Guide to the John Mathews Collection

Biography of John Mathews

John Mathews (sometimes spelled Matthews) was born December 18, 1765, in Brain Tree (New Braintree), Massachusetts, the sixth of ten children born to Daniel Mathews and Huldah Putnam Mathews. Daniel Mathews was a farmer and millwright. Huldah Putnam Mathews was the daughter of Elisha Putnam of Salem, Massachusetts, and sister of Rufus Putnam, one of the founders of Marietta, Ohio. John Mathews left home in the summer of 1780, before he was fifteen years old (perhaps to escape his domineering father), ending his formal education. Young as he was, he served in the Revolution as a soldier in the Massachusetts line of the Continental Army, under his uncle, Rufus Putnam.

Mathews was eighteen when the Revolution ended and, according to his son, James (James Mathews to S. P. Hildreth, Marietta, March 10, 1859, Samuel P. Hildreth Collection, Marietta College), he witnessed the British evacuation of New York City. Following the war, he spent some time helping to survey the islands off the coast of Massachusetts before going West to the Seven Ranges, the first federal land that was surveyed in the familiar pattern of ranges and townships that was to be the hallmark of federal land in the future. (Of his work in Ohio's Seven Ranges he has left an account, which is included in this collection.) It was during his time in the Seven Ranges that he became familiar with the land west and north of the Ohio River, and doubtless he shared his knowledge with Rufus Putnam.

In 1788, Mathews accompanied Putnam to the Ohio Company land grant in the Northwest Territory, as a surveyor for the Company. As such, he was one of the original pioneers, arriving at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers on April 7, 1788. The following year, while surveying in the western part of the Ohio Company's grant, Mathews and his companions, a party of ten, were attacked by Indians. Seven of Mathews' group were killed. Mathews and two other men escaped and were ultimately befriended by a group of Ohio-Company men who were traveling down the Ohio River. Their rescuers took Mathews and his companions to Fort Washington, the site of the future Cincinnati. There Mathews met Jacob Burnet and other founders of the city, with whom he continued as a business correspondent throughout his life.

Far from being put off western exploration and enterprise by his confrontation with the original inhabitants of the country, Mathews continued his endeavors in the Ohio Company's territory and elsewhere, surveying and locating military warrants on promising sections of land. In 1795, while serving in the Commissary Department of General Anthony Wayne's army, Mathews witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Greenville with the Indians. On November 6, 1796, he entered into articles of agreement with Henry Brown for the establishment of a mercantile house at Fort Loramie, Shelby County, in the western part of what is now the State of Ohio. Brown appears to have been resident at the Fort and managing partner of Mathews and Brown, but Mathews was not a silent partner. The firm dealt with both the army and the Indians. In 1796- 97 Mathews seems to have been a partner in Mathews and Austin, another mercantile firm. From his days at Loramie, Mathews, no matter his other interests, was engaged in storekeeping.

Meanwhile, in the early 1790s, Mathews was employed by William Duer to manage a store in Gallipolis, fulfilling a government contract to supply troops in the territory. While there, he learned to speak French fluently. In 1800, with Ebenezer Buckingham, he surveyed the site of Coshocton, Ohio, and for the rest of his life continued to be interested in land there.

In a letter of April 15, 1797, to his brother, Increase (Samuel P. Hildreth Collection, Marietta College), John Mathews wrote ". . . my old bachelorship has not rendered me altogether insensible to the charm of the fair and I shall make short work of the marrying business some of these days . . . ," but it was not until 1803, when he was thirty-eight years old, that Mathews married. His wife was Sarah Woodbridge, daughter of Dudley Woodbridge, Jr., partner of Harman Blennerhassett, and probably the premier merchant of Marietta, with whom Mathews had long been a business correspondent. At the time of his marriage, Mathews had a son who was apparently six to eight years old, for two years later the elder Mathews was arranging board for "Johnny" in Gallipolis, so that the youth could attend school there and learn to speak French well. (John Peter Romaine Bureau to John Mathews, May 15, 1805, John Mathews Collection, Marietta College.)

The mother of "Johnny" is unknown, as is the later life and career of young John. He was certainly alive in 1814, and of an age to travel alone. John Peter Romaine Bureau, a correspondent of the elder Mathews (letter of December 13, 1814, John Mathews Collection, Marietta College) thought well of the young man at that time. The son of John and Sarah, born a year after their marriage, was named James. How many other children there were of the marriage is not known.

With his marriage, John Mathews settled in the vicinity of Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio, first at Springfield (Putnam) and later at Moxahala Mills. There he pursued storekeeping, farming, and millwrighting. He was also active as a land agent, locating and selling land, and paying taxes for landowners who lived at a distance. In 1807 Mathews served in the Ohio House of Representatives, and in 1820, he served in the Ohio Senate. Toward the end of his life, he suffered financial reverses, in part because of a flash flood that destroyed his mills. He died October 31, 1828, without a will, but his estate record in the Muskingum County Probate Court consists of approximately forty-seven pages of inventory, accountings and receipts. He was buried on his property at Moxahala Mills.

Dr. Irene Neu Jones May 2011

Scope and Content

The collection contains 1,339 items dating from 1786 through 1828. The majority of the material is related to Mathews' mercantile and land interests at Fort Loramie, Ohio, and in the area of Zanesville. Mathews' work as a surveyor in the Seven Ranges and military lands is represented, and of especial note is a journal kept July 10, 1786, to April 1, 1787, containing an account of his experiences while surveying in the Seven Ranges. Extracts from this journal were published in Pioneer History: Being an Account of the First Examinations of the Ohio Valley, and the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory, by S. P. Hildreth (1848).

A significant amount of correspondence and material related to John Mathews' personal life and business affairs can be found in the Samuel P. Hildreth Collection, Marietta College Library, including a biography of Mathews written by his son James in 1859. Surveyor field notes from his work for the Ohio Company are kept in the Manuscripts and Documents of the Ohio Company of Associates, Marietta College Library. Documents related to his survey work for Rufus Putnam, United States Surveyor General, is included in the Rufus Putnam Papers, Marietta College Library.

Researchers should also consult the Brown-Patterson Papers (Series I, Henry Brown Papers) at the Dayton Metro Library for additional material on John Mathew's partnership with Henry Brown at Fort Loramie.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions

There are no restrictions on accessing material in this collection. Copyright restrictions may apply to materials. Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the repository and from the copyright holder.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

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Preferred Citation

John Mathews Collection, Marietta College Library

Other Finding Aid

Finding Aid