I put forward that William was the oldest son of Charles based on the fact that he was the only son that Charles gave land to outside of his will. William first appears in a Brunswick County, Virginia deed where his father gives him 200 acres via deed of gift on 23 Jan 1758.⁵⁰² The timing of this deed coincides nicely with the estimated marriage date of William so the deed may have been a wedding gift. William's oldest son, Drury, is known to have been born 19 Oct 1760 which is a little less than two years after the deed of gift. It would seem likely that William was at least 18 when he married placing his date of birth at around 1740 or earlier. While we have a known date of birth from a family bible for William's brother Luke, 15 Mar 1739,⁵⁰³ I would put forward that based on observations from Edgefield County, South Carolina records William was the wealthiest of his brothers and therefore probably the oldest.

Charles's son William can sometimes be confused for another William Mathews who I believe was a son of Matthew Mathews, Charles's youngest brother. The other William married Susannah Reade⁵⁰⁴ and lived just over the border in Lunenburg County. Genetic testing proves the descendants of the other William Mathews are related to those of us descended from James Mathews Sr., but we cannot say with 100% certainty who the other William's father was.

The William who was the son of Charles Mathews eventually moved to Edgefield District, South Carolina. Exactly when this happened is unknown, but is believed to have occurred shortly after the Revolutionary War based on records from South Carolina. By 1772 William had sold all of his land, but his son Drury appears in records as a lieutenant in the war. The location of William and his family between 1772 and the late 1780s is a mystery, although I would suspect they remained in Virginia until the war was over.

William was one of three Mathews families to move to Edgefield County (actually four if you count his sister Mary and her husband Richard Hardy, see below). As discussed previously his first cousins James Mathews and Isaac Mathews Jr. also moved to Edgefield. James settled in the southwestern part of the district along the Savannah River, Isaac's family lived in the eastern part of the county at the junction of Big and Little Saluda River and William lived in the northeastern part of the county in the area of Cambridge and Ninetysix in what is now Greenwood County, South Carolina. Counting the property owned by his sons William's family were large land and slave owners.

William died in 1804 around the same time as another unrelated William Mathews who also lived in Edgefield County and had died the year before. When our William died he left a family of at least 5 sons. Records seem to imply that he had at least one daughter, but who she was is unknown (see discussion here for details).

The line of Luke Mathews is the most documented among any family in the at-large James Mathews Sr. family. The history of this family begins with a detailed family bible kept by Luke's wife that was used as the basis of a family history for this branch written by a descendant in the 1930s.⁵⁰⁵ Due to the family bible record Luke is the only son of Charles Mathews for whom we have a known date of birth, 15 Mar 1739, which allows us to indirectly estimate the time period that the other children of Charles were born, assuming they all had the same mother.

On 26 Jan 1766 in Brunswick County, Virginia Luke married Lucy Fox, daughter of Richard Fox and Hannah Williamson.⁵⁰⁶ We don't know a great deal about Luke as he doesn't appear in a lot of Brunswick County or surrounding area records. We know that in 1770 he acquired 285 acres from John Moseley.⁵⁰⁷

Based on his family bible Luke died 7 Apr 1788 leaving behind 8 children and a 9th who would be born after his death.

Drury Mathews first appears in Brunswick County deed records in 1766 when he witnessed an agreement between Anne Lambert and her son Thomas.⁵⁰⁸ He appeared sporadically in deed records for a number of years, but he was not a prolific participant of these types of civil records. In addition to whatever land he inherited from his father Drury also acquired 200 acres from James Tarpley in 1779 for the princely sum of £2,400 (perhaps the transcription is in error on the value).⁵⁰⁹

Drury wrote his will a number of years before he actually died, mentioning his wife Sarah, but none of his children by name.⁵¹⁰ Sarah's last name is unknown, but some believe she was a Vines or a Lindsey due to the fact that she and Drury named their oldest son Vines Lindsey Mathews. I have no personal opinion on this matter one way or the other, but it was a known practice to sometimes name the oldest son after his mother's family. Due to the unusualness of Vines's name I would say that this naming convention might well have occurred with him.

To find the names of all of Drury's children we are fortunate enough to have a chancery cause which explicitly names them. Drury's will was recorded 28 Apr 1795 so he probably died sometime in April. Sometime that same year Drury's older children sued his two youngest sons and their mother.⁵¹¹ Their mother did not do anything to cause the suit, but since the two youngest sons were minors she had to be included in the suit as their guardian. Apparently the two young men, who were probably close to being adults, were not agreeable to the split of their father's estate as he had specific in his will. The details of the disagreement are not explained beyond this. Drury's children as named in the chancery cause were "...Vines Matthis, James Matthis, Charles Matthis, Gellica [Angelica] Matthis, and Elizabeth Matthis..." and their two younger brothers were "...Falling Jones Matthis and William Matthis..."

As a side note it should be mentioned at this point that this Drury Mathews was the first of many Mathews men from the line of Charles Mathews who would carry the name Drury. Also, there were at least two men named Drury Mathews in the line of Isaac Mathews Jr. via his son Lewis. Either this Drury was a popular relative or the name was just enjoyed by many. I have to say that I like it as well.

Martha Mathews may have been the oldest daughter of Charles Mathews. We don't know where she fell in the overall order of birth since the chancery cause after the death of Charles named his sons first and then his daughters. Her date of birth is unknown and due to a dearth of records we cannot even estimate it. From the will of Charles Mathews and the subsequent chancery cause we know that her husband was Matthew Bishop. Matthew died about Nov 1810 leaving a will naming Martha and six children.⁵¹² Martha left a will recorded in Brunswick County on 27 Oct 1828 so she likely died sometime that month.⁵¹³

Per his will Charles had a daughter who was the mother of John and Charles Connelly, but there is no way to know when she was born or her place in the order of birth of Charles's children, but for various reasons I place her in the second daughter position. We do not even know for certain what her name was although I call her Margaret. Several years ago I found a deed from either Brunswick County, Virginia or Amelia County, County that mentioned a Margaret who was married to a George Connelly. Based on records from Caswell County, North Carolina and the numerous times that a man named George Connelly appears in deeds mentioning Charles Mathews I believe that this George was Charles's son-in-law ergo I name "Margaret" as Charles's wife. Admittedly I may be way off base here because there are a lot of unknowns. In any event, whoever this woman was who was the mother of John and Charles Connelly she was dead by 1780 when Charles wrote his will.

The next daughter of Charles Mathews was Molly [Mary] who had married Richard Hardy as per the chancery cause for the estate of Charles Mathews. Molly's name was first discovered in the chancery cause and lead to an interesting revelation. Prior to the discovery it was known that a man named Richard Hardy in Brunswick County, Virginia and later in Edgefield District, South Carolina had an association with the Mathews families of both states. At the time I and other researchers had no reason to believe that either Richard might be the same man or to suspect his high degree of actual association with the Mathews family.

Prior to the discovery of the chancery cause it was known from Brunswick County marriage records that a Richard Hardy had a daughter named Elizabeth who married a James Mathews, son of a William Mathews (discussed under possible children of Matthew Mathews), 10 Dec 1788 in Brunswick County.⁵¹⁴

The Richard Hardy who lived in Edgefield District, South Carolina apparently arrived there in the 1780s, probably in the latter half of that decade, but certainly no later than 1790 when he appears in the census records of that county.⁵¹⁵ From Edgefield deed books we find that he lived next door to both George Fluker and Moses Mathews, son-in-law and son of Isaac Mathews Jr. respectively. He also lived very near to Hardy Mathews, another son of Isaac. Richard Hardy's son William married Nancy Mathews on 24 Mar 1803 in Edgefield District and his daughter Susannah would marry a John Mathews sometime after 1801. While John's position in the at-large Mathews family is unknown we do know that he is a descendant of James Mathews Sr. from yDNA testing. Later it was found that Richard's wife was named Molly when an old family bible record was discovered by Carol Hardy Bryan, a Hardy and Matthews descendant.

While all of this information about a Richard Hardy in both Virginia and South Carolina was known to researchers we did not suspect that they might be the same man, although it was curious to me. When the revelation was made that a Richard Hardy was married to Molly Mathews who was the daughter of Charles Mathews (per his estate records) and the pieces fell into place. The bit that really sealed things is that the Richard Hardy from the Brunswick and Lunenburg County areas of Virginia disappeared from the records there and shortly after began appearing in the records of Edgefield District and never again appeared in Virginia records. Richard and Mary sold the land she inherited from her father on 23 Feb 1784 shortly after his chancery case was closed. Soon after they would move to Edgefield District. I suspect that the actual date they moved was very late in the 1780s due to the fact that their daughter Elizabeth married James Mathews in late 1788. I cannot imagine a situation where an unmarried daughter at this period of time would not accompany her parents if they moved.

Richard and Molly Hardy were one of four family groups that were descendants of James Mathews Sr. who would move to Edgefield District. The other families were those of Molly's first cousins Isaac Mathews Jr. and James Mathews and the family of her brother William Mathews. I find it increasingly interesting that these four family groups would all settle in the same county. My interest is particularly strong in the case of Isaac Jr. and James because obviously Molly and William were siblings so their arrival in the same place can be easily written off. James and his siblings moved to the Chatham County, North Carolina area by the late 1760s, Isaac Jr. remained in Halifax County, North Carolina where he had lived most of his life before moving to South Carolina. The last time all of these families would have lived in the same community would have been in the mid 1750s. Charles Mathews moved to North Carolina for a few years in the 1750s before returning to his home in Virginia. The arrival of all of these families in South Carolina, all within the span of a year or two, centered around about 1788, could be explained in one of two ways. Edgefield County lay smack in the middle of one of the major colonial roadways of the post-Revolutionary War period connecting all of the Atlantic states to the southwestern territories of Georgia and Alabama. Perhaps it was just chance that they all decided to move there. Or, this could be a good example of families remaining in touch with each other even after they started moving in different directions leading to a family decision to settle the same area. After all, it was very difficult back then to throw a stick in Edgefield County without hitting someone from the Brunswick/Lunenburg/Isle of Wight area of Virginia and the Halifax/Edgecombe/Northampton area of North Carolina.

Lucretia was possibility the youngest child of Charles Mathews. She lived nearly 3 decades longer than her siblings so either she was very long lived or perhaps she was a child of Charles's second marriage. She married John Mathews probably in the mid to late 1760s. John was not related to Lucretia or the at-large Mathews which was only recently determined from yDNA testing. Before that discovery theories abounded on how John might have fit into the family! It is now known that John was a son of Samuel and Anne Mathews of Dinwiddie County, Virginia.⁵¹⁶

John Mathews can be easily confused with another John Mathews who lived in the area of Brunswick and Lunenburg Counties in Virginia. Tax records list both men, but the John who married Lucretia is referred to in tax records as John Mathews (R O), for "Red Oak Creek", whereas the other John is referred to as John Mathews (G C), for "Great Creek" just over the Brunswick County border in Lunenburg County. Great Creek John is believed to possibly be a son of either Matthew Mathews or the enigmatic John Mathews, possible son of James Mathews Sr. We know that John Mathews (R O) was the John who married Lucretia because he owned land in that area-- Red Oak Creek --and because his wife Lucretia cosigned on a deed where John, his sister Elizabeth Mathews Littlepage and Elizabeth's husband Richard Littlepage jointly sold property in 1777 to Christopher Dameron.⁵¹⁷

John and Lucretia would continue to live in the Red Oak Creek area of Brunswick County which was near the south side of the Nottoway River and east of where the James Mathews Sr. family lived. John died intestate in 1808 and a chancery cause was brought by his widow Lucretia to settle his estate and 5 children were named in the suit.⁵¹⁸

After her husband's death Lucretia would eventually move southwest to Mecklenburg County which had been formed from the southern half of Lunenburg County in 1765. She died there in 1830 naming her three surviving sons and children of her daughter Polly Stith.

Based on the family bible of Mourning Mathews we know for certain that her husband Drury was a son of William and Mary Mathews.⁵¹⁹ Drury's date of birth and death are found on his tombstone in the Mathews-King cemetery located at present in Greenwood County, South Carolina (formerly in Edgefield County) on land that was the original homestead of Drury. His date of birth, 19 Oct 1760 is also recorded in his wife's family bible, but the entry is obscured by water damage. His date of death, 22 Dec 1830, is presumably in the bible, but that page is also heavily damaged.⁵²⁰

Drury was probably born in Brunswick County, Virginia and based on the known and estimated birth dates of his presumed siblings was almost certainly the oldest son. Drury was married twice and his first wife is believed to have been named Sarah. Her name is given in Mourning's family bible, but like many entries it is obscured by water damage. I have used Photoshop to try to bring the name out and it does, very faintly, appear to say "Sarah" for his first wife, although, admittedly, this may be a case me seeing what I expect to see rather than what is actually written. Sarah gave birth to one child, William, and died sometime between 1785 (date of birth of William) and 1794 (Mourning's first child was born Jan 1795). Drury married Mourning Pope, daughter of Solomon Pope and Susannah Dawkins, possibly as late as early 1794 which takes into account the birth of their first child born at the beginning of 1795. As with other records, Drury and Mourning's marriage date is also obscured in the family bible, assuming it is even included.

Another indication that Drury was oldest son of William is that fact that William and Drury's names appear jointly in several Edgefield County deeds and in one case they shared in the purchase of a piece of property, whereas this type of record does not occur for any of the other presumed sons of William. We've seen these types of father-first son land dealings before with other members of the at-large Mathews family such as when William and his father Charles jointly sold land. By far the two most active members of this sub-family grouping were William and Drury. As is the case with the others listed in the table above Drury lived on Halfway Swamp, a tributary of the Saluda River in the area of Cambridge and Ninetysix which at the time was in the northeastern part of Edgefield County.⁵²¹

Drury is possibly the Drury Mathews who was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War from Brunswick County, Virginia (optionally it could have been his uncle of the same name). A man by that name is found on a list of soldiers from Brunswick County. William's family did not move to South Carolina until after the war so it is quite possible that his son Drury was in the Revolution, he was certainly in the right age group to have fought. In the book King's Mountain and its Heroes (originally published 1881, available online free) by Lyman Draper, et al, there is an anecdote told of a Drury Mathis of "Saluda Old town" who fought at the Battle of King's Mountain. This story relates how Drury Mathis fought on the side of the British and was wounded on the mountain and in flowery speech describes the charge of the honorable colonists under the command of [William] Campbell against the British. I have several problems with this story not the least of which is the idea that a lateral ancestor of mine was a Loyalist! For one thing there is no record of anyone from the at-large Mathews family fighting for the British. I have searched many Loyalist records and have not found any indication that any James Mathews Sr descendant was a Loyalist. For another, Drury was almost certainly not living in Ninety-Six District at that time and he certainly never lived in or near Saluda Old town which was an abandoned Indian settlement. Another problem I have with this story is the similarity it has with information given in John Chapman's History of Edgefield County where two Mathews men are claimed to have been on the muster rolls of a company from the Ninety-Six District area: Hardy and Micajah Mathews. Drury had two cousins named Hardy and Micajah, sons of Isaac Mathews Jr. As with the William Mathews family, the family of Isaac Mathews Jr. did not arrive in Edgefield County until after the war. I believe the confusion may stem from two other men of the same name. There was another Hardy Mathews from Cumberland County, North Carolina who did fight in the Revolution. There was also a Micajah Mathews of Orangeburg County, South Carolina (bordered Edgefield County to the south) who probably fought in the Revolution also. I think these names have been conflated with Isaac Jr's sons and therefore confused. While Hardy may have been from North Carolina he certainly participated in the southern campaigns and there would have been a very good chance he ran across a Ninety-Six District regiment or company on occasion, and possibly even fought with them. With this in mind I have to wonder if the anecdote of Drury has not been confused with another man by the same name or even someone who was similarly named.

Drury wrote his will on 1 Sept 1828 in Edgefield County and at that time 3 of his 4 sons were still alive, although by the time he died in 1830 only his oldest son William and his two daughters were still alive (William would die two years later).⁵²² Edgefield County deed records do not reflect his land wealth, but at the time of his death he had at least 1500 acres and most likely quite a bit more. He also had a very large household, a number of slaves and numerous livestock. Drury's widow Mourning survived him by a number of years, dying 20 Jan 1847 in Edgefield County. Mourning named her surviving children, two daughters Susanna Pope Mathews and Mary Ellen Mathews as well as the 7 children of her stepson William in her will written in 1746.⁵²³ I find it particularly touching that her will provided money "...to have tombstones erected at the head and foot of the graves of my deceased husband, and of my sons John Pope Mathews, Budcaid Mathews, and Wiley Jones Mathews..." Given that this was a relatively wealthy family it makes me wonder why the tombstones were not erected in the 17 years that she survived her husband.

Based on several observations it would be reasonable to conclude that Lewis Mathews was a son of William Mathews. First, and probably most important, Lewis is enumerated very near to William Mathews in the 1800 census⁵²⁴ and near Drury and the others who are posited as sons of William in both the 1820⁵²⁵ and 1830⁵²⁶ censuses (he does not appear in the 1810 census). Unlike some census records Edgefield County in 1800 is not sorted quasi-alphabetically so we can be certain that the names are listed by community. Surrounding Lewis in 1800 are many names which appear in a large number of records involving the William Mathews family such as Holloway, Goode, Bulloch, Poole and others. This establishes clearly that Lewis lived in the same community as William and based on the number of names between Lewis and William he most likely lived very near to him. Second, while there are no deeds which explicitly tell us that Lewis owned land adjacent to either William or Drury we do know that, based on deed records, Lewis and Drury lived next door to some of the same people so it is possible that they owned adjacent land. Third, Lewis was one of the few people named in the estate records of William Mathews as a purchaser (or at least the records that I have, due to difficulties I have not viewed the originals on microfilm yet) and family members were typically the largest buyers at an estate sale. I think it is safe to say that when you have a Mathews buying something from William's estate sale that he's probably related. Based on the age of Lewis the only logical conclusion is that he had to have been William's son rather than a grandson.

There is only one marriage known for Lewis yet I believe that he was married twice. He is known to have married Elizabeth Pope, sister of Drury Mathews's wife Mourning.⁵²⁷ Elizabeth was the widow of Garland Goode who had died in 1795.^{528, 529} Lewis is only known to have had 2 daughters from his marriage to Elizabeth (some internet family trees assign other children to him, but research proves those others to have been children of Lewis's siblings), yet in 1800 Lewis has 4 boys and 3 girls in his household. One of the girls was possibly Lewis's oldest daughter, Temperance Pope Mathews, by his wife Elizabeth, but Temperance was not born until 23 Oct 1800 and technically the census enumerator was not supposed to list people born after 4 Aug 1800. This directive was not always followed. Yet, even if we include Temperance as one of the 3 girls that still leaves one unknown girl since Garland Goode only named one daughter in his will. The 4 boys in Lewis's household are possibly the sons of Garland Goode now living with Lewis Mathews. I say "possibly" because only one of Garland's sons is known to have survived to 1824 (Lewis named step-son Lewellen Goode in his will written in 1824).⁵³⁰ When Lewis's unmarried daughter Catherine died in 1858 she mentioned a nephew with the last name Mathews in her will yet Lewis and Elizabeth are not known to have had any sons. So, the question that presents itself is: was Lewis married prior to Elizabeth Pope Goode?

As mentioned above Lewis wrote his will in 1824. The will mentioned his wife Elizabeth, who would live until 1838, his two daughters Temperance and Catherine and his step-son Lewellen Goode. Since no other children of Garland Goode were listed and their fate after Lewis's death is unknown it is presumed that they had already died. Lewis is buried in the Payne family cemetery in Greenwood County and his tombstone records his date of death as 7 Dec 1831.⁵³¹

One final point about Lewis is that he was referred to as Colonel Louis Mathews on his tombstone. Where and how he came about that rank is unknown. He was only 21 at the close of the Revolutionary War so it seems a bit unlikely that he reached that rank in the Revolution, assuming he even fought in that war, a fact which is unknown, although a Lewis Mathews of Edgefield County was receiving veteran's payments after the war. There were at least three men named Lewis Mathews in and around Edgefield County during the time this Lewis was alive so we cannot be certain the payments were being paid to William's son. Although records are hard to come by for militias it would seem likely that Lewis attained the rank of colonel while serving in the local militia, or possibly even in the War of 1812.

Sugar Jones Mathews is tied to William Mathews as a probable son by much of the same reasoning that was presented for Lewis-- via location-- and also by interaction. The 1800 census has Sugar enumerated immediately after William Mathews and immediately before Drury Mathews.⁵³² This sequential listing is probably indicative of Sugar living adjacent to both his father and brother although we have no definite proof of that since deed records do not reveal this implicitly. Edgefield County deed records show both Drury and Sugar living beside some of the same neighboring families. In addition to census and deed records we also know that Sugar was appointed administrator of the estate of William Mathews in 1804.⁵³³ Taken all together I feel very comfortable naming Sugar as one of William's sons.

Sugar was probably born about 1766 making him the third son of William Mathews. We are very fortunate to have a manuscript called the Carter Family Ledger which was kept by John Benjamin Carter between 1816 and 1847.⁵³⁴ John Carter married one of Sugar's daughters, Willa Ann, and in his ledger he recorded the births, deaths and marriages of friends and family in his neighborhood. The ledger records the specific dates of death and marriage of many members of the Sugar Jones Mathews family and is the only known record of some of the individuals included. The ledger reports that Sugar died 19 Sept 1826 and his age was "sup[posedly] 60" which places Sugar's year of birth at about 1766. John Carter did not give specific dates of birth for many people with the exception of his immediate family so most people are listed with the age he believed them to be at the time of their death. While census records do not give us Sugar's exact age since he died before censuses recorded such information the records still concur with Sugar being born about 1766.

As with his brothers Sugar lived in the northeast corner of Edgefield County, South Carolina in what would be Greenwood County today neighboring some of the same families as his brothers such as Lanier, Poole and Goode among others.

Sugar was married in Brunswick County, Virginia in 1792 to Angelica Mathews, daughter of his uncle Drury.⁵³⁵ It is believed that Angelica's middle name might have been Jones as well (the marriage records just cited are the only place I know of that give her middle name). Sugar was probably living in Edgefield County and had to travel back to Virginia to marry his cousin. There has never been any question that a man named Sugar Jones Mathews married Angelica Mathews, but at one time it was still questionable that the Sugar in question was the son of William Mathews. The connection was confirmed when it was discovered in the Carter family ledger than Sugar and Angelica had a son named Vines who died a few months before his father. The Angelica who was a daughter of Drury Mathews of Brunswick County had a brother named Vines and due to the rareness of that name the odds would be astronomical that Angelica Mathews of Brunswick County, Virginia had married someone other than the Sugar Jones Mathews who was a son of William Mathews.

It appears that there was some sort of illness in Sugar's family that killed Sugar, his wife Angelica, and their sons Bud Cade and Vines Mathews in short order. Vines died in Apr 1826. Five months later Sugar's oldest child, Bud Cade Mathews died on Sept 15, followed by Sugar on Sept 19 and two days later Sugar's wife Angelica on Sept 21. So many people in such a short span of time from the same family would seem very unusual. Perhaps there was an outbreak of small pox, fever or some other illness. Sugar left no will, but estate records mention 12 children and the children of Bud Cade Mathews.⁵³⁶ We get the name of Vines from the Carter ledger bringing the total number of known children that Sugar and Angelica had to 13.

Sugar's name has proven a point of interest with a number of people over the years. Although I have no particular knowledge as to why he was given that name he was most likely named after a man named Sugar Jones who was born in Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1726 and eventually lived in Granville County, North Carolina where he was a captain of militia in the 1750s.⁵³⁷ Sugar got his name from his mother's family name which was Shugan. The name Shugan has been written as "Shugar" and even "Shugart" in some early records so somewhere along the way Shugan, Shugar or Shugart became "Sugar". I have found no records of Sugar Jones that indicate he was famous for having done anything so I don't think we can say that as with people who were named after George Washington or Benjamin Franklin that Sugar Jones Mathews was named after someone who was famous. Perhaps the wife of either William Mathews or the first wife of William's father Charles was a Jones or closely related to them (a possible Mathews-Jones familial relationship is alluded to in other places on this site and not just with this family group). Although I noted earlier that the wife of William Mathews is believed to have been a Cook we really have no evidence for this aside from the middle name of William's oldest son Drury, but perhaps she may have been a Jones or there was some other unknown relationship to that family which inspired Sugar's middle name. Another interesting observation is that Sugar Jones lived near the eastern border of Granville County. Just across the county line was that part of Edgecombe County that would become Halifax County. As the crow flies Sugar Jones probably lived no more than 15 miles or so from the various Mathews families who lived in Halifax County on Little Fishing Creek and during the time period that Sugar Jones was a militia captain Charles Mathews, grandfather of Sugar Mathews, was living in the same area as his brothers so William Mathews was may have been living there too. I believe that Matthew Mathews, youngest brother of Charles Mathews, was living in Granville County during the mid 1750s also. One final point on Sugar Jones is that his will named 5 children and among those was a son named Drury. So we have William Mathews naming one son Sugar Jones another Drury, I don't know what all of this means, but somehow or other William was introduced either directly or through word of mouth to Sugar Jones. This type of research is known as "throwing stuff on the wall and seeing what sticks". Maybe someone else will figure it out one day.

Mark Mathews is on shakier ground when it comes to assigning him as a son of William Mathews. There are no records that firmly associate him with William such as we saw with Sugar Mathews being William's estate administrator or Lewis Mathews being on the list of buyers at his estate sale. That said, I am still a firm proponent of Mark being one of William's sons. The 1800 census shows Mark enumerated only a few households prior to William and only a few households after Lewis Mathews so obviously he was living near William and his other proposed sons.⁵³⁸ Based on census records Mark's birth ranges between 1766 and 1774. This range of years makes him too old to have been a son of William's two oldest sons Drury and Lewis. When Mark died, probably Dec 1817 or Jan 1818, one of the buyers at his estate sale was John P[ope] Mathews, a son of Drury Mathews.⁵³⁹ Family members were typically buyers at estate sales so if Mark was a son of William then John Mathews was a nephew of Mark.

Mark only appears in 4 deeds in Edgefield County and we really can't tell a lot about him from those records although some surnames which appear in other records involving the William Mathews family are in these deeds such as Anderson, Powell and Dozier.

Mark died intestate towards the end of 1817 or the beginning of 1818 and two sons, Simpson and Simeon, were named in his estate records. When Simeon died in 1854 he was a widower with no children and his brother Simpson was appointed administrator for his estate.⁵⁴⁰ Simeon's estate records named his other siblings as legatees of his estate which gives us the remaining names of Mark's children.

Similar to the way that Mark is determined to be a son of William Mathews we can conclude that James Mathews was probably a son of William Mathews as well. Based on census records James was likely born between 1781 and 1784. Based on this range it is possible that his father could have been either Drury or Lewis Mathews, but James outlived both of these men and neither named him in their will. Deed records of Edgefield County do not show James ever acquiring any land, yet he is shown as neighboring men that are known to have been neighbors of some of the other sons of William Mathews. Census records concur with this observation since James is enumerated near some of the same families associated with William, Drury and Lewis Mathews. James also appears in a number of Edgefield County records involving the William Mathews family such as his being a witness to the wills of both Lewis Mathews and Mourning Mathews.

Not much is known of the life of James in general. His name appears somewhat frequently in a number of different types of Edgefield County records, but there are not many conclusions we can draw from these records. We are fortunate to have the family bible of James's family and from it we learn that he had a wife named Elizabeth (rumored by some to have been a Hardy, but I believe this results from confusing this couple with the James Mathews and Elizabeth Hardy who married in Brunswick County, Virginia and who moved to Alabama). The bible names 5 children for James and Elizabeth and that James died 10 May 1849 and Elizabeth on 7 Apr 1857.⁵⁴¹

The final person to discuss here is Bud Cade Mathews. I want to make clear up front that I am not convinced that Bud was a son of William Mathews, but this does appear to be the most likely scenario. The Bud Cade Mathews that will be discussed here has been almost entirely unnoticed in discussions on the Edgefield County men with this name. Not counting this Bud Cade Mathews there were three others born at about the same time who are almost always confused with one another. The first of these other Buds was the Bud Cade Mathews who was a son of Sugar Jones Mathews (see above), born about 1794. The second was the Bud Cade Mathews who was a son of Drury Mathews (son of William, above) and was born 26 Jul 1798. The third, and probably the most well known, was the Bud Cade Mathews who was a son of Moses Mathews and grandson of Isaac Mathews Jr. The first two Buds died fairly young and do not appear in many records, whereas the third was very well known in Edgefield County appearing in a large number of records. I point out the dates of birth of these three other Buds to help illustrate that the Bud who was possibly a son of William Mathews could not possibly be one of these three.

The names of any of the men named Bud Cade Mathews can often be found in original records as "Budcade Mathews", "Budcaid Mathews" and variations thereof. I am certain, however, that the intent was a first, middle and last name: Bud Cade Mathews. The inspiration for the name, in my opinion, for the first Bud Cade Mathews and hence all of the successive Buds was a man named Bud Cade, similar to what was described above where Sugar Jones was the inspiration for the name of the first Sugar Jones Mathews. The first Bud Cade was actually Drury Boykin "Bud" Cade who was born in the area of Edgecombe County, North Carolina in the early 1740s and later moved to Wilkes County, Georgia in 1765 and was a hero of the Revolutionary War.⁵⁴² As we've seen in early sections the at-large Mathews family also moved to that part of Edgecombe County from which Halifax County was later formed. Whether there was any familial connection between the Cade family and anyone of the at-large Mathews families is unknown.

The first Bud Cade Mathews, the one who was probably the inspiration in the naming of the other three, appears in only 3 records that I know of. The first is an 1805 entry from the records of the State of South Carolina where "Budcade Mathews" requested permission to import slaves into Edgefield County.⁵⁴³ The second record is an 1810 passport application granted to "Budcaid Mathews from Edgefield District, South Carolina" to travel through the Creek Nation in Georgia.⁵⁴⁴ The third and final record is an 1813 land grant issued to Bud Cade Matthews for 300 acres on Watlings Island in the Bahamas.⁵⁴⁵ A scholarly article found here discusses slavery in the Bahamian islands and states that Bud Cade Mathews was the the first owner of a plantation called Sandy Point on land that was granted to him in 1803. The Bahamas were formerly a major port for the slave trade, but that was outlawed in 1807 (this is the year that the slave trade itself was outlawed, slavery would not be outlawed in British territory until 1834). With this in mind we cannot necessarily say that Bud wanted land in the Bahamas due to his involvement in the slave trade. The Bahamas were also, along with Canada, one of the places that British Loyalists settled after the Revolution, but Bud didn't move there until a generation later, however due to the fact that Bud was granted land there before and during the War of 1812 may lend credence to the anecdote about Drury Mathews being a Loyalist (see above). Due to the unusual name of "Bud Cade Mathews" and the fact that he was trying to import slaves to Edgefield County from the Bahamas I think that this Bahama Bud is probably the same man as from Edgefield County.

One may question why I think that the first Bud Cade Mathews is even related to the at-large Mathews family. Aside from names such as James, Thomas, Charles and Isaac which are all very common throughout the various lines of descent from James Mathews Sr. one of the most common "other" names is Bud Cade Mathews and they all start to appear after this first Bud Cade was born. I have 10 men named Bud Cade Mathews (counting various spelling difference) in my database. The only other first name that is as common as this, not counting the others listed above, is Drury Mathews (I have 9 variations on Drury Mathews in my database).

If the first Bud was in the slave trade and he owned land in the Bahamas and he was traveling through the Creek Nation (for trade? or to get somewhere else to sell slaves?) he was probably reasonably well off financially. Both the Isaac Mathews Jr. family and the William Mathews family were financially secure with William's family appearing to own the most land and between himself and all of his sons the largest slave owners of the two families. Isaac's family is documented quite well and there does not appear to be anywhere in that family that Bud would fit in as either a son of Isaac (extremely unlikely since he isn't named in the equity case that Martha Mathews filed) or as a grandson (records just don't bear out this possibility for a number of reasons). William's family, on the other hand, has a number of holes in it where there are quite a few things that we don't know. For instance, it is rumored that he had seven children when he died, but we only know of 5.

Perhaps the most interesting observation we can make from all that we know about the first Bud Cade Mathews and all of the other men of the same name is: who else was naming their sons "Bud Cade Mathews"? From the first paragraph in this section note that both Drury Mathews and Sugar Jones Mathews, two sons of William Mathews, each named a son Bud Cade Mathews. Both of these two Buds had to have been born after the slave trading Bud who was requesting the importation of slaves in 1805 when the sons of Drury and Sugar would have been still been young boys. With this in mind the first Bud could not have been a son of either Drury or Sugar. It would seem doubtful that he was Lewis's son since Lewis is not known to have married until around 1800. This really only leaves William as the most likely father of Bud Cade Mathews.

Still, I am not quite ready to say that the first Bud was definitely a son of William mainly due to the fact that only 3 records are known to mention the earlier Bud. Perhaps one day more will be known about him and a firmer decision can be made.

Drury's oldest son, Vines Lindsey Mathews, moved to Caswell County, North Carolina sometime before 1800 when he first appears in the census record there.⁵⁴⁷ He may have moved as early as 1795, the year his father died. Vines's brother Charles was married in Caswell County in Sept 1795⁵⁴⁸ and Vines' family and Charles moved around together: first to North Carolina and then later to Missouri. Not much is known of Vines aside from the chancery cause over his father's estate and a few mentions in Caswell County records.

Brunswick County, Virginia marriage records say that Vines married Anne Morehead Dameron, daughter of Christopher Dameron and Sarah Ingram, on 26 Aug 1788.⁵⁴⁹ Vines died in Caswell County about 1806 and a estate records show that he had 9 children when he died.⁵⁵⁰ Several of his children, along with the Damerons and the family of Vines's brother Charles would move to Randolph County, Missouri towards the end of the 1820s.

The fate of Drury's son James is unknown at this time. He may be the James Mathews who appears in a disjointed string of listings in the Brunswick County tax rolls. Starting in 1793 a James Mathews is found in the northern part of the county off and on through 1804⁵⁵¹ after which there is a 13 year gap before another James appears in the tax rolls, presumably a different man due to the duration in which no James is listed. In an 1801 Brunswick County deed James was a witness to a transaction in which his brother Falling Jones Mathews sold 122 acres, inherited from his father, to William Quarles.⁵⁵² The last appearance of James is in an 1806 Brunswick County deed where "...Vines Matthews and Charles Matthis of County of Caswell North Carolina and James Mathis and Fawling [Falling] Matthis of Brunswick County Virginia and William Mathis of state of Tennessee sell to Creed Haskins of Brunswick...195 acres the part allotted Drury Mathis widow's dower."⁵⁵³

After this date there is no further information on James. It is possible he followed his brother William to Tennessee or his brother Falling to Campbell County, Virginia.

Along with his brother Vines, Charles Mathews moved to Caswell County, North Carolina sometime in the 1790s. On 21 Sept 1795 in Caswell County he married Sarah Dameron⁵⁵⁴, sister of Anne Morehead Dameron who had married his brother Vines. Charles did not leave much of a mark in the records aside from sporadic appearances in Caswell County. Charles, most of the surviving members of the family of his brother Vines, and the Dameron family moved to Randolph County, Missouri by 1830 when they first appear in the census records there.⁵⁵⁵ Much that is known about the family of Charles, including when he died (1855) and his children is taken from an 1859 Brunswick County chancery cause concerning the dispensation of land held there by Christopher Dameron.⁵⁵⁶

Not much more can be told of Angelica Mathews aside from what was covered in the section of her husband Sugar Jones Mathews above.

Nothing is known of Elizabeth Mathews aside from her mention in the 1807 chancery cause over her father's estate.

Given the unusual name of Falling Jones Mathews it would seem easy enough to find him in the records. One of the hindrances is that we don't even know if "Falling" is what was originally intended for his name. Perhaps his name would be more recognizable if it were "properly" spelled as one of the many variations that are found in original records such as Forling, Forlin, Fawling, Fallin, etc. A few records are known of him, but nothing has been found yet to give any indication as to whether or not he was married or had a family of his own. The first place his name is found is the 1795 chancery cause over his father's estate. Those records tell us that he was an infant in the eyes of the law at that time, ie., under the age of 21, but it is probable that he was at least in his mid to late teens in 1795. From 1799 to 1801 he is found in the personal property tax lists of Brunswick County.⁵⁵⁷ As mentioned above in the section on his brother James, in 1801 Falling sold 122 acres that he inherited from his father. In 1806 he and his brothers sold their mother's dower share of their father's estate. Finally, from 1801-02 and 1815-18 Falling is listed in the personal property tax lists for Campbell County.⁵⁵⁸ The Campbell tax lists is a curious sighting for Falling. While some descendants of John and Lucretia Mathews are known to have to Campbell County (see below) no one from the James Mathews Sr. at-large family is known to have lived there. From the section of Lucretia, above, it was pointed out that the family of John Mathews is not related to the James Mathews Sr. family even though the surname is shared (proven out by yDNA testing). So, it would appear that Falling was possibly following around his aunt's sons (Luke Mathews, for example).

Falling does not appear in the 1810 or 1820 census records of Virginia so more research needs to be done to determine what happened to him.

The fate of the William Mathews who was the son of Drury had been a mystery for a number of years until a combination of yDNA testing and a book called Humphreys County Heritage: a collection of historical sketches and family histories was brought to the attention of those of us who research the at-large Mathews family. One of William's descendants had his DNA tested which came up as a match to the other descendants of James Mathews. This descendant referenced the previously named book in his family register. That reference combined with the fact that his ancestor, William Mathews, had married Sally Allen cleared everything up since it was known that Drury's son William had married Sally.⁵⁵⁹ From the 1806 deed mentioned in the section on James Mathews, above, it was known that William had gone to Tennessee, but the place he settled was unknown. The name "William Mathews" is common across many different Mathews families so finding him seemed rather hopeless without researching every single William in Tennessee from this time period. Most references mentioning William in Tennessee place him in Dickson County, but more research needs to be done with this family group.

William died in Tennessee in 1826 leaving at least 3 sons and 2 daughters.

The only record known for Anne Hardy is her marriage record from Brunswick County, Virginia. She married Abraham Cocke and her marriage certificate mentions her father Richard Hardy.⁵⁶⁰ For the moment it is assumed that the Richard Hardy mentioned was the husband of Molly Mathews.

Assigning Elizabeth Hardy to Richard and Molly is another choice that is far from certain, but due to the fact that, like Susannah Hardy and William Hardy, she married a Mathews it would not seem improbable that she was Molly's daughter. See discussion of her husband, James Mathews, for more information.

There's no question that Susannah Hardy was a daughter of Richard and Molly Mathews Hardy since we have an Edgefield County, South Carolina deed that states that she was Richard's daughter.⁵⁶¹ The land that Richard sold his daughter, shortly before her marriage to John Mathews, was on Daley's Creek of the Little Saluda River which was right in the thick of where many Mathews lived at that time in Edgefield County. This land is still in the possession of John and Susannah's descendants (the mother of Wayne Matthews of Texas was living there as of 2007). We currently have no idea who John Mathews was, but there is no question that he was part of the at-large Mathews family. Wayne's yDNA test results show without question that he is a match for those of us whose descent from James Mathews Sr. is known.

In the 1800 census of Edgefield County John is listed as sojourning (temporarily living) in the household of Richard Hardy, Susannah's father.⁵⁶² Richard owned land that was adjacent to Moses Mathews, son of Isaac Mathews Jr., and for a time it was conjectured that John was a son of Moses. This hypothesis doesn't make much sense though in the face of the equity case that Martha Mathews, widow of Moses, brought against the elder sons of Isaac Mathews because John is not mentioned as a child of Martha. Every known child of Moses is listed, even his children under age, but there is no John mentioned so it would seem extremely unlikely that John was a son of Moses.

We know that there are a number of mystery Mathews in Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia in the colonial and post-Revolutionary War period whose parentage cannot be determined. This fact in addition to the fact that John was living in the household of Richard Hardy who had married a Mathews leaves a number of possibilities open for the origins of John Mathews. There are so many possibilities in fact that not a single one appears to be more or less plausible than the others. So, for the moment, the origins of John Mathews will have to remain a mystery.

Susannah and John had at least three children before he died sometime before 1820. When Susannah died in 1839 her will mentioned 1 living child, son Lewis, and the children of a son and daughter who had died before Susannah.⁵⁶³

The youngest child of Richard and Molly Hardy was their son William. He was named in the equity case brought by Martha Mathews in 1814 and in the case it was stated that he had married Martha and Moses's daughter Nancy. William's daughter Martha married Joseph Griffith Rutherford who kept a family bible in which is recorded a large number of Mathews and related family members. The bible records the date of death of William Hardy as 13 Oct 1856.⁵⁶⁴

Luke Mathews was the first of the children of John and Lucretia to marry so he is tentatively assigned as the oldest child. He is confirmed as one of John's children by being named as such in the chancery cause that his mother brought against his father's estate in 1809.⁵⁶⁵ In 1788 Luke is believed to have married Rebecca Dameron.⁵⁶⁶ The Damerons were apparently popular with the Mathews family around this time as Luke was one of three Mathews boys to marry Dameron girls from the late 1780s to 1790s (the other two were Luke's cousins Vines and Charles, sons of Lucretia's brother Drury). Rebecca apparently died soon after their marriage and Luke married a second time to Judith Dance. No record exists of Luke marrying Judith, possibly because the marriage occurred in Dinwiddie County, Virginia which has suffered a heavy loss of records over the past two centuries. Luke's marriage to Judith is deduced from two 1823 chancery causes concerning the estate of Thomas Dance, presumed father of Judith.⁵⁶⁷

While Luke was born in Brunswick County and owned land there through at least 1801 he also owned property in Campbell County to the west for we begin to see him listed in tax records there by 1798.⁵⁶⁸ After the turn of the century Luke apparently lived solely in Campbell County and it is there that he died intestate in 1819.⁵⁶⁹ Estate records named 10 children.

John Mathews is tentatively assigned as the second child of John and Lucretia due to his marriage having occurred after his brother Luke. It is estimated that he was born about 1769 which roughly agrees with later census records that place his date of birth between 1760 and 1770. Carrying the name "John Mathews" creates quite a task for Mathews researchers as there were several active in the area of Brunswick and Lunenburg Counties in the latter half of the 1700s which has made it difficult determining who was doing what in the records. There was a senior and junior John Mathews active in the area of Great Creek which straddled the border of Brunswick and Lunenburg and there was a senior and junior pair of men named John Mathews in the Red Oak Creek area of Brunswick County. Since the John who married Lucretia is known to have owned land around Red Oak Creek and that this John had a son named John as given in the elder's chancery records it follows that the junior in the Red Oak Creek area was the son of John and Lucretia.

Brunswick County marriage records tell us that John Mathews [Jr] married Nancy Quarles 3 Dec 1790.⁵⁷⁰ Nancy was the daughter of Moses Quarles who in turn was a brother-in-law of Isaac Mathews Jr. Nancy died at some point between 1808 and 1811. In her 1808 will Polly Quarles mentioned her sister Nancy and two of John and Nancy's children,⁵⁷¹ and by 11 Dec 1811 John had married a second time to Nancy Elder.⁵⁷²

John was living in Mecklenburg County, Virginia as early as 1795 for we find him being taxed there on several slaves.⁵⁷³ John is listed in the 1820 and 1830 census records of Mecklenburg County, but not afterwards so it is presumed that he died before the 1840 census. Census records and the will of his sister-in-law Polly Quarles lead us to believe that he had 9 children, but only three are known by name.⁵⁷³

Anna Mathews is believed to be the eldest daughter of John and Lucretia. She married Benjamin Harper after 22 Dec 1794 (the date that her father authorized the granting of a marriage license). Harry Porter points out that there is no question that Anna was the daughter of John since he has viewed the original marriage bond and states that there is a handwritten note on the bottom of the bond by John Mathews effectively authorizing the granting of a marriage license for the marriage of "...my Daughter Anna..." to Benjamin Harper. Since this note was included we can infer that Anna was under the age of 21 at the time of her marriage.

Anna is believed to have died without issue by 1800 as Benjamin Harper married Nancy Ingram on 29 Aug 1800. She was most certainly dead by 1809 as the chancery cause concerning her father's estate makes no mention of her, nor does it mention any children of hers. When her mother Lucretia died in 1830 no mention is made of Anna or any children she might have had in Lucretia's will.⁵⁷⁴

Matthew Mathews is believed to have been the third son of John and Lucretia with an estimated year of birth of 1774. Matthew lived in Brunswick County at least through 1811 as evidence by tax lists. After 1811 Mecklenburg County tax lists show him living in that county and he also appears there in the 1820 and 1830 census records. He is not found in the 1840 census although Mecklenburg County personal property tax lists show him in that county between 1834 and 1840 so he is presumed to have died by 1840.

Compared to virtually every other Mathews described thus far on this website Matthew lived a rather colorful, if not entirely honorable, life. I don't want to go so far as to call the man a scoundrel, but his character does appear to have been questionable. On 21 Dec 1796 in Brunswick County Matthew married Elizabeth Floyd, daughter of Ann Floyd. On 3 Mar 1796, several months before Matthew married Elizabeth, his father apparently loaned Ann Floyd $30 with Matthew serving as the intermediary for the loan. Matthew kept the money and bought two oxen. After John died Matthew's brother Samuel, administrator for his father's estate, found the bond for the loan and noticed that it had never been repaid. Seeking recompense from Ann Floyd she denied ever having made bond with John and accused Matthew of forging her "signature", which in this case was merely her mark, an X. A case was brought against John's estate after he died, but the outcome is not included in the papers of that lawsuit so we will never know exactly what happened. Witnesses were called in where some testified for Ann Floyd and some called her a liar. The fact that Matthew kept the money and that the loan was not settled over the course of 13 years does seem to indicate who was at fault here.

Another indication of his character occurred on 29 Nov 1815 when Matthew was jailed for one day for contempt and insult. Whom he insulted is not known.

Deed records indicate that Matthew was heavily in debt by the late 1830s. On 10 Oct 1837 he sold all his crops in the fields, his crops in the barn, all of his livestock and animals, all of his household furniture and plantation tools for $200. It is not known how he fared after this.

Family tradition holds that Matthew and Elizabeth had 17 (!) children, but the names of only 8 are known from various records.⁵⁷⁵

Samuel Mathews was probably the youngest son of John and Lucretia. Using the census records of 1810, 1820, 1830 and 1840 a range of 1770-1775 can be calculated for his birth. His estate was ordered to be appraised in August 1844 so he probably died in July or August of that year. By the time he died he had purchased from his siblings all of the land that was distributed to them from their father's estate which totaled over 455 acres.

Samuel was married twice, first to Susanna Eppes in Brunswick County on 29 Apr 1802 and secondly to Fanny Elder. Although the date of his marriage to Fanny is not known we have proof of their marriage from an 1811 chancery cause when Samuel and his wife Fanny were sued concerning the estate of her father, Newman Elder.

Samuel had a total of 9 children, two from his first wife, Susanna, and the remainder being children of Fanny Elder.⁵⁷⁶

Little is known of Mary "Polly" Mathews, presumably the youngest child of John and Lucretia. She married Andrew Stith in Brunswick County on 20 May 1807 and she is listed as one of the children of John Mathews in the chancery cause concerning his estate. She died sometime before her mother as Lucretia's will mentions the children of her daughter Polly Stith. Her early death is also born out by the marriage record of her husband to Mary Mebane Stanford in 1812 so Polly died sometime before that marriage. An undated manuscript found in the Virginia Historical Society Library in Richmond states that Polly's son, Henry Stith, moved with his parents (father and step-mother) to North Carolina and that he later moved to Mississippi and then Alabama. Harry Porter posits that Polly and Andrew may have been listed in the 1820 census in Granville County, North Carolina and that they are later found in Henry County, Tennessee in the 1830 census.⁵⁷⁷