JOHN MATHEWS – This man has eluded me for several years now. Finally, I was able to connect the Mathews line back to him as my 3rd-great-grandfather. Records confirm mostly as his headstone reports his birth date as February 20, 1773, and death on December 18, 1813. I commonly find references to Augusta County, Virginia, his birthplace in my research. I am learning much about the development of land boundaries, the morphing of counties and the complexity of searching in multiple locations for the same thing. What was called Augusta County might soon be called Staunton but refers to the same spot.
The name John Mathews was common and was (is) often misspelled as Matthews, also a common surname at the time. (Yes, that extra “T” is a mistake, an assumption on your part, but I digress…). His father was William and his mother Mary. Also, common names. In fact, I have located two sets of William & Mary Wright Mat(t)hews parents of large families. John is reportedly the 9th of 11 children born to William and Mary Wright.
I find it curious that John was comparatively older for the time period when he married. I will continue to look for evidence of any first marriage or otherwise an explanation for his relative delay in starting a family. That being said, John Mathews (31yo) married Sarah “Sallie” McDowell (20yo) in 1804 and they had four children:
- Son, Joseph McDowell Mathews, b. December 8, 1804 in Augusta, VA
- Son, William Harvey Mathews, b. December 29, 1806 in Augusta, VA
- Daughter, Margareet Mathews, b. October 29, 1808, died 1809 in Augusta, VA
- Son, Caleb Moffett Mathews, b. October 27, 1810 in Staunton, Augusta, VA
John, his young wife Sarah and their three boys – 9yo Joseph, 7yo William and 3yo Caleb, settled in Fayette Co, KY in 1813. (I am fully prepared to discover that Fayette Co was formed from Augusta VA.) There was a William Mathews who died in Augusta, VA in 1811 who named his executor as his son, John Mathews.
In December of the year following their arrival to KY, John died at 41yo. Sarah, 30yo, was far away from her family, had three young boys and was a widow in winter, grieving at Christmastime. I am learning other family members settled in the area and she may not have been facing the dire circumstances on her own the entire time. The way these three children grew up appears to have effected them with a drive for pursuits. They each realized a level of professional success as an educator, a merchant and a judge. They were sent to school, a now historic school, known as Kentucky Academy, Marshall Academy, and other names, will be covered in more depth later.
Fayette County Records
June 2022: I had the best experience visiting the Fayette County Clerk‘s Office in downtown Lexington twice this year. The land records division is headed by a Kentucky native, Deputy Clerk Mr. Shea Brown, who I later saw featured in a KET broadcast about the Digital Access Project. The equipment they utilize yields quality images and they are extremely helpful so I am really happy they have this opportunity to provide virtual access for a wealth of records. But, as I can attest, the in-person experience with this office was wonderful and fruitful.
DEED 1793: John Mathews, Fayette County
ESTATE INVENTORY February 1814: John Mathews, deceased – This confounds me because his recorded death date is December 1814. So, was there more than one John Mathews in Fayette County?
DEED November 10, 1818: George Moffett for Mathews, Joseph, William H. & Caleb.
A deed of indenture was written in 1818 between George Moffett (again with the Moffett name and further research needed) and the three heirs of John Mathews for $6,570 along with 120 acres of land in Fayette Co on the waters of South Elkhorn. Another deed references being part of a “settlement” lying in Fayette Co on Davey’s Fork, a branch of Elkhorn. The General Index references David’s Fork.
My Dad, who trained as a surveyor while attending UK engineering school, provided his analysis of the land as described in the deed. To his calculations, the parcel exceeded the 100 acres noted in the deed. With so many references to ephemeral landmarks – black walnut, elm and buckeye, it might be virtually impossible to determine exactly. Or that is his assessment. He did sketch the shape, distance and degrees.
The culminating depiction through these three documents appears consistent. As best I can estimate, their home was near present-day Keeneland and the Kentucky Castle, perhaps somewhere along US-1967 (the year I was born, by the way). I fear that will be a much bigger undertaking that may end up inconclusive. It is on the list for later.
This parcel of land crossed over into Woodford Co and adjoined the land of Sarah (Mathews) Price, who had remarried in 1816 to Larkin Price. It appears Sarah had five children by Price, including Larkin Foster Price, a noted lawyer, state legislator and Judge in Texas who is buried in Alamo Masonic Cemetery, San Antonio, TX.
It is possible Sarah’s mother, Margaret Moffett, died in Woodford Co that same year and possibly the same month as the marriage. What are the circumstances for Margaret’s death? It is very easy to get your head turned around in trying to navigate the McDowell and Moffett families. More on that to come.
Sarah Mathews Price is buried in the Pisgah Presbyterian Church cemetery, Versailles, Woodford Co, KY, between John Mathews, her first husband, and Larkin Fahr Price, her second husband. She outlived them both, so she had the final say.
This is where I have paused. I feel the need to have more proof before I move beyond this generation. If the details I’ve compiled from records are accurate, Sarah’s parents’ families – the McDowells and the Moffetts – were Patriots and Revolutionary War heroes. Seeing the “McDowell” and “Moffett” middle names of the children supports the theory that Sarah was, in fact, from this same prominent family. But, I continue to explore these connections for additional confirmation.
![[ARTIFACT] 1984: The Jessamine Journal, Thursday, October 18, 1984](https://thatkentuckygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/screen-shot-2023-07-24-at-6.11.07-pm.png?w=89)
that Kentucky girl 
Hello, thatkentuckygirl. Thank you for the post on the Mathews family. I am a branch that comes from Sarah McDowell Mathews who married Larkin Price in 1816 after John died in 1814. My great-great-grandfather was William B. Price who was the first child of Sarah and Larkin. He was born in 1818. Their more notable son, Larkin Foster Price, was born in 1821. The only source that connects the two brothers comes from William’s middle child, Carrie, born in 1854 in La Grange TX where William and Larkin had a shared law practice. (that started in 1849). In 1867 William’s wife Ann S Ellis Price (they were married in Henry Co KY in 1846) and their youngest son Clay (b 1859) died in a Yellow Fever epidemic. William sent Carrie back to KY and at some point she attended the female school in Hillsboro OH where Joseph M Mathews was the headmaster. I do not know when she met William Moody but they were married in 1876. Several KY historical books reference William Moody and refer to his wife Carrie Price as the daughter of William B Price of La Grange TX, and they also state that she was the niece of C. M. Mathews (Caleb). If Caleb Mathews was her uncle, then my GGGF William had to be Caleb’s half brother and therefore William and Larkin were brothers. This was the only source that helped me determine William’s parents, Larkin and Sarah. Sarah died in 1828 and it is my belief that Larkin died not long after the 1830 Census. I have examined the Findagrave photo of Larkin’s tombstone but can detect no dates for his life. Based on the Larkin Price that appears in the 1810, 1820, and 1830 KY Censuses, I estimate his birth date most likely to be in the 1875-1880 range. I really wish I could pinpoint his birth and death years but I’ve hit brick walls. I tried to contact the Pisgah Presbyterian Church where John and Sarah and Larkin are buried side by side but I never got any reply. I think Larkin was a child of William C Price and Mary Moore but I cannot confirm that with source data. Some trees show them with a son named Larkin who was born ~1854 but that date is too early. This is not your direct line but I wanted to contact you with this info in case you had any other way of finding out about Larkin’s tombstone.
PS. Another reason I think Larkin may have died after 1830 is because my GGGF William goes to New Orleans when he is 18 and enlists in the Republic of Texas Army and is shipped to Galveston. I’m sure he was motivated by newspaper articles in Lexington and Louisville that called for men to go to the aid of Texas. But I also think he left because both his parents were no longer living and he was trying to find his way in the world (okay, I know this is just conjecture).
PPS You referred to Sarah’s 2nd husband as Larkin Fahr Price but I think that is incorrect. I have not found any source that shows a middle name. The only place where I have found “Fahr” is on a 1920 Passport application for Larkin Foster Price, the great-grandson of Larkin (Larkin Price -> Larkin Foster Price -> McDowell K Price -> Larkin “Fahr” Price). Here’s the link to the document if you are interested: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1174/images/USM1490_1415-0693?pId=2476
When you look closely at the image, you will see the full middle was added ex post facto since it is on an angle. It was transcribed as “Fahr” by someone but you can tell the middle name should be Foster.
PPPS Joseph McDowell Mathews wrote a book titled “Letters to School Girls” in 1853. It’s a fascinating read. In some ways he was ahead of his time regarding education for women . . . but there are other ways in which he held traditional roles for women. The book is free online at this link:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t00z7xd0n&view=1up&seq=1
Thanks much for letting me drop in. I’ve tried to keep this as brief as possible. I’m not expecting you to get involved with research on this . . . but if there was any easy way that you could check on Sarah’s husband Larkin regarding his birth/death (or even parents!), I would be much obliged.
Sincerely,
Clay Louis Price III (Larkin c1880-c1830-> William B 1818-1876 -> Leslie 1847-1895-> Clay (Sr) 1883-1971-> Clay (Jr) 1920-2006-> me 1948-)
McKinney TX
LikeLiked by 1 person
Clay,
Thank you for your detailed response. SO full of great information and more to follow up on, as you suggested. I am happy to share anything I can locate that would help your research move forward. I plan to take a few day trips in the summer months and will keep your questions in mind as I revisit sources with new information. Great to connect with you!
LikeLike
Here I am a year later and hoping it is not too late. I have hit walls but am continuing to try to move forward.
LikeLike
Cynthia, I am deeply moved that you have remembered my post. I have continued to search records, trying to discover the birth and death years of Larkin Price’s life and to find any documentation that would show him as a child of William C Price and Mary Moore, as I originally shared. BTW, I recently found a surprising connection of my GGGF William B Price to CM Mathews. The 1856 and 1857 tax rolls for Fayette Co TX show WB as the agent for property own by CM Mathews, something I would not have suspected! I do not know if CM came to TX and acquired property or if WB acquired property for him. I found the entry only because I always look at online copies of the original documents. WB also served a few years as the agent for property owned by Eliza (Berryman) Ellis, the mother of his wife Anna (Hannah?). ASIDE: It appears that Eliza was married to William Clarkson Ellis in Bourbon Co from the 1830 Census and they lived close to Henry Clay–not the politician but a doctor who was a cousin. Anna was 1 year old. I’ve wondered if the doctor befriended the family and that he was the source of the name Clay that Anna gave to her 3rd child in Texas, a name passed all the way to me. Some of our ancestry research is conjecture and I suspect I am prone to such thoughts!
Clay
LikeLike
Cynthia, I am deeply moved that you have remembered my post. I have continued to search records, trying to discover the birth and death years of Larkin Price’s life and to find any documentation that would confirm whether he is a child of William C Price and Mary Moore, as I originally shared. BTW, I recently found a surprising connection of my GGGF William B Price to CM Mathews. The 1856 and 1857 tax rolls for Fayette Co TX show WB as the agent for property owned by CM Mathews, something I would not have suspected! I do not know if CM came to TX and acquired property or if WB acquired property for him. I found the entry only because I always look at online copies of the original documents. WB also served a few years as the agent for property owned by Eliza (Berryman) Ellis, the mother of his wife Anna (Hannah?). ASIDE: It appears that Eliza was married to William Clarkson Ellis in Bourbon Co from the 1830 Census and they lived close to Henry Clay–not the politician but a doctor who was a cousin. Anna was 1 year old. I’ve wondered if the doctor befriended the family and that he was the source of the name Clay that Anna gave to her 3rd child in Texas, a name passed all the way to me. Some of our ancestry research is conjecture and I suspect I am prone to such thoughts!
Clay Price
LikeLike