commonwealth, subject to the widow's dower interest; but in 1789, the Legislature passed an act granting the property to Mrs. Reed. Mr. Reed, however, had a brother John and two half-sisters, Mrs. William Reed and Mrs. William Buchanan, and the descendants of one or more of these relatives, after Mrs. Reed's second marriage, instituted proceedings to obtain the property, but did not succeed.

"Up to the time of her second marriage, Mrs. Reed seems to have led a quiet and happy life. Her troubles began when she became the wife of Gen. George Mathews. At the time of the marriage, General Mathews was a member of Congress, then holding its sessions in Philadelphia. He had been Governor of Georgia, and afterwards held that office for another term. The marriage took place in Staunton, September 29, 1790, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Archibald Scott.

"When married the second time, Mrs. Mathews was at least 43 years of age. She accompanied the General to Philadelphia, and from there to Georgia; and by the year 1793, serious trouble had arisen between the couple. The General was notoriously irritable and imperious, and his wife was probably not without a will of her own. There is incidental proof that General Mathews got up some feeling of jealousy, but from Mrs. Mathews' well-known high character, there was, doubtless, no just cause for it. Col. John Stuart, of Greenbrier, was a half-brother of General Mathews' first wife, and in a letter written by him to his sister, Mrs. Woods of Albemarle, he speaks of trouble brewing in Georgia.

"In September 1793, Mrs. Mathews, her two step-daughters, and a step-son, came to Staunton on a visit. One of the daughters was Mrs. Ann Blackburn, who was married in Staunton to Gen. Samuel Blackburn by Mr. Scott on August 28, 1785. The party traveled in a carriage, and while passing through Botetourt County, one of Mrs. Mathews' ribs was broken by a jolt. For many weeks she was laid up at the house of her sister, Mrs. Smith, in Augusta. When able to travel she went to the house of her niece, Mrs. Waterman, in Harrisonburg, mainly to receive the attention from Dr. Waterman as a physician, and there she was confined to her bed for several months. During all this time no letter passed between her and her husband, although he had written to various friends in Augusta. He had assumed control of all her property, collecting rents through his agent, Major Grattan, a merchant in Staunton. He, however, instructed Major Grattan to supply his wife with whatever necessities she might need.

"The long silence between the husband and wife was broken by a notice served on her that he intended to apply to the legislature of Georgia for an Act of divorce. Then the letters between Staunton and Georgia flew fast and thick..... Whether any charge other than desertion was preferred, is not stated in any of the letters or papers on file. The General required her to return, acknowledge her error, and perform her duties as his wife; and thereupon, he would not Press his application for divorce. She charged him with cruelty, and was not willing to trust her life in his hands. He subscribed himself, "Your persecuted husband," and she styled herself "Your afflicted wife." He reminded her of her marriage vow and the love she professed for him the night he escorted her "from the ball at the courthouse;" and over and over protested his innocence of any wrong. He charged that she, while living in Georgia, had poisoned the minds of his servants, so that he was afraid to take food from their hands. She intimated that he wished to get rid of her in order to marry another woman. Many other persons were drawn into the correspondence.....

"Mrs. Mathews employed John Coalter, afterwards the Judge, as her Counsel. By his advice, she applied to Major Grattan for money to defend herself, but he was not authorized to furnish her money "to prosecute a suit against her husband," and refused her request. By the benevolence of friends, she procured the means to send Mr. Coalter to Georgia to protect her interests. He had interviews with General Mathews, who refused to appoint any time for bringing the matter before the Legislature. Thereupon, Mr. Coalter petitioned the Legislature, as a Court having jurisdiction, to require the General to furnish alimony to his wife, An Act divorcing the couple was passed by the Georgia Legislature February 13, 1797. At one time, Mrs. Blackburn called on her stepmother, in Staunton, and by her father's direction demanded and received a pair of silver spoons and a breastpin Mrs. Mathews had brought from Georgia. She complained that his children had not treated her with respect, and he, that she had neglected the children...., General Blackburn was sent in a carriage to escort Mrs. Mathews to Georgia, but she refused to go..... In one of his letters, General Mathews wrote that she knew why he could not come to Virginia, implying a physical disability.

"Finally, Mrs. Mathews brought suit in the County Court of Augusta to obtain possession of her estate, and from papers filed in the case, (Mathews vs. Mathews) we have obtained most of the foregoing facts.

"The depositions of many witnesses were taken, chiefly to show that Mrs. Mathews could not have returned to Georgia, on account of the condition of her health. Among the witnesses was Mrs. Ann Nelson, a daughter of Sampson Mathews, and niece of General Mathews, who testified that she had heard her cousin, Ann Blackburn, declare that her stepmother was "capable of any wickedness." On the other hand, a paper was filed, signed by thirty persons, including all the Presbyterian ministers in the county, testifying that Mrs. Mathews was, and always had been, eminently respectable..... Evidently the sympathy of the community was in behalf of the lady. But as far as the correspondence goes, General Mathews cannot be convicted of wrong-doing. She misconstrued some of his expressions, and in one or two instances unjustly accused him. He charged that she had excited the hostility of his servants against him, and yet, strangely, wished her to return and resume her proper relations with him.

"It would seem that General Mathews did not defend the suit. At any rate, a judgment or decree was entered in her favor, in 1796. She resumed her former name and lived till 1827, her will being proved in the County Court at December term of that year..... No one was more respected by the best people of Staunton than Mrs. Reed. Many persons not related to her testified their respect and affection by calling her Aunt Reed."
Dr. Patrick has this to say about General Mathews' political career:-
"Family disagreements did not prevent a meteoric rise in politics. His experience in the Revolutionary War gained him the rank of Brigadier General in the Georgia State Militia and forever after the title of "General." In 1787 he became governor and on the completion of his term was elected along with Abraham Baldwin and James Jackson as the Georgia representatives to the first Congress of the United States. In 1793 he was again inaugurated as governor, but his second term was his political nemesis. He unwisely signed the infamous Yazoo land grab act, and although he made no personal profits from this notorious fraud, he never recovered from the odium attached to it. So the following years in his political career were lean ones.

"In or out of politics, anecdotes which became a part of the folklore of Georgia clung to Mathews. According to one, President Madison appointed him governor of the Mississippi territory, but withdrew the nomination in the fact of Senatorial opposition. When Mathews heard of it, he hurried to Washington on horseback, tethered his horse on the White House grounds, and gave a thundering knock on the door. A responding servant reported the president busy, but Mathews stormed at him and demanded an audience. The frightened servant ran to Madison, "There's a fellow dressed in a mighty funny suit. Calls himself Governor Mathews, and demands to see you."show him in at once," ordered Madison. "Heedless of all social courtesies, Mathews immediately exploded: "Sar, if you had known me, you wouldn't have taken the nomination back; if you didn't know me, you should not have nominated me to such an important office. Now, sar, unless you can satisfy me, even though you are president of these United States, you won't be free from my ravange ."

"Madison appeased the angry general by making his son John supervisor of revenues for Georgia, and his second son, George, Chief Justice of Mississippi. Thus overwhelmed by Madison's generosity, Mathews calmed down and departed a warm friend of the president.

"The story is apocryphal, but with an element of truth in it. In 1798 President John Adams appointed Mathews governor of the newly created territory of Mississippi. Secretary of War James McHenry objected because Mathews was interested in the New England Mississippi Land Company, the claimant of extensive acreage in the territory. After Adams withdrew the nomination, Mathews expressed his disappointment in a letter to the secretary of state, but it was 1805 before he received an appointment. In that year, under orders of Jefferson, Secretary of State Madison commissioned him Judge of the Mississippi Territory. It was only a recess appointment, but in the following year he assumed the judgeship of the Orleans territory.

"Mathews long residence in Georgia, his experience in Mississippi and New Orleans, and his frequent trips along the Florida border, qualified him as an authority on the Southeast. Thus Senator Crawford recommended Mathews in the summer of 1810 when Madison was seeking a confidential agent to investigate and report on conditions in the Floridas, and again in January of 1811, for a more important mission.....

"The final important conference with President Madison was held late in January. Although Mathews was in his seventy-second year his stride was quick and firm. He was dressed as usual without regard for fashion - only his boots were more polished and his clothes brushed more carefully. These amenities were the extent of his concessions. In one hand he held his old three-cornered cocked hat; he had on worn knee breeches, high-topped boots, and a shirt with little ruffles at the bosom and wrists. A sword, the symbol of his military valor, dangled at his side. He was short, thick-set, with stout muscular legs; he stood straight with his head thrown back, his red hair wind-blown, and his dark blue eyes framed by a weathered face.

"Mathews' eyes were on a level with those of the five-foot six-inch president. Other than in height there was no similarity in the men....."
For complete details of the events that followed, up until the General's death in Augusta, Georgia, while on his way to Washington to administer a personal beating to the president, it is recommended that one obtain a copy of the aforementioned Florida Fiasco, by Dr. Rembert W. Patrick. It is thoroughly researched, completely documented and a fascinating study of this little-known incident in our Country's history. Briefly, the secret mission undertaken by General Mathews for the President was to attempt to annex Florida to the United States. The then Spanish Governor of Florida had indicated that he could be bribed to surrender the territory to the United States, General Mathews was to have explored this possibility, and failing same, to look into ways and means of acquiring Florida by other means. The Spanish Governor, it developed, could not be bought, so the General accompanied by an Indian Agent, John McKee, attempted to foment a rebellion among the numerous Americans then residing in Florida. The General and McKee made many arduous journeys along the Florida Frontier. Dr. Patrick speaks of one such trip from Washington to Fort Stoddert in the Mississippi Territory, by way of St. Mary's, Georgia:

"On this exhausting Journey the forty-year-old McKee came to know the man who was his senior by more than thirty years. His first impressions were unfavorable. To hear Mathews speak on his personal affairs, his talented children, his "bastardly" detractors, and his past services brought to mind the inevitable comparison to a puff of wind attempting to blow itself into a cyclone. The remnants of an Irish brogue, a unique pronunciation of the simplest words, and the accenting of the "ed" in words such as drowned, learned, named and returned, as well as his laborious writing and spelling of coffee as "kaughphy" sack as "sac," and knock as "nok", and laugh as "laf" caused the more literate McKee to question Mathews ability. But not for long. His adroit handling of innkeepers and tradesmen along the way (it was said of Mathews that he never made an unprofitable deal or a poor investment), his woodslore, his information about the frontier, and his understanding of men soon drew the respect of McKee."
General Mathews was successful in organizing an insurrection among the Americans residing in Florida and actually succeeded in capturing Amelia Island (Fernandina). At this point, the President found it politically expedient to repudiate General Mathews completely and order him to cease his activities, and in fact, disclaimed having given him any such instructions in the first place.

The following letter was dispatched to General Mathews:
"JAMES MONROE, SECRETARY OF STATE, TO
GEORGE MATHEWS

Department of State

April 4, 1812
"Gen. George Mathews

"Sir,

"I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 14th of March, and have now to communicate to you the sentiments of the President on the very interesting subject to which it relates. I am sorry to have to state that the measures which you appear to have adopted for obtaining possession of Amelia Island and other parts of East Florida, are not authorized by the law of the United States under which you have acted. You were authorized by the law, a copy of which was communicated, and by your instructions which are strictly conformable to it, to take possession of East Florida only in case one of the following contingencies should happen: either that the Governor, or other existing local authority, should be disposed to place it amicably in the hands of the United States, or that an attempt should be made to take possession of it by a foreign power. Should the first contingency happen, it would follow that the arrangement being amicable would require no force on the part of the United States to carry it into effect. It was only in case of an attempt to take it by a foreign power that force could be necessary in which event only were you authorized to avail yourself of it,

"In neither of these contingencies was it the policy of the law, or purpose of the Executive, to wrest the province forcibly from Spain, but only to occupy it with a view to prevent its falling into the hands of any foreign power and to hold that pledge under the existing peculiarity of the circumstances of the Spanish monarchy for a just result in an amicable negotiation with Spain.

"Had the U. S. been disposed to proceed otherwise, that intention would have been manifested by a change of the law and suitable measures to carry it into effect, and as it was in their power to take possession whenever they might think that circumstances authorize and require it, it would be the more to be regretted if possession should be effected by any means irregular in themselves and subjecting the Government of the U. S. to unmerited censure.

"The views of the Executive respecting East Florida are further illustrated by your instructions as to West Florida. Although the U. S. have thought they had a good title to the latter Province they did not take possession until after the Spanish authority had been subverted by a revolutionary proceeding, and the contingency of the country being thrown into foreign hands had forced itself into view, nor did they then, nor have they since, dispossessed the Spanish Troops of the Post which they occupied. If they did not think proper to take possession by force of a Province to which they thought they were justly entitled, it could not be presumed that they should intend to act differently in, respect to one due sensibility has been always felt for the injuries which were received from the Spanish government in the war, the present situation of Spain has been a motive for moderate and pacific policy towards her.

"In communicating to you these sentiments of the Executive on the measures you have lately adopted for taking possession of East Florida, I add with pleasure that the utmost confidence is reposed in your integrity and zeal to promote the welfare of your country. To that zeal, the error into which you have fallen, is imputed. But in consideration of the part you have taken which differs so essentially from that contemplated and authorized by the Government and contradicts so entirely the principles on which it has uniformly and sincerely acted, you will be sensible of the necessity of discontinuing the service in which you have been employed. You will, therefore, consider your powers as revoked on the receipt of this letter. The new duties to be performed will be transferred to the Governor of Georgia, to whom instructions will be given on all the circumstances to which it may be proper at the present juncture to call his attention.

"I am, Sir
James Monroe."
This rejection and repudiation from Washington so infuriated the General that he immediately set out for Washington with the avowed intention of administering a personal beating to the President. Unfortunately he did not make it to Washington, for he fe]l sick of a fever and died in Augusta, Georgia on his 73rd birthday.

"Late in August (1812) the General reached Augusta. Once there he crawled into bed. By morning his fever had mounted - he could not rise. The hot, humid air of the river The hot, humid air of the river town pressed on him from every side.... His fever continued unabated, and his once strong muscles could barely move his emaciated body. On Sunday, August 30, he would be seventy-three years of age. Sunday came and Mathews still lived, but as though that birthday were a goal of major importance, he achieved it and could go no further. Hot-tempered General George Mathews was dead.

"The funeral procession formed on Monday afternoon. At its head the Independent Blues walked by their horses and the Rangers with guns reversed followed. Behind them came Charles Mathews, John Forsyth, Ralph Isaacs, and Freeman Walker. City officials, citizens of Augusta, and a company of artillery completed the procession. Minute guns were fired as the mourners paced the distance to St. Paul's Church; in the churchyard, as the body of Mathews rested in the grave, three shots were fired by artillerymen and three volleys by the infantry.

"The militia of Augusta agreed on the propriety of wearing crepe bands and Governor Mitchell issued a call from Milledgeville for all military officers in the state to wear black crepe armbands for thirty days as a mark of respect to the memory of Mathews. In commenting on the General, Mitchell stated: "By this demise, another hero of the Revolution is gone. Whatever political errors he may have fallen into, in the course of a long public life, let them rest in oblivion. He has carried with him to the grave, many scars from wounds he received fighting battles of the Revolution - let us, therefore, pay that respect which is due to the memory of a soldier, who often braved death to establish the independence of our country."



Data continued - see Gov George Mathews' Child #9 - additional data

George married Anne Paul on 13 Sep 1762 in Augusta County, Virginia. Anne (daughter of John Paul and Margaret Lynn) was born about 1741 in Ireland; died on 21 Sep 1788 in Oglethorpe County, Georgia; was buried in Goosepond Cemeetery, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Anne Paul was the sister of Audley Paul, who married General Mathews' sister, Jane Mathews. Anne Paul Mathews was born c1741 in Ireland and died in Oglethorpe County, Georgia 21 September 1788. She is buried at the "Goosepond," in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Her tombstone reads In memory of Ann P. Mathews, wife of Genl. George Mathews, who departed this life Sept. 21st 1788, in the 48th year of her age.

Notes:

John Mathews was apparently born in Ireland and emigrated from Ireland to what is now Augusta County, Virginia, by way of Pennsylvania, with his in-laws, the Archer family, and many other Augusta County pioneer families. Various sources pinpoint his arrival in the County as early as 1724 and as late as 1739. He settled in the fork of the James River, near the Natural Bridge. Many sources attempt to show that John Mathews was a great-great grandson of Governor Samuel Mathews, and a son of Captain Samuel Mathews who died in Richmond County, Virginia in 1718. For a discussion of the various items which prove that the John Mathews who was a great-great grandson of Governor Samuel Mathews in fact died in 1729, see that John Mathews. Quite aside from the fact that this John seems to have died some twenty-eight years prior to the demise of John Mathews of Augusta County, is the fact that John Mathews and Ann, his wife, did not name any of their seven sons either Samuel, Francis, or Baldwin. This is, at best, circumstantial evidence as all branches of the Mathews family seem obsessed with the repeated use of the same given names for their male progeny.

The most often given date is that given in Waddell:

[Waddell, Joseph A., Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, second edition 1902, reprinted Bridgewater, Virginia: C. J. Carrier Co., 1958, page 209]

"John Mathews, one of the first settlers in Borden's tract, about 1737.....His wife was Ann Archer, daughter of Sampson Archer. His sister (in-law) Betsey, was the wife of Robert Renick." John Mathews died between the date of his Will - 20 April 1757, and the date it was probated -- 16 November 1757. [Will Book 2, Page 205, public records of Augusta County, Virginia.] The tract of land upon which he actually settled appears to have been adjacent to rather than actually a part of Borden's tract or grant. In 1742, John Mathews was in command of a Company of Augusta Militia, and was Captain of Militia during the time of the French and Indian Wars, and in Braddock's Campaign. [Pettigrew, Marion Dewoody, Marks-Barnett Families and Their Kin, Macon, Georgia: The J. W. Burke Co., 1939, p. 200.] His Will names his eleven children, of whom we have data concerning all but one.

Five of the seven sons of John Mathews served in and/or gave Patriotic service during, the Revolutionary War (the other two being dead by the time of the Revolution), and several of the sons-in-law and/or grandchildren also served.

"Sometime about 1735 or 1736, Benjamin Borden, Sr., (sometimes called Burden), obtained form Gov. William Gooch of Virginia, a grant of land then in Augusta County, Virginia, of 100,00 acres, on condition that he would settle on this grant one hundred families. Eventually he did bring from the North of Ireland, and settled on this grant, ninety two families, and a complete grant was made to him for the 92,000 acres. Each settler family entitled Borden to 1,000 acres around each cabin.

"Among the immigrant families who came to Augusta County, was John Mathews, his father-in-law, Sampson Archer, and his brother-in-law, Robert Renick. The names of other families were Alexander, McClung, Moffett, Mulholland, Stewart, Reid, Moore, and many other Scotch-Irish people. Mathews, Archer, and Renick settled in the forks of the James River, rather close to Natural Bridge, in what is now Rockbridge County, Virginia.

[McClintic, Judge George W., "Archer, Mathews and Others", - article in the West Virginia News, June 16, 1938, on the 160th anniversary of Greenbrier County, quoted in The Renicks of Greenbrier.]

"Borden's plan for his own profit was to convey to each of the families settling on this grant a certain number of acres, much less than the thousand acres and make his profit out of the excess of each thousand acres over and above the amount conveyed to the settler.

"He did, by deed dated 7 June 1742, grant to John Mathews, described as 'yoeman', (Borden himself being described as 'gentleman'), certain tract of land out of this 92,000 acre grant, comprising 237 acres, 2 roods and 10 poles, which small tract was fully described in the deed. This deed was recorded in Orange County, Virginia, where the land then lay, on the 26th day of August 1742, Augusta County had not yet been organized."

Recorded in Orange County, Virginia, in Deed Book 8, at Pages 135 and 136, is the following instrument:--

"Borden to Mathews

"This Indenture made the 10th day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-two between Benjamin Borden of the County of Orange gent of the one part and John Mathews of the said County yeoman of the one part. Witnesseth that the said Benjamin Borden for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings current money of Virginia to him in hand paid by the said John Mathews at or before the sealing & delivery of these presents the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged Hath granted, Bargained and Sold and by these presents doth grant, bargain and sell unto the said John Mathews two hundred and ninety seven acres two rods and ten pole_ of land being part of ninety two thousand one hundred acres of the said Borden's patent and which said patent beares date the sixth day of November one thousand seven hundred and thirty nine in the said county, viz:

"Beginning at a double popler on a hill called the Timber Ridge corner to John _____land an running thence South 42 Deg. west one hundred and eighty pole_ to ashe between two chestnut trees South forty eight Deg. east one hundred sixty pole_ to a hickory Sapling? North forty two Deg. East three hundred pole_ to a hickory and _____ white oak on the side of a hill North forty eight Deg. West one hundred sixty pole to a hickory in John _____ line thence with his line South forty deg. West one hundred and four pole to the first mentioned popler the place of beginning and all houses, buildings orchards _____ watercourses in of its commodities hereditaments and appurtenances and whatsoever to the said premises hereby granted or every part thereof belonging or in anywise appertaining and the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders rents issues and profits thereof To have and to hold the said two hundred and ninety seven acres two rood and ten pole to the said John Mathews and his heirs for one whole year and all and singular other the premises hereby granted with the appurtenances unto the said John Mathews his Exrs and _____ and assigns from the day before the date _____ during the full term and time of one whole year from thence _____ ensuing fully to be compleat and ended yielding and paying therefore the rent of one ear of Indian corn on _____day next if the same shall be lawfully demanded to the intent and purpose that by virtue of these presents and of the statute for the transferring over into _ the said John Mathews may be in actual possession of the premises and be thereby enabled to accept _____ of the reversions and inheritance thereof to him and his heirs. In witness whereof the said Benjamin Borden gent hath hereunto set his hand and seal the day & year first above written.

Benjamin Borden (Seal)

Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of :

(three witnesses)

"At a court held for Orange County on Thursday the 26 day of Aug 1742, Benjamin Borden gent acknowledged _____ for _____ granted to John Mathews which on the motion of the said Mathews is admitted to record.
Test: Jonah (Jonath.) Gibson, CC"

Recorded in Deed Book 8, at page 137, 138, and 139, of the Records of Orange County, Virginia is a Deed from Benjamin Borden to John Mathews, dated June 7, 1742, recorded on August 26, 1742, conveying outright, the same tract of land described in the above instrument.

The following is from a copy on file in the Virginia State Library, Reel 107, p. 40b.-

"Patents No. 31 - 1751-1756. Reel 29, pp 664-5.
Jhn. Matthews's Pat: 1600 acres

"George the Second and To all & Know ye that for divers good causes & considerations but more especially for & in consideration of the sum of Eight Pounds of good & lawful money for our use paid to our Receiver General of our Revenues in this our Colony and Dominion of Virginia. We have Given, Granted and confirmed and by these Presents for us our Heirs and Successors Do give Grant and Confirm unto John Matthews one certain tract or Parcel of Land Containing One thousand six hundred Acres lying and being in the County of Augusta on Mill Creek in the Fork of James River and bounded as followeth to wit:

"Beginning at a Stake near a blazed black Oak corner to Erwin Patterson's Land and running thence with his Line South 30 (deg) East eighty six Poles to three black Oaks in the old Patent line then with said line North 75 (deg) East 226 Poles to a white Oak North 18 (deg) East 54 Poles to a Hickory and black Oak corner to Thomas Williams Thence with his line North 35 (deg) East 114 Poles to a white and black Oaks corner to Williams's Then North 70 (deg) east 102 Poles three white Oak Saplins in William's line then North 3 (deg) East 238 Poles crossing Mill Creek and another Branch to two white Oaks then North 82 (deg) West 201 Poles to a white and black Oaks West 120 Poles to between two black Oaks then North 40 (deg) West 100 Poles to a white Oak on a Hill South 62 (deg) West 160 Poles to a white and black Oaks South 25 (deg) East 86 Poles to three white Oak Saplins then North 85 (deg) West 96 Poles to a black and white Oaks then South 59 (deg) West 96 Poles to a black Oak and South 17 (deg) East 22 Poles to a black Oak and Hickory Corner in Poage's Land with his Line South 40 (deg) East 1 Poles crossing Mill Creek to a red Oak Then South 30 (deg) West 90 Poles to a large Chestnut Then South 40 (deg) West 212 Poles to a red Oak and Hickory South 100 Poles to three black Oaks South East 46 Poles to two black Oaks and a white Oak in Erwin Patterson's Line with said Line North 59 (deg) East 326 Poles to the Beginning.

"With all and To have and To be held & Yielding and Paying and Provided & In Witness & Witness our Trusty and well beloved Robert Dinwiddie Esquire our Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of our said Colony and Dominion at Williamsburgh.

"Under the Seal of our said colony the tenth day of September One Thousand seven hundred and fifty five In the twenty ninth year of our Reign.
Robert Dinwiddie."
----------
The Will of John Mathews, recorded in Will Book 2, Page 205, records of Augusta County, Virginia, is as follows:

"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN the twentyeth day of April in the year of our Lord God One Thousand Seven Hundred and fifty seven

"I John Mathews of the forks of James River and County of Augusta Gent being very sick and weak in body but in perfect mind and memory thanks be to God for it therefore calling unto mind the mortality of my Body and knowing if it is appointed for all men once to die Do make and ordain this my last will and testament VIZ I principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it and for my Body I recommend it to the Earth to be buried in a Christian like and decent manner at the deserction of my Executors hereafter mentioned nothing Doubting but at the General Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the Mighty Power of God and as touching such worldly estate where with it hath pleased God to bless me in this life I give bequeath and dispose of in the following manner and form and first I order and appoint that all my just debts may be paid and discharged and Secondly I leave and bequeath to my well beloved son John all that tract or parcel of land whereupon he now liveth as it is laid off to him butted and bounded upon condition that he pay unto me or to my use the sum of eight pounds twelve shillings current money of Virginia and Thirdly I give and bequeath to my well beloved son Joshua all that tract or parcel of land whereupon he now liveth during life and at his decease to be for the use of his two children Anne & Elizabeth and if either of them die before ye age of maturity ye said estate to fall to the survivor and if both happen to die before of age the estate to fall to their Uncle George & Archer & William to be equally distributed betwixt them and Fourthly I leave and bequeath to my well beloved son Richard one English shilling and Fifthly I leave to my beloved son Sampson all that tract of land lying upon Bordens Creek called and known by the name of Kellys Entry containing three hundred and fifty acres upon condition he pay to my use the just sum of ten pounds current money of Virginia and Sixthly I leave and bequeath to my well beloved son George one English shilling and further I leave and bequeath to my three well beloved daughters Jane Anne & Rachel one English shilling each and further I leave and bequeath to my Dearly Beloved Daughter Elizabeth to the value of thirty pounds when at the age of maturity to be valued by the Executors and if she shall die before she comes to age or marriage her part shall desend to my sons William and Archer and I further give and bequeath to my Dearly and beloved William and Archer this plantation whereon I now live with the still and mills with all my household furniture to be equally divided betwixt them when at age and further I give and bequeath to my Dearly and well Beloved wife Anne all and sole management of said plantation and stock and movables of every sort untill my sons arrive at age and shall have a lawfull and decent maintenance of the same during her life and if my sons and she cannot agree when grown up she shall have five pounds collected yearly off sd. estate for her maintinance while she remains a widow but if she marries again she must remove off said premises and be deprived of all part and privilege of said estate only her body cloaths she shall have and no more and further I do leave and bequeath the sum of three pounds current money to the poor of Augusta Parish, Provided the sd. parish is not divided before my decease and if it is devided to the poor of ye parish where I belong to be disposed of at ye descretion of the Vestry I do further ordain constitute and appoint my well beloved Sons Sampson & George to be my only and sole Executors of this my last will and testament and I do hereby utterly disallow revoke and disannul all and every other former testaments wills and legacies requests and Executrs. by me made in anywise before this time named willed bequeathed (and further I do appoint my Dearly beloved sons Sampson & George my Executors of this my last will to execute and perfect deeds of Lease and Release to William Bradshaw of a certain tract of land sold to said Bradshaw) Ratifying and Confirming this and no other to be my last will and Testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written.

"Signed Sealed and Published Pronounced & Declared by the said John Mathews his last will & testament in presence of the ye subscribers Viz

Mathew Campbell N.B. before Signed Inter-Anne A (her x mark) Kelley lined give &)
John Poage John Mathews Seal

"At a Court held for Augusta County Novr the 16, 1757, This last will and testament of John Mathews Gent decd. was proved by the oaths of Mathew Campbell and John Poage two of the witness_ thereto subscribed and admitted to record. And on the motion of Sampson & George Mathews the Executors therein maned who made oath according to Law. Certificate is granted them for obtaining a probat_ thereof in due form giving security where upon the sd. Sampson & George with John Poage & John Mathews their securities entered into & acknowledged their bond.

Test

Recorded in the Augusta County Clerk's Office, Staunton, Virginia, in Will Book 2, Page 205."

The foregoing is from a Certified copy of the Will of John Mathews. One might wonder on reading same, why some of his older children were apparently cut off with only a shilling. A search of the deed records in Augusta County will show that these children had already been deeded extensive lands etc.
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Following are some notes on John Mathews from various sources, as compiled by Mildred Hanna:

John Mathews, Sr., had a grant of 1600 acres on Mill Creek of James River. Part of the tract Robert Poage obtained from George Robinson and James Wood by Caveat. Robert Poage, George Robinson and John Mathews made a rush for the Valley of Mill Creek, on Poage's Run, and scattered settlements were made in different part of the territory, before any large grants were considered by the Council. John Mathews is mentioned in Orange County Order Book of 1735-45 which , we are informed, constitutes early enough mention of him to provide eligibility for membership in the Colonial Dames.

John Buchanan's list includes John Mathew_ and he is listed on this page as a member of the Justices. On the same page, Kegley says "of the twelve most able men in the county who constituted the Vestry, John Mathews was among those commissioned. He served as a member of the Vestry until his death in 1757. Just before his death, he was elected one of the Wardens. Sampson Archer, father-in-law* of John, who was elected to the Vestry.....was the other one." (*or in light of subsequent investigation, brother-in-law.) This was Trinity Church, Staunton, Virginia, and the names are on the old record books.

The following quotation, though exasperatingly shy of source references, sheds some circumstantial evidence as to John Mathews' origins:

The following book [French, Mrs. J. Stewart, The Doak Family, pp. 89-91.] contains this:

A letter from Miss I. C. VanDeventer, of Kansas City, Mo., gives many interesting details of family history, and it is therefore quoted here in full:
503 Munford Court,
Kansas City, Mo.,
May 30, 1933.

"My Dear Mrs. French:

"I am in receipt of copies of the Lookout and also your letter, and find the Doak data interesting. Hope you have more of the early history in your book, as that is what I am interested in. Had hoped that you would have the date of marriage of Samuel Doak and Jane Mitchell, as they were married on the voyage that would have given us date of their coming. Note that you place the date of their coming to America at about 1740. Our data handed down in the family, placed the date about 1720, and it may have been between those dates. I doubt if they came as early as 1720, but possibly before 1740, as Samuel Doak, Jr., is placed as the sixth child, born in 1749, so it is probably that his parents were married prior to 1740. A John Mathews, emigrant from the North of Ireland, is said to have come in 1737, and as his history runs parallel with ours and he settled in the Beverly grant, he may have been a brother to our George. His descendants have been prominent and there is so much about them in the reference books. They were prominent in the Revolution and his son, George, was three times Governor of Georgia.

"As to the spelling of the name, it was originally Mathews (one "t"). George Mathews, who emigrated with Samuel Doak, Sr., had 12 sons and one daughter. Four of the sons, Alexander, Allen, Jeremiah, and George, when they went from Virginia to Tennessee dropped the "w" and spelled the name Mathes - the tradition is, so that their descendants would know each other.....

"The Mathews and Doak families emigrated from Ireland together, and I have the notation that their home there was in County Antrim, in the neighborhood of Ballynure, between Belfast and Ballymena. Have not looked up the source of this information just now. They finally settled in Augusta Co., Va., and the sons, Samuel Doak, Jr., and Alexander Mathes, went together to Washington Co., Tenn., and were on the way at the time of the surrender of Cornwallis. They walked through the wilderness, and Theodore Roosevelt in "The Winning of the West" says that Samuel Doak "drove before him an old flea-bitten grey horse loaded with a sackful of books; crossed the Alleghenies and came down along blazed trails to the Holstun settlements." Alexander Mathes gave fifty acres of land for the site of Washington College. He was one of original elders in Salem church and also a charter member of the college board. There was a memorial window placed in Salem Church to the three Alexander Mathes names, who were ruling elders covering a period of 102 years consecutively.....
Sincerely,
(Miss) I. C. VanDeventer."


The following was written for the Rockbridge County, Virginia BiCentennial 1738-1938, by Colonel C. N. Feamster, of St. Petersburg, Florida:--

"Many of the families who were among the first settlers in what is now Rockbridge County, Virginia remain here for a few generations and then moved on leaving their names here only in the old records.


"Captain John Mathews, commissioned Captain in 1742, took up by Royal Grant 1600 acres of land.....This tract, roughly an oblong diamond shape, extended from near Buffalo Forge to the rear of and beyond "Hickory Hill". It was three miles long and one and one-half miles wide in the middle. The Falling Springs Church and cemetery are on the tract near the Northeastern corner.....

"In addition to being a Captain, John Mathews was Justice of the Magistrates Court and Vestryman of the Church of England, and was one of the most prominent men of Augusta County as it was then.....

"Taking up the sons in order listed in the will of Captain John Mathews we find that each was deeded previously or willed, three to four hundred acres of land. Captain John owned other tracts besides his 1600 acre tract. Each daughter was willed one shilling. The second of the seven sons, John, met with dire tragedy. His inheritance, the Northeastern end of the 1600 acre tract, home and improvements were near the spring situated below the cemetery on the Falling Springs Church property..... This home undoubtedly stood about where the center of the Falling Springs cemetery is now situated. John, Junior, was also a vestryman in the Church of England.

"The oldest son, Joshua, married in 1750, died in 1762, leaving three daughters. The elder, Elizabeth, married Captain John Murray who was killed in the Battle of Point Pleasant. Martha married Thomas Posey of Fredericksburg, whose intimate friendship with George Washington was well known. He was a Major in the Revolution, later Brigadier General, U. S. Army and Lt. Governor of Kentucky. In the chancery suit over the estate of John Mathews, Junior after his murder, Martha was given the title to the part containing the Falling Springs Church property. Martha's son, John Posey, deeded his interest to his father, Thomas, on August 16, 17_7, Thomas Posey deeds 3A 15 ? Poles to the Trustees of the Church, the stone church and burial grounds having already been located there.

"The third son Richard, married Eleanor Bradshaw, a neighbor, sold his inheritance, moved to Kentucky, then to Robertson County, Tennessee where he died in 1799. He left many descendants.

"The fourth son, Sampson, was Colonel in the Revolution and one of Augusta's most prominent men. His descendants in Virginia are very numerous, but through the female lines only. Professor Alexander L. Nelson, the well known and highly honored professor of Mathematics of Washington and Lee was a descendant. Sampson was a vestryman and lay reader in the Church of England.

"George, the fifth son, was a Captain in the Battle of Point Pleasant and Colonel of the 9th Virginia Regiment, Revolutionary war..... Descendants of Colonel George in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana became prominent and amassed so much property that the remark was made two generations ago that jointly they were worth a hundred million dollars.....

"The Sixth son, William was co-heir with his brother, Archer, to that part of the 1600 acres upon which was the so-called Manor House, a large log house on the little rise where Captain John Michie built the frame house now occupied by the Claytons. William and Archer were minors when their father died in 1757....."

The serious student of the family origins etc. might wish to read the above mentioned WADDELL's Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, and for more data as well as a good background account of the events behind the Scotch-Irish Immigration to Virginia, the following book is recommended:

PEYTON, J. Lewis, History of Augusta County, Virginia, Orig. publ. 1882, reprinted Bridgewater, Virginia: 1953.

Also, Chalkley's Abstracts of Augusta County Court Records, and KEGLEY's Virginia Frontier are replete with references to the Mathews family.

John married Anne Archer WFT est 1714-1751. Anne (daughter of Sampson Archer) was born WFT est 1697-1724; died WFT est 1751-1811. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Margaret Lynn WFT est 1716-1759. Margaret was born WFT est 1699-1722; died WFT est 1744-1810. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]