Irma Vareen Matthews Plott
THE MATTHEWS IN MAURY AND LAWRENCE COUNTIES, TN
Written by Jane Harlan
Introduction
Irma Matthews Plott was a great-granddaughter of S. J. and Catherine MATTHEWS - and our family Historian. She traveled the country interviewing any and everyone she felt knowledgeable about our clan. Irma spent several decades in courthouses and archives obtaining records of our ancestors. She also corresponded with numerous governmental organizations and officials; mostly searching for her grandfather's final resting place. In the end, she may have concluded that he [William Marion MATTHEWS] must have died as a prisoner of war in the Union's Alton Prison Camp in Illinois, about 1864; along with his brother Thomas. Irma died in 2000, at the age of 93. She left us boxes of invaluable research papers that I still reference. Irma did her research without the aid of computers. Many transcriptions have been revised over the years due to the fact that as more and more people become involved in genealogy, script errors have surfaced. Records that were handwritten over a century ago have not been easily read. The ones that survived may be very poor quality, have faded, or are otherwise damaged. On-line census records had to be read by someone then entered electronically, probably by someone else. Whatever the case, no matter the source, it's okay to contradict genealogical information. We try, but can't always get every fact exact.
The following documents are the results of Irma's research.
The addendum includes facts - as I know them; and notes -as I see them - about:
The Matthews in Maury & Lawrence County Tennessee.
STEPHEN JAMES MATTHEWS, SR.
by Irma Plott Matthews
[undated]
Stephen James MATTHEWS was born in 1815 in Tennessee according to census records and his Federal papers filed in Washington D.C. His parents' names have not been identified as of today. The 1880 federal census show his parents were born in North Carolina.
S. J., as he was widely known, studied law in Columbia, Tennessee and was admitted to the bar in Tennessee about 1835-1836. While in school he met a fellow lawyer-student Lindsey PRICE and through his friendship with Lindsey, met his daughter Catherine PRICE. They 'fell in love' and were married at the home of her parents in Mount Pleasant Tennessee, August 30, 1836. Catherine's mother was Anna Elizabeth ___?___. Her surname is unknown. A granddaughter Detta WILLIAMS stated about 1960 that she believed Anna Elizabeth was a VENABLE, but she was not sure.
Lindsey PRICE; in referring to his mother stated she was Mary Elizabeth LINDSEY, from which he received his first name. Nowhere in his business papers does he name his father. His mother's name on her tomb in Whispering Hope Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant Tennessee has this epitaph:
Mary Elizabeth Price
1761 – 1843 N. C.
Lindsey died in 1833, a few months before Catherine was sixteen years old. She was born November, 1817. The closing of his business and settling his estate took several years in the courts, recorded in the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia Tennessee. Those proceedings will eventually be abstracted and provided for the MATTHEWS descendants.
After Stephen James married Catherine, they made their home for the next ten years in Lawrenceburg Tennessee. The records of those years in Lawrenceburg are recorded in the Lawrence County Courthouse and also in the Morrison Papers. These records are very colorful and will eventually be abstracted for the MATTHEWS descendants.
About 1847 or thereabouts, the MATTHEWS and David CROCKETT departed Lawrence County, he to Texas, the MATTHEWS to Lexington, across the Tennessee-Alabama State line.
The Children of S. J. and Catherine [PRICE] MATTHEWS:
William Marion........1838
Price... [d. In infancy].....1840
Stephen James Jr...........1842
Mary Ella..........1844
Thomas Lindsey..........1847
Anna Elizabeth.........1848
Lafayette............1849Frances............1852John Houston............1853Evaline..........1857
(Preceding Story by Irma PLOTT; in her own words
Separate notes by Irma pertaining to Anna Elizabeth PRICE, the wife of Lindsay PRICE:
“After his death, Anna Elizabeth PRICE married John GRIMES on 14DEC1835, and they had two sons and one daughter Evaline, who died in Maury County, 1859 at age 18. She was buried in the Hunter Church Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant Tennessee.”
(The Hunter Cemetery would be desecrated many different times throughout the years – by industry, by farm animals, farmers, and others. In recent years, members of the community found a few of the hundreds of tombstones but only a small portion could be salvaged.)
“Lindsey PRICE may be buried in the Whispering Hope Cemetery beside his mother.”
[It is now Lasting Hope Cemetery. Was this his mother or grandmother?]
Another separate, typed document reads as follows:
On page 469, Book 26 in Probate Judge office in Florence Alabama – while W. E. Haraway was Probate Judge:
Be it remembered that I, S.J. Matthews have heretofore rec'd from Estate of Lindsey Price, father of Carolyn M. Price Matthews the sum of $550 which I have held in trust with interest which said C. M. Matthews as aforesaid agrees to take the following real estate & personal property in full settlement of the above demand, to wit:
The S ½ of the SW ¼ of the SW ¼ of S 10, T 1, R 8 and 5 acres of the SW ¼ of 1E ¼ of same including the dwelling house and out houses where she now lives, also one gray horse about 8 yrs and one Surral horse about 10 yrs. Old and one jersey heifer for and in consideration of the sum of 550 dollars as aforesaid, and I agree to warrant and defend the title of the same unto the said C.M. Matthews as aforesaid and to his [her] heirs and assigns forever and desire to a record made of the same as her separate estate. As aforesaid.
In testimony whereof I have signed my name and affixed my seal.
May 8, 1885.
S.J. Matthews [Seal]
Sworn before V.A.S. Green an acting JP
Filed May 13, 1885
[Notice her name was typed as “Carolyn”]
My Research Notes
David CROCKETT was in Lawrence TN 1817 – 1821. The year Crockett left for Texas from Rutherford County, after loosing his bid for re-election to the U.S. Congress, was in 1835 [not 1848]. Actually; he left Lawrence County Tennessee right after his industries on Shoal Creek washed away in the flood of September 1821. [He died March 6, 1836 of course. You know, The Alamo.] There is however, a story about a Captain MATTHEWS and his son opposing CROCKETT for political positions. The Elder MATTHEWS was vying for the title of “Colonel” of the LAWCOTN Militia and his son for State Representative. Don't think it's worth writing about though. CROCKETT won.
Crockett aside; I do wonder if perhaps the MATTHEWS were acquainted with the James K. POLK family of Maury County. [Not that Polk had many close personal associates]. POLK began practicing law in Columbia Tennessee in 1820; was in the Legislation [TN, then U.S.] 1823 -1839; Governor of Tennessee 1839-1841; and U.S. President 1845-1849. POLK returned to Columbia in March of 1849 and died three months later.
Any MATTHEWS' who were lawyers, judges, or politicians in Columbia during this time period would have known the Polk’s. Like so many of the MATTHEWS, the POLK'S came from North Carolina, settled on the Duck River in 1806. Early History of Maury TN shows Additional Justices added to their Original Roster on Dec. 19, 1809 included John MATTHEWS and Samuel POLK - father of President James K. POLK.
James W. MATTHEWS served as one of the early surveyors in the county about 1815 – 1825. [Could his middle name be William?]
List of editors or publishers in the early 1800s Maury County included [Thomas] Stanley MATTHEWS. In addition to the newspaper; Stanley also passed the bar in Maury in 1842 where he began practicing law at age eighteen. The minimum age was 21 in KY & Ohio. Was that the reason for living in Tennessee? Both Kentucky and Ohio lay claim to MATTHEWS' birthplace.
His father who was a college professor moved to Columbia in 1842 from Lexington Kentucky. Then the family; including Stanley, moved to Cincinnati Ohio in 1844 so he was only in Maury TN for about two years. Perhaps both relocation's were for the father's teaching positions.
After many legal and political positions Stanley MATTHEWS went on to become an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1881. He died in office on 22MAR1889 in Washington D.C.
Maury County Selected Marriage Record Extracts from Vol 1; SEP1808 – DEC1867, has marriages performed by John MATTHEWS, J.P. in 1820 and 1823.
In 1837 they're signed by J.W. MATTHEWS, J.P. Irma thought SJM's father was named William.
The S.J. MATTHEWS family was in Alabama by 1850. Daughter Anna Elizabeth was listed as born about 1848 in Alabama. The younger children were also born in Lauderdale.
I doubt that we will find anything on the second child, Price MATTHEWS who died as an infant...
In some other notes, Irma interchanged the names 'Evaline' and 'Eva', as the tenth child of S.J. & Catherine. I found conflicting birth dates and couldn't determine if this was one child or two. Stories have recently surfaced that will lead us to her descendants, whatever her name was. She married Samuel WILLIAMS.
Catherine M. Price MATTHEWS died on December 29, 1901 in Pleasant Grove, Limestone AL at age 84. She was buried in the Shoemaker Cemetery.
There's an old Florence Alabama newspaper obituary for Col. S. J. MATHEWS;
died 1895, buried in the old Lexington Cemetery. Could this be our ancestor?
Submitted by S. Jane Harlan on January 16, 2010
Irma Matthews Plott was a great-granddaughter of S. J. and Catherine MATTHEWS - and our family Historian. She traveled the country interviewing any and everyone she felt knowledgeable about our clan. Irma spent several decades in courthouses and archives obtaining records of our ancestors. She also corresponded with numerous governmental organizations and officials; mostly searching for her grandfather's final resting place. In the end, she may have concluded that he [William Marion MATTHEWS] must have died as a prisoner of war in the Union's Alton Prison Camp in Illinois, about 1864; along with his brother Thomas. Irma died in 2000, at the age of 93. She left us boxes of invaluable research papers that I still reference. Irma did her research without the aid of computers. Many transcriptions have been revised over the years due to the fact that as more and more people become involved in genealogy, script errors have surfaced. Records that were handwritten over a century ago have not been easily read. The ones that survived may be very poor quality, have faded, or are otherwise damaged. On-line census records had to be read by someone then entered electronically, probably by someone else. Whatever the case, no matter the source, it's okay to contradict genealogical information. We try, but can't always get every fact exact.
The following documents are the results of Irma's research.
The addendum includes facts - as I know them; and notes -as I see them - about:
The Matthews in Maury & Lawrence County Tennessee.
STEPHEN JAMES MATTHEWS, SR.
by Irma Plott Matthews
[undated]
Stephen James MATTHEWS was born in 1815 in Tennessee according to census records and his Federal papers filed in Washington D.C. His parents' names have not been identified as of today. The 1880 federal census show his parents were born in North Carolina.
S. J., as he was widely known, studied law in Columbia, Tennessee and was admitted to the bar in Tennessee about 1835-1836. While in school he met a fellow lawyer-student Lindsey PRICE and through his friendship with Lindsey, met his daughter Catherine PRICE. They 'fell in love' and were married at the home of her parents in Mount Pleasant Tennessee, August 30, 1836. Catherine's mother was Anna Elizabeth ___?___. Her surname is unknown. A granddaughter Detta WILLIAMS stated about 1960 that she believed Anna Elizabeth was a VENABLE, but she was not sure.
Lindsey PRICE; in referring to his mother stated she was Mary Elizabeth LINDSEY, from which he received his first name. Nowhere in his business papers does he name his father. His mother's name on her tomb in Whispering Hope Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant Tennessee has this epitaph:
Mary Elizabeth Price
1761 – 1843 N. C.
Lindsey died in 1833, a few months before Catherine was sixteen years old. She was born November, 1817. The closing of his business and settling his estate took several years in the courts, recorded in the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia Tennessee. Those proceedings will eventually be abstracted and provided for the MATTHEWS descendants.
After Stephen James married Catherine, they made their home for the next ten years in Lawrenceburg Tennessee. The records of those years in Lawrenceburg are recorded in the Lawrence County Courthouse and also in the Morrison Papers. These records are very colorful and will eventually be abstracted for the MATTHEWS descendants.
About 1847 or thereabouts, the MATTHEWS and David CROCKETT departed Lawrence County, he to Texas, the MATTHEWS to Lexington, across the Tennessee-Alabama State line.
The Children of S. J. and Catherine [PRICE] MATTHEWS:
William Marion........1838
Price... [d. In infancy].....1840
Stephen James Jr...........1842
Mary Ella..........1844
Thomas Lindsey..........1847
Anna Elizabeth.........1848
Lafayette............1849Frances............1852John Houston............1853Evaline..........1857
(Preceding Story by Irma PLOTT; in her own words
Separate notes by Irma pertaining to Anna Elizabeth PRICE, the wife of Lindsay PRICE:
“After his death, Anna Elizabeth PRICE married John GRIMES on 14DEC1835, and they had two sons and one daughter Evaline, who died in Maury County, 1859 at age 18. She was buried in the Hunter Church Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant Tennessee.”
(The Hunter Cemetery would be desecrated many different times throughout the years – by industry, by farm animals, farmers, and others. In recent years, members of the community found a few of the hundreds of tombstones but only a small portion could be salvaged.)
“Lindsey PRICE may be buried in the Whispering Hope Cemetery beside his mother.”
[It is now Lasting Hope Cemetery. Was this his mother or grandmother?]
Another separate, typed document reads as follows:
On page 469, Book 26 in Probate Judge office in Florence Alabama – while W. E. Haraway was Probate Judge:
Be it remembered that I, S.J. Matthews have heretofore rec'd from Estate of Lindsey Price, father of Carolyn M. Price Matthews the sum of $550 which I have held in trust with interest which said C. M. Matthews as aforesaid agrees to take the following real estate & personal property in full settlement of the above demand, to wit:
The S ½ of the SW ¼ of the SW ¼ of S 10, T 1, R 8 and 5 acres of the SW ¼ of 1E ¼ of same including the dwelling house and out houses where she now lives, also one gray horse about 8 yrs and one Surral horse about 10 yrs. Old and one jersey heifer for and in consideration of the sum of 550 dollars as aforesaid, and I agree to warrant and defend the title of the same unto the said C.M. Matthews as aforesaid and to his [her] heirs and assigns forever and desire to a record made of the same as her separate estate. As aforesaid.
In testimony whereof I have signed my name and affixed my seal.
May 8, 1885.
S.J. Matthews [Seal]
Sworn before V.A.S. Green an acting JP
Filed May 13, 1885
[Notice her name was typed as “Carolyn”]
My Research Notes
David CROCKETT was in Lawrence TN 1817 – 1821. The year Crockett left for Texas from Rutherford County, after loosing his bid for re-election to the U.S. Congress, was in 1835 [not 1848]. Actually; he left Lawrence County Tennessee right after his industries on Shoal Creek washed away in the flood of September 1821. [He died March 6, 1836 of course. You know, The Alamo.] There is however, a story about a Captain MATTHEWS and his son opposing CROCKETT for political positions. The Elder MATTHEWS was vying for the title of “Colonel” of the LAWCOTN Militia and his son for State Representative. Don't think it's worth writing about though. CROCKETT won.
Crockett aside; I do wonder if perhaps the MATTHEWS were acquainted with the James K. POLK family of Maury County. [Not that Polk had many close personal associates]. POLK began practicing law in Columbia Tennessee in 1820; was in the Legislation [TN, then U.S.] 1823 -1839; Governor of Tennessee 1839-1841; and U.S. President 1845-1849. POLK returned to Columbia in March of 1849 and died three months later.
Any MATTHEWS' who were lawyers, judges, or politicians in Columbia during this time period would have known the Polk’s. Like so many of the MATTHEWS, the POLK'S came from North Carolina, settled on the Duck River in 1806. Early History of Maury TN shows Additional Justices added to their Original Roster on Dec. 19, 1809 included John MATTHEWS and Samuel POLK - father of President James K. POLK.
James W. MATTHEWS served as one of the early surveyors in the county about 1815 – 1825. [Could his middle name be William?]
List of editors or publishers in the early 1800s Maury County included [Thomas] Stanley MATTHEWS. In addition to the newspaper; Stanley also passed the bar in Maury in 1842 where he began practicing law at age eighteen. The minimum age was 21 in KY & Ohio. Was that the reason for living in Tennessee? Both Kentucky and Ohio lay claim to MATTHEWS' birthplace.
His father who was a college professor moved to Columbia in 1842 from Lexington Kentucky. Then the family; including Stanley, moved to Cincinnati Ohio in 1844 so he was only in Maury TN for about two years. Perhaps both relocation's were for the father's teaching positions.
After many legal and political positions Stanley MATTHEWS went on to become an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1881. He died in office on 22MAR1889 in Washington D.C.
Maury County Selected Marriage Record Extracts from Vol 1; SEP1808 – DEC1867, has marriages performed by John MATTHEWS, J.P. in 1820 and 1823.
In 1837 they're signed by J.W. MATTHEWS, J.P. Irma thought SJM's father was named William.
The S.J. MATTHEWS family was in Alabama by 1850. Daughter Anna Elizabeth was listed as born about 1848 in Alabama. The younger children were also born in Lauderdale.
I doubt that we will find anything on the second child, Price MATTHEWS who died as an infant...
In some other notes, Irma interchanged the names 'Evaline' and 'Eva', as the tenth child of S.J. & Catherine. I found conflicting birth dates and couldn't determine if this was one child or two. Stories have recently surfaced that will lead us to her descendants, whatever her name was. She married Samuel WILLIAMS.
Catherine M. Price MATTHEWS died on December 29, 1901 in Pleasant Grove, Limestone AL at age 84. She was buried in the Shoemaker Cemetery.
There's an old Florence Alabama newspaper obituary for Col. S. J. MATHEWS;
died 1895, buried in the old Lexington Cemetery. Could this be our ancestor?
Submitted by S. Jane Harlan on January 16, 2010
A SHORT HISTORY BY FLOYD MATTHEWS
About Stephen James Matthews, Sr.
Unconfirmed, but believed to be reliable information indicated that the early ancestors of Stephen James Matthews, came from Wales, England, and probably landed somewhere between Richmond, VA and upper North Carolina in the mid 1800’s. Grandfather Stephen James Matthews and two or three brothers later settled in Columbia, Maury County, TN before Tennessee gained statehood in 1877.
It is also believed that Stanley Matthews was a brother to Stephen James and the family came to Maury County about the same time.
Stanley Matthews was appointed to the Supreme Court by President James Buchanan (after moved to Ohio and married there). He served as a Justice of the Court from 1881 until his death in 1889. (This information provided by cousin Irma Plott, Rogersville, L, who has been working on the family tree more than 12 years).
Stephen James Matthews was a Justice of the Peace and Judge in Columbia, TN. He married Catherine Price. Her father was Lindsay Price of Columbia and a Judge also. Stephen later moved to Lexington, AL and became Postmaster, having settled in that area. He is buried in Lexington Cemetery.
John Huston Matthews moved to Lawrence County about the same time. He married Nannie Farris. They had five children; Floyd, Roy, Viola, Margie and Maggie. He had previously been married and had several children by his first wife, Margaret Vandiver; Carrie, Nora, Virgie, John (preacher and Gospel songwriter), Thomas, Solon, Add and Price.
John Huston owned and operated a sawmill in various places in Lawrence County, until his wife, Nannie, died in 1907. The mill was sold after he became too ill to operate it. The family, who helped to operate the mill, scattered over the county for other work. John Houston died in 1921.
About Stephen James Matthews, Sr.
Unconfirmed, but believed to be reliable information indicated that the early ancestors of Stephen James Matthews, came from Wales, England, and probably landed somewhere between Richmond, VA and upper North Carolina in the mid 1800’s. Grandfather Stephen James Matthews and two or three brothers later settled in Columbia, Maury County, TN before Tennessee gained statehood in 1877.
It is also believed that Stanley Matthews was a brother to Stephen James and the family came to Maury County about the same time.
Stanley Matthews was appointed to the Supreme Court by President James Buchanan (after moved to Ohio and married there). He served as a Justice of the Court from 1881 until his death in 1889. (This information provided by cousin Irma Plott, Rogersville, L, who has been working on the family tree more than 12 years).
Stephen James Matthews was a Justice of the Peace and Judge in Columbia, TN. He married Catherine Price. Her father was Lindsay Price of Columbia and a Judge also. Stephen later moved to Lexington, AL and became Postmaster, having settled in that area. He is buried in Lexington Cemetery.
John Huston Matthews moved to Lawrence County about the same time. He married Nannie Farris. They had five children; Floyd, Roy, Viola, Margie and Maggie. He had previously been married and had several children by his first wife, Margaret Vandiver; Carrie, Nora, Virgie, John (preacher and Gospel songwriter), Thomas, Solon, Add and Price.
John Huston owned and operated a sawmill in various places in Lawrence County, until his wife, Nannie, died in 1907. The mill was sold after he became too ill to operate it. The family, who helped to operate the mill, scattered over the county for other work. John Houston died in 1921.
