Another ancestor I never knew existed in the Mathews with one “t” lineage, thank you Ancestry.com, was named Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews. His grandfather is my 3rd great grandfather.
This example really floors me for not knowing or being known among family. Additionally, there is not much to commemorate him and his significance appearing in areas of public domain where I think there should be. This is another reason my passion has a purpose. This man deserves wider recognition. I mean, was he the first to say “Turn your head and cough”? If so, I rest my case.
Joseph M. Mathews, MD
With the help of online archives for The Kentucky School of Medicine, a predecessor to the University of Louisville School of Medicine, I located several images of Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews. He served on faculty at least seven of the graduating class years between 1887 and 1903, but I plan to dig deeper on this point for clarification. Next research visits must include UofL archives.
1847 Born New Castle, Henry County, Kentucky
He was the fifth child born to Caleb Moffett Mathews & Frances Ann Sullinger Edwards-Beasley Mathews, in Henry County, KY, on May 29, 1847. Father Caleb Mathews was a prominent attorney and judge for the county in the early formation of New Castle. The children of the Caleb Moffett Mathews family were considered “illustrious” and were presumably well-educated, as their father had been. There are references to the Henry Academy and its formation.
You can read more about Caleb and his two Mathews brothers, Joseph & William. These were the only sons of John Mathews, the first Mathews ancestor to settle in Kentucky, and his wife Sarah McDowell Mathews. These three brothers were all younger than ten years old when their father John died. A guardianship arrangement was established with George Moffett in 1816.
If Ancestry.com connections are valid, the McDowells and Moffetts were Revolutionary War Patriots and offer rich layers of exploration along a separate rabbit hole.
Education to physician educator
After his youth spent in Henry County having attended New Castle Academy (a.k.a., Henry Academy?), Mathews attended the medical school in Louisville, KY and graduated at 20yo in 1867. There is more than one reference to him studying medicine in Europe (either London or Germany…or both). His career flourished over the next nine years. He served on faculty of Kentucky School of Medicine, as president of the state board of health, and as chairman of surgery for Medical College of Louisville.
1876
The first reference to Dr. Mathews’ residence and practice as listed in the Louisville city directory was in 1876. Then, the following year, he married Sarah “Sallie” Trumbo Berry of Versailles, Woodford County, KY, on May 29, 1877. They were married in Midway, Woodford County.
Sallie was a 29yo widow and the mother of William F. Berry, born 1867, who Dr. Mathews later adopted. The origin story of William F. was tragic for Sallie, too. Sallie may have had a tumultuous first marriage as indicated by a newspaper clipping reporting when her father, Adam Trumbo, murdered her first husband, William T. Berry, when son William was 5yo. There is more to that story, to be sure. Search in blog for Trumbo for the next installment on this.
Louisville practice
The Louisville City Directory shows Dr. Mathews’ lived and practiced in Jefferson County between 1876 and 1914. Dr. Mathews lived in Louisville as shown in the census records of 1880, 1890, 1900 & 1910.
Between 1876 and 1914, Dr. Mathews’ Louisville practice was located at: 747 Walnut Street, 647 Walnut Street, 289 5th Street, 580 4th Street, 10 Warren Bldg, 342 W. Walnut Street, Mathews & Asman, 411 Masonic Temple, 308 Masonic Temple, 316 West Chestnut Street and, finally, 308 Masonic Temple.
In the same timeframe, the home residences noted in city directories of Dr. Mathews were located: 19th Street, Broadway, Alexander’s Hotel, 518 W. Breckinridge, 923 4th Street, 500 Belgravia Ave, and Louisville Hotel.
By 30yo, Dr. Mathews began narrowing his practicing interests to colon and rectal diseases. What might have triggered such drive? When New York City did not provide for his pursuits, he then went to London to study at St. Marks Hospital. Determination. In 1879, Dr. J. M. Mathews became “the first US physician to limit practice to colon and rectal disease.”
1880
The 1880 US Census shows Joseph M. Mathews, doctor, 33yo, Sallie, 32yo, and William, 13yo, living at “house #186, South Side Jefferson Street” in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky, USA. With Dr. Mathews on faculty at Kentucky School of Medicine, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY.
1896
Dr. Mathews served as editor for the Mathews’ Medical Quarterly.
1898
Dr. Mathews elected President of the American Medical Association.
Joseph McDowell Mathews, M.D.
THE MEANING OF THE HONOR
Dr. Mathews is Now President of America’s Greatest Medical
Association and One of the Most Splendid
In the World.
Dr. Joseph M. Mathews of this city who was elected President of the American Medical Association at Denver Wednesday has in that election xxx on of the highest that be paid a physician as this is a national body and comprises every State and Territory in the Union. Dr. N. ??? of Chicago was the President last year, and Dr. ?name, Surgeon General of the army, is the retiring President. Dr. Mathews has had many honors conferred upon him in the past. He is ex-President of the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, President of the Kentucky State Medical Society, President of the State Board of Health of Kentucky, and has this year been First Vice President of the American Medical Association, the great body of which he has just been elected President. A few weeks ago a Pennsylvania university conferred upon him the degree of X.X.D.
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Saturday Morning, June 11, 1898
1899
From Mathews to the Millennium – A Century of Achievement
A History of the American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons, 1899-1999
Written & Edited by J. Byron Gathright, Jr. M.D. and Richard S. Bragaw
1900
The 1900 Census shows their residence as 923 Fourth Avenue, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY. A search for this address turned up in a parking lot adjacent to Spalding University properties, downtown Louisville. I have yet to find images of the house. It is possible there were photos taken by municipal entities prior to the razing.
By this year, son William T. Berry was considered an invalid brought on by illness. He would die from pneumonia in March of the following year.
In 1900, there were at least two other Mathews with one “t” living in Louisville, Kentucky. As of now, I do not find evidence of a connection to these families.
One other juxtaposition of note that I plan to pursue in research: In the 1900 US census, the enumerator lists residents living at 921 Fourth Avenue, presumably next door to the 923 Mathews Family residence. Headed by 58yo Henrietta Long Miller, Samuel A. Miller’s widow of five years, along with their 28yo daughter Eleanor Everhart Miller Bingham, her husband of four years, Robert Worth Bingham, 29yo, and their child, Robert, 3yo.
Much has been written about the Millers, Longs, Binghams in their situations marked by tragedy and grief. Was Dr. Mathews a neighbor of the family that would become pivotal to the development of Louisville as a city? What if any interaction was there? Would any journals they kept hold clues to my own ancestors? Would their family photo archive show their home?
According to the Pewee Valley Historical Society, the Miller family home located at 921 Fourth Avenue was razed to make way for building The Puritan Apartments, which opened in 1917. It stands to reason the house located next door would also have been impacted by the sizeable land project of an apartment building.
1901
Burying babies
And, in further sadness, according to this obituary below, Sallie lived to bury her only son, William F. Berry. His obituary opens up several lines of inquiry, including athletics and baseball in Louisville, a career in Philly and end of life as an invalid.
THE COURIER-JOURNAL, 6 MAR 1901 – PAGE 10WILLIAM F. BERRY DEAD
Formerly An Athlete, But Recently An Invalid
William F. Berry, thirty-two years of age, died of a complication of diseases at the home of Dr. J. M. Mathews, 923 Fourth avenue, at 3:xx o’clock yesterday morning. Mr. Berry, formerly one of the best-known baseball players and athletes in Louisville, was an invalid for three years. He first became ill in Philadelphia. After leaving Louisville, he went to the Pennsylvania metropolis and engaged in business. He suffered an attack of the grip, and pneumonia, which later developed, brought an ailment which wrecked his constitution. He was compelled to retire from business.
Mr. Berry was the son of Mrs. J. M. Mathews. The funeral will take place from the residence this afternoon at 3:3o o’clock. The Rev. Carter Helm Jones will conduct the services.
1902
Herringshow’s Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century (1902)Joseph McDowell Mathews, physician, surgeon, author, was born May 1, 1847, in New Castle, Ky. He is president of the Kentucky state board of Health. He is the author of Mathews on Disease, of the Rectum and Sigmoid Flexure.
The US Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929, Dr. Mathews was an “Allopath” with practice specialties and places including in: Louisville, KY, May 5 1911, Los Angeles, CA, November 25, 1915, Seattle, WA, Jan 20, 1925. Licenses: KY, 1893. Professorship: Louisville and Hospital Medical College, Louisville surgery, JAMA Citation 91:1910
Sometime after 1901, Dr. & Mrs. Mathews changed their residence to Los Angeles, CA. Did Sallie need to change her scenery following the death of her son? Dr. Mathews’ practice sites included: Seattle, Los Angeles, Louisville. Was he in demand as the foremost practitioner on his area of focus?
1920
The 1920 Census Los Angeles Assembly District 64, Los Angeles, California; Page 13B; Enumeration District: 228. Joseph M. Mathews, 72yo, living on So Carondelet Street as Head of House, married to Sara E. Mathews, 68yo. Renting.
California to paradise, but Kentucky remains
1928
After an illustrious career and presumably a choice retirement, Dr. Mathews died from pneumonia at 80yo in Los Angeles, CA, on December 2, 1928. He and Sallie were living in the Shoreham Hotel, Carondelet Street in their eighteenth year as California residents. Would the Shoreham be as swanky back then? I suspect so. OG swanky.
Obituary, 1928
DR. JOSEPH MATHEWS DIES
LOS ANGELES – Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews, 81, former president of the American Medical Association died here . Dr. Mathews came to Los Angeles 18 years ago from Kentucky, where he began his career after he was graduated from the University of Louisville. Born at New Castle, Ky., Dr. Mathews went to London in 1879 and on returning to Louisville became a pioneer in proctology and was the first presidnet of the American Proctologic Society.
Lexington Herald-Leader, December 3, 1928 (their typo, not mine)
She was 78yo. His wife, Sallie, died 18 days later and her funeral services were held at Little Church of the Flowers, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, CA. Dating back to 1906, the Glendale location was the first Forest Lawn Memorial property. Of the network of parks, this original location today features the Forest Lawn Museum.
Obituary, 1928
MATHEWS, December 20, 1928, at the Shoreham Hotel, Mrs. Sallie E. Mathews, widow of the late Dr. Joseph M. Mathews.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 22, at 11 a.m. at the Little Church of the Flowers, Forest Lawn Cemetery. A. E. Maynes of the George A. Fitch, Inc., director, (Seattle and Louisville papers please copy.)
The Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1928, Page 16
“Dr. Mathews wrote a booklet on Proctology, a subject he originated and was the first Orthodox physician in the world to adopt proctology as a field of practice.”
Find a Grave
Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky
Dr. & Mrs. J. M. Mathews were cremated and without memorialization, now side-by-side at Cave Hill Cemetery. A brief stop at the office confirms by map their location adjacent to the drive just up the hill from this administrative building. Their sites are without markers but aside the headstone for William F. Berry. They are there with the son but anonymous in the deep ground around. They left no children, also referred to as “without issue” which makes me wonder if they were close to their nieces and nephews?
Was that no-marker decision rooted in humility, anonymity or something else? No will of either among my records yet.
1938
According to the February 1991, every other year beginning in 1938, the American Proctology Society commemorates founder Dr. Joseph McDowell Mathews with The Joseph M. Mathews Oration.
What did the society publish? Where are those records? Was this a convention event?
Another doctor in the family
The Henry County Historical Society has been in transition recently but I plan some summer 2023 research road trips that will allow me to move closer in my understanding of the Mathews family in New Castle. And then, Danville.
Next, I will share about the connection to Dr. Ephraim McDowell, another cousin, 6x removed from me, who is famous as a pioneer surgeon for performing the first ovariotomy in Kentucky.
that Kentucky girl 