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|---------Preston MATTHEWS ( - )
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|------Joel MATTHEWS (1755, (probably) Virginia - 1834, OH)
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| |---------RANSBIRD ( - )
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William MATTHEWS (1790, TN - 1869, Indiana)
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|------Patty (1757, (probably) Virginia - )
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William Matthews is listed as a member of the Kentucky Mounted Volunteer Militia from Pulaski County for the war of 1812. However, William never appears on the Pulaski County tax lists (which just means he hadn't bought land there. This is consistent with William being born in 1790 since he wouldn't have been 21 until about the time the war of 1812 came along and then he apparently joined the army and then moved to Ohio).
There is also a William Matthews on the Ross County, Ohio tax lists in 1815 who appears to be this same William. William Matthews of Ross Co., Ohio sold interest in his pay from the war of 1812 as described in the following letter of Attorney: William Matthews of Ross Co., Ohio, Bargain and Sell to Henry S. Mills of Pulaski Co., KY all the Interest of my pay for a three month's tower [sic] that I served in the year of 1813 under Col. Micah Taul, Commondant of the 7th Reg't of Kentucky Mounted Volunteers Militia (M.V.M) & request the Paymaster of said Reg't to pay same to said Mills & said Matthews do authorize Mills to sign my name to the receipt roll. ... 1st day of Feb. 1815. Signed by Wm. Matthews. Attest: Martin Gibson and Jonathon Smith. Wm. Fox, Pulaski Co., Ky. Clerk, Certifies on 11 May 1815.
Apparently Mr. Mills made similar arrangements with other veterans, on the next page of the same source is: David Humphreys, Power of Attorney to Henry Mills .... sign Paymaster receipts of Col. Micah Taul's Reg't, Capt. Samuel Tate's Co.
I am also told that William served in the West Tennessee Militia under General Cooke in the War of 1812. This is according to Mary (Matthews) Carey who obtained a copy of his discharge papers.
William and family moved to Bowling Green, Indiana where their son James was born in 1824. William's son Alfred moved to Augusta, Illinois where William used his bounty to buy land late in his later life. (This may have been a War of 1812 bounty that William received for his service.)
Given the family's origins in Greene County, Tennessee, I should also point out that there is a marriage there in Greene County on June 29, 1808 of William Matthews and Rebeckah Reed. I initially guessed that was just a coincidence, but after learning that one of William's daughters by his second wife was named Rebecca Reeves Matthews (according to the LDS AF data at least) it seems to be a real possibility that the daughter Rebecca might have been named after William's first wife (perhaps Reed and Reeves were confused/mis-remembered somewhere along the line).
Family records of William's descendents give the 1816 date of his marriage to Susanna Storms, but they also note he had a child, Eliza, born in 1813 (or 1814). This implies William was married previous to Susanna.
Corrspondence between descendents of William indicate that someone thought William was stationed at Fort Dearborn in Chicago. Another descendent saw a historical plaque that names a William Matthews as having taken part in the battle of New Orleans. We don't know it is this same William, though.
Some relatively recent correspondence calls into question whether this William Matthews is the same as Joel's son William. Here's an excerpt from the letter:
``Now to the Matthews side: The only names I know of that has been more or less handed down is William and after the War of 1812 William Jackson and Fernando Cortez and my Uncle Fernando Cortez was the last one. Oh yes he was my Dads brother and died a short time after the Civil War and Dad always said he died of spinal meningitis, the 2nd case in the U.S. He was an expert of spenceriam drawing. I have several small drawings and one quite large framed one. mostly birds that he did. There have been several Fernandos but Cortez was dropped. I traced the family while in Omaha at the library and by looking at the passenger lists for a Matthews family with a Fernando Cortez and finally found one, Wm with a 9-year old son F. Cortez on the Christopher. I followed that family down through Mass, New Hampshire and back thru Virginia thru Cumberland pass to my great grandfather William Matthews.''
I believe this was written by Leonna (maiden name Matthews), a daughter of William Jackson Matthews (b. 1855) and passed along in a letter from Agnes Zimmerline (William's granddaughter) of Adair, Iowa in the late 1990s. However, I only heard about it 3rd hand, and the details are sketchy enough that I'm not sure about very much at this point.
Some memories written down by John Robinson Covert (1886-1981), a grandson of William's daughter Eliza, present an alternate story. Some of the details in Covert's story don't work out very well and it is thought that he confused his grandmother and great-grandmother in the initial part of this, at least. Here are his memories:
He, grandpa Robinson, was from Ohio but grandma was from Kentucky and from there to Illinois. Grandmas maiden name was Mathews and her family came from Virginia. She was born in 1812. Taught school when she grew up and married a man by the name of Waters. My grandmother was born in VA in 1812. Her father was an indentured servant, a bookkeeper sent to the colonies to work out a debt. That was prior to the revolution. My grandmother [we think he means great-grand] was a young woman who was a servant to a family and had to work out a debt of some kind. When their time was up they moved to KY and married and my grandmother was born in 1812. She grew up and taught school about 1830 in KY. From there the family moved across IL and my grandmother married a man named Waters. John Waters I think was his name... Seems they were connected to or related to a family named Lily. A Perry Lily came and visited us in Redwood City when I was a little kid. Many years later I sold a lot in Glendale, Ca to a Lily and he said his father used to talk about visiting some Coverts in San Francisco. He might have been part of the old bunch but at the time I never gave it much thought.
Sources for this individual: @S194@ @S405@ @S143@ @S195@ @S406@ @S407@ @S408@
