Thomas Mathews begins an unfortunate trend with the children of Isaac Mathews Sr: an almost complete lack of knowledge. Extant tax records for Halifax County, North Carolina begin in 1782 and Thomas is listed in all of those that survive up until 1790 after which there is a gap in the records until 1800. Halifax County court records mention estate records for a Thomas Mathews in November 1797 which is quite possibly the son of Isaac.³⁸⁴ Neither the 1800 census nor the tax lists for that year or following years mention a Thomas Mathews so he almost certainly died, or possibly left the area, by 1800.

The tax lists prior to 1786 do not show Thomas being taxed for any males other than himself.³⁸⁵ By 1786 the lists give more detailed information much like the later census would and we see that he has a total of 5 white males (counting himself) and 7 white females in his home.³⁸⁶ In 1788 he is taxed for 2 males so apparently one of his sons had reached taxable age.³⁸⁷ Of course we should not assume that any of the individuals living in his home were his children, but it would seem odd that he would have 11 individuals in his home and none of them were his immediate family. I think it is safe to assume that at least some of these people were his family members if not all of them.

The 1790 census shows that the number of individuals in his home is very close to what the 1786 tax list counted, but now he has 3 males (under 16) and 6 total females so the other taxable male is no longer in his home and he has one fewer female.³⁸⁸ There is no anomalous Mathews male listed in Halifax County so this person either died or moved away with the same possibilities being true for the missing female.

The 1800 census lists no Mathews household that could possibly contain the 9 people living with Thomas in 1790 so either they were living with a female head of household (who still should have been counted) or they were missed by the enumerator, or they moved away, or they were living with a non-Mathews head of household.

Future and somewhat obscure records of Halifax County such as voter lists and education records from the 1820s to 1830s list several Mathews, both male and female, that cannot be accounted for, that is to say their parentage has not been identified so it is quite possible that some of Thomas's presumptive sons stayed in Halifax County, but were able to remain out of the records somehow. As we saw in the section of Richard Mathews he also had a number of unknown children that could account for some of these mystery Mathews as well.

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Jean Mathews, almost certainly named after Isaac's mother, is only named in her father's will and her fate after 1768 is unknown.

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Out of all of the children of Isaac Mathews Sr. his son Isaac Mathews Jr. is the most well known. An 1814 equity case filed in Edgefield County, South Carolina after the death of his son Moses gives copious details on not only the children of Isaac Jr., but also his grandchildren.³⁸⁹ This case gives us invaluable links establishing for certain that the Isaac Mathews of Edgefield originated in Halifax County, North Carolina and helping to distinguish him from two other Isaacs who lived near Edgefield County.

Probably sometime in the late 1750s Isaac married Susannah Quarles, daughter of Hubbard and Mary Quarles of Brunswick County, Virginia (see will of Hubbard Quarles). This estimate is based on the fact that Isaac's oldest child, daughter Cebell, was born Mar 1760³⁹⁰ (his son Moses may have been older, but this is unclear-- it is certain, however that Cebell and Moses were the two oldest). An argument could be raised that we cannot know for certain that Isaac's wife Susannah was necessarily the daughter of Hubbard Quarles, but I believe that four facts, taken together from Hubbard's will, can only lead to this conclusion. One, Hubbard had a son named Moses. This name had never been used in any Mathews family prior to the son of Isaac Mathews Jr. Two, Hubbard had a daughter named Cebel/Cebell and again this name had never been used by any Mathews prior to Isaac Mathews Jr's daughter. Three, Hubbard mentioned a granddaughter Betsy Mathews and Isaac had a daughter named Elizabeth. Four, Hubbard mentioned a daughter Ann Mathews which of course is a form of Susannah. The will also mentions a daughter Molly [Mary] Mathews. It is believed that he intended to call her granddaughter instead of daughter, but whichever the case Molly has not been identified. It is possible that Isaac had a daughter named Mary who died young, or at least without issue before 1814.

The 1814 equity case firmly establishes that Isaac Mathews Jr. was from Halifax County, North Carolina originally. The case makes the following statement: "...and daughters, Cabell Matthews, who intermarried with Thomas Pace, now deceased, and since with Benjamin Carr, resident of the State of Georgia..." Both Thomas Pace and Benjamin Carr are well-known from Halifax County. Both appear in many records there and Cebell is named as the wife of Thomas Pace in his will.³⁹¹ If that statement were not enough evidence then the equity case also tells us that Isaac's daughter Elizabeth married George Fluker and that they were living, at the time the case was drawn up, in Edgefield District. George Fluker left a detailed Revolutionary War pension application that stated that he had lived that part of Bute County which became Warren County (bordered Halifax County to the west) and after he married he moved to Halifax County and then from there to Edgefield District.³⁹²

One question I have had is: when exactly did Isaac Jr. move to South Carolina? The tax lists and deed records of Halifax County give us a good understanding of when this occurred. The 1782 tax year did not count individuals, but it does tell us how much land was owned and we see that Isaac Mathis was taxed for 100 acres.³⁹³ Isaac Mathews Sr. gave his son Isaac Jr. 100 acres in 1761 (possibly an indication of the approximate time period that he was married).³⁹⁴ No other deed records show Isaac Jr. receiving more property in Halifax County. By 1784 Isaac is still shown with the same 100 acres,³⁹⁵ but in 1785 Moses Mathews appears as the head of household.³⁹⁶ There were two other men named Moses Mathews (who I believe were descendants of Thomas Charles Mathews), but they lived in or near the town of Halifax and were in a completely different area (District 8) that the children of Isaac Sr. (District 15) so it is easy to keep the families distinguished (the areas covered by each district remained consistent at least for these early tax records). In 1785 Moses Mathews (son of Isaac Jr.) is the head of household in District 15 owning 100 acres, but there is no Isaac listed. Again in 1786 we find Moses listed, but no Isaac.³⁹⁷ On 1 Nov 1785 Isaac sold the 100 acres that he owned in Halifax County to his son-in-law Thomas Pace and Isaac is seen no more in Halifax County expect in passing reference.³⁹⁸ After 1786 Moses is no longer mentioned in the area of District 15. It appears that sometime in 1785 Isaac, either by himself or with most of his family (except for Moses), went away, presumably to Edgefield District, to look for a new place to live. Land was found and Isaac got his affairs in order by 1785 and his family joined him in South Carolina by 1786 at the latest. Edgefield County deed records do not pinpoint the date any further than the conclusions that we can draw from the Halifax County records.

Edgefield District records make it abundantly clear that Isaac settled on land between the confluence of the Big and Little Saluda Rivers³⁹⁹ and that his descendants lived there for several generations. Unfortunately Isaac did not live for too many years after moving to South Carolina. The equity case tells us Isaac died 21 Mar 1791 and his wife Susannah died sometime after that. Although Isaac left no will the equity case still gives us the names of his children, five sons and two daughters, and his grandchildren living as of 1814.

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Repps Mathews was the next child named in the will of Isaac Mathews Sr. There is a lot of confusion over how his name is spelled and the variations in the records don't help especially when the name is seemingly spelled a different way each time it appears. Some of the different ways it has been found include: Rapes, Reaps, and Raps. A discussion on the name is given on the topic of his father, Isaac Mathews Sr. Undoubtedly the "proper" spelling of his name, if proper spelling can be said to have existed at this time, is Repps as this was a surname in use in colonial Virginia by at least one family as well as a given name in use by a neighboring Jones family. Repps wrote his will 25 Feb 1781 and died sometime prior to the Halifax County, North Carolina August 1782 court session when it was recorded.⁴⁰⁰ The will named his wife Sarah and 6 children. Sarah was almost certainly Sarah Davis, daughter of Thomas Davis and Hartwell Hodges. Thomas Davis mentioned a daughter named Sarah who was not yet 21 in his will written 1764.⁴⁰¹ Repps and Sarah named one son Orondates (various spellings in records) which was also the name of one of Thomas's sons and they named another child Hartwell (Hartwell's sex isn't known) which was name of Thomas Davis's wife. Additionally, one of the executors of the will of Repps Mathews was Goodrum Davis who was also a son of Thomas Davis. Circa 1786 Sarah Davis Mathews remarried to Francis Ward of Nash County which bordered Halifax County to the south. There were Wards living around the at-large Mathews families in Halifax County and Francis may well have owned land in that area as well.

Repps Mathews was one of the few Mathews men that we know for certain served in the Revolution. The Daughters of the American Revolution issued a compilation of North Carolina Revolutionary War records in 1932 (since reprinted several times) and include a roster entry for a Private Reps Matthews.⁴⁰² Given the rarity of the given name Repps I think it a safe assumption that this is indeed the son of Isaac Mathews Sr. DAR has Repps listed under the 10th NC Regiment which gives us an excellent idea of his service in the war.

The roster entry for Repps includes the remark: "Time out Apr 1782". By "time out" I assume that meant he had to temporarily leave service (more on this below). The 10th NC Regiment was a regiment of the Continental Line formed April 1777 from northeastern North Carolina in Kinston under the command of Col. Abraham Sheppard.⁴⁰³ The unit, like all the other North Carolina Line troops, was marched to New Jersey and wintered at Valley Forge with Gen. Washington. In the spring of 1778 several North Carolina regiments were reorganized so that there were now only 3 regiments versus the original 10 (although new regiments would be formed later). The roster entry for Repps states that on the date of his time out he was in Capt. Yarborough's company. Presumably this was Edward Yarborough who was made captain of a company of men in the 3rd NC Regiment in May 1779.⁴⁰⁴

If Repps was indeed mustered into the 10th Regiment then he served his state for almost the entirety of the war (although this does not mean he served the whole time between 1778 and 1782 as it was not uncommon to have gaps of several months between dates of service) even though we only have the Apr 1782 date by his name. When the 10th NC Regiment was disbanded Repps eventually found himself in the 3rd NC Regiment since that is the unit in which Capt. Yarborough commanded a company. Repps most likely saw significant action as Yarborough's men were in a number of significant battles in the south, most notably Charleston, Battle of Camden and the Battle of Eutaw Springs among others.

Since Repps died most likely very near to Aug 1782 when his will was recorded and he left the war in Apr 1782 under "time out" it would seem quite possible that he was injured or became sick and returned home and subsequently died. Of course there is no way to know this for certain, but the nearness of those two dates is certainly interesting. His father left Repps a house and land that he was already living on at the time of Isaac's death in 1768 so it is quite possible that Repps had already been married and started a family by 1768.⁴⁰⁵ With 6 children and approximately 2 years between the birth of each child an approximate year of marriage of 1768 or earlier seems quite possible (especially considering that he would have been away from home for months at a time while in the army).

As mentioned above Sarah Mathews would marry Francis Ward after the death of Repps. She is listed on the tax lists of Halifax County in 1782,⁴⁰⁶ 1784⁴⁰⁷ and 1785,⁴⁰⁸ but never again afterwards. Francis Ward was awarded guardianship of all 6 children of Repps in 1786 so, presumably, Sarah and Francis married sometime between 1785 and 1786.

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Mary Mathews, likely named after her mother, is only named in her father's will and her fate after 1768 is unknown.

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Sarah Mathews is the next child found in Isaac's will. Isaac Mathews Sr. named his son Isaac Jr. and his son-in-law Samuel Davis as his executors. Using the deed books of both Edgecombe and Halifax County, North Carolina the only female found who was married to a Samuel Davis who also had the same name as one of the daughters or Isaac Mathews Sr. was a Sarah Davis found in a May 1768 Halifax County deed.⁴⁰⁹ No claims are made that Samuel Davis married Sarah Mathews. This deed is merely presented as a possible starting point for inquiries into which daughter of Isaac married Samuel Davis. A 1763 deed from next door Northampton County, North Carolina also name a Sarah Davis as wife of a Samuel Davis.⁴¹⁰ Whether the Samuels from these two deeds are one and the same is unknown. There was also a Samuel Davis named in Halifax County court records who died ca. 1786 who may have been Sarah's husband.

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Robert Mathews, along with his presumed son Solomon Mathews, appears to have left enough records to determine where he migrated. Robert only appears in a single Halifax County, North Carolina record outside of his father's will. Isaac Sr. willed 180 acres of land to Robert and then in 1779 Robert sold the land to John Lee (perhaps the same John Lee who witnessed Isaac Sr's will).⁴¹¹

We next find Robert in Georgia and with information provided by one of his descendants we're able to track him in a handful of land transactions to help flesh out his appearance in that state.⁴¹² After the Revolutionary War the name Robert Mathews appears in Wilkes County, Georgia (eastern side of Georgia fairly near to Edgefield District, South Carolina where his brother Isaac Jr. would move). He was in Wilkes County at least as early as 1790 when he purchased 200 acres on Williams Creek from Samuel Alexander of Richmond County,⁴¹³ which at that time bordered Wilkes to the south. It is possible that Robert was in Georgia earlier than this, however. Beginning in 1787 Robert's name appears on the tax lists for Wilkes County although initially he is shown without any land there and is only taxed on 7 slaves that he owned⁴¹⁴. By 1791 Robert was taxed for a single poll, 9 slaves and 300 acres located outside of Wilkes County (the tax page is faded and it may only be 200 acres and only 1 slave that he was taxed for).⁴¹⁵ In 1790 Columbia County was formed taking a rather small portion of Wilkes County and in 1793 Warren County was formed out of that same small portion as well as part of Richmond County. Today Williams Creek forms part of the northern border of Warren County, separating it from Taliaferro County. A map found here helps illustrate where Williams Creek is: the slightly diagonal part of the northern border directly north of the oval symbol for Highway 402. As we will see below, Robert's 200 acres was later sold in Warren County so this helps us pinpoint with a fair amount of accuracy where he lived.

What happened to Robert between 1779 when he sold the land his father left him and 1790 when he first appears in Georgia records? Between those dates was the Revolutionary War so perhaps he was a soldier. Even though no muster list or payment stub has been found with his name on it many of those lists were lost either during the war amidst hasty retreats or when Washington, DC was burned during the War of 1812 so we cannot prove one way or the other if he was a patriot. That said, it does seem interesting that he disappears from the records during the war and later pops up in Georgia when much land was being awarded to veterans. Robert never appears in the Halifax County tax lists which began at the very end of the war in 1783 so he had possibly moved on by that point, maybe stopping over in South Carolina for a few years. But, the question remains, was this Robert in the Wilkes County tax lists the same Robert who was a son of Isaac Sr? To answer that question we need to observe a Solomon Mathews found in the Halifax County records.

Beginning in 1785 a Solomon Mathews appears in Halifax County, North Carolina records. He sells a slave girl to James Mathews III in 1785,⁴¹⁶ buys a small plot of land in 1791,⁴¹⁷ resells that land in 1793,⁴¹⁸ sells another plot in 1796⁴¹⁹ and on that same day in 1796 bought a slave.⁴²⁰ All of these activities take place around Little Fishing Creek where the Mathews family at-large first settled. A number of known Mathews names appear in these records in the deed books (the slave records are also found in the deed books) as well as a number of men known to be associated with the Mathews family such as Benjamin Ward, Arch. Flewellen, and Thomas Pace to name a few. With this in mind Solomon was almost certainly part of the at-large Mathews family of Halifax County. Who his father was is not known with 100% certainty, but we know the families of many of the Halifax Mathews so there is a limited pool as to who it could have been: Richard Mathews, Thomas Mathews, Peter Mathews or Robert Mathews. Based on the information available the most likely father was Robert Mathews.

Solomon never appears in the Halifax tax lists so we do not know exactly where he was living in Halifax County relative to the other Mathews men still living there by the 1780s although the land he sold in 1796 places one location as adjoining Robert's brothers Isaac Jr. and Samuel as well as a man identified only by the last name "Car" (Benjamin Carr, second husband of Isaac Jr's oldest daughter--- the fact that "Car" is Benjamin Carr is proven by a later deed in which it is stated that Benjamin Carr sold land that he had purchased from Solomon Mathews). But, why do we still find Solomon in North Carolina at these late dates when Robert Mathews was believed to have already been in Georgia? Perhaps Solomon had married by the time Robert moved to Georgia and he stayed behind with his wife's family. This could explain why he wasn't in the tax lists: he was living with in-laws. In any event, after 1796 Solomon no longer actively appears in Halifax County records (ie., he is only mentioned in passing). Coincidentally this is also the time frame in which the children of James Mathews III begin to move to Georgia also.

Jumping ahead to 1801 we finally start to see the names come together. In that year Robert Mathews sold 100 acres on Williams Creek, which at that time was in Warren County, to Solomon Mathews which was witnessed by James Mathews, James Burt and Robert Parker.⁴²¹ With the possible exception of Robert Parker (who may have been related to the William Parker who married a daughter of Jeremiah Mathews) we can see that all of these names are known from Halifax County, North Carolina. Robert and Solomon we now know, James Mathews was either James III or his son by the same name, and James Burt was almost certainly tied into the Burt family of Halifax County as they are known to have traveled with the James Mathews III family to Georgia (John Mathews, son of James III, had a brother-in-law named James Burt so perhaps this is the same man).

Another land purchase was made by Robert (or possibly his son Robert ?) in 1802 when he bought 120 acres in Wilkes County from Joseph Taylor.⁴²² Additionally, Reddick Mathews (see below) bought 65 acres on Williams Creek in 1803.⁴²³

Beginning in 1803 we find a number of records in the estate and will books of Wilkes County that are about as conclusive as we will get that at the very least heavily imply that Solomon was Robert's son and almost certainly lead us to the conclusion that the Robert in Wilkes County was the Robert who was a son of Isaac Sr. Before discussing these records individually I will point out some of the other Mathews names that are found, for the first time, in these records so that the discussion to follow will be made more clear. Robert Mathews died sometime between 15 Feb 1803 when he was appointed administrator of a Mary Mathews and 18 Oct 1804 when Solomon and Polly Mathews were appointed administrators of Robert's estate. On 25 Apr 1805 at the estate sale for Robert some of the buyers were Mary Mathews, Robert Mathews (Robert II), Samuel Mathews and Reddick Mathews. Since close family members (ie. children and spouses) were normally the most copious and common purchasers at estate sales and since these names are not known from any other at-large Mathews families in Georgia I can conclude that these were all most likely children of Robert Mathews.

Below are the entries in the court records of Wilkes County that mention Robert Mathews and his estate.

On 15 Feb 1803 Robert Matthews was appointed temporary administrator of the estate of Mary Matthews (his wife? see below). Solomon Matthews and James Patterson were security for the bond.⁴²⁴

By 18 Oct 1804 Robert had died and Solomon and Polly Mathews were appointed administrators of his estate while Timothy Matthews was appointed temporary administrator for the estate of Mary Matthews.⁴²⁵ Timothy Mathews, son of James Mathews III was known to have been operating in this area of eastern Georgia at this time period (although he probably didn't live in Wilkes or Warren County): he was an attorney who acted in the interests of his family in several areas of Georgia and he could have certainly been relied upon to assist his cousin Solomon in legal matters.

On 5 Mar 1805 Timothy Matthews was officially appointed administrator de bonis non (an administrator of an estate in which the previous administrator is unable to perform his obligations, which in this case was Robert who had died) of Mary Matthews.⁴²⁶ Solomon and Polly Matthews were securities. The court records also make mention that the inventory of Mary's estate was taken 17 Mar 1803 by Solomon and Mary Matthews and her inventory consisted of one horse, one slave and a note for $500. This inventory conflicts with the information given in the 16 Mar 1805 court book entry below which showed an inventory of a single note, although the horse and slave may have been dispensed by the later date.

On 5 Mar 1805 the inventory of Robert's estate lists several slaves including those named Willis, Toney, and Fed as well as household goods and other sundry items.⁴²⁷ From the will of Isaac Mathews Sr. we find that the Robert who was Isaac's son was left two slaves, one of which was named Toney--- further circumstantial evidence that this Robert in Georgia was Isaac Sr's son.

On 16 Mar 1805 an inventory on the estate of Mary Matthews was taken by the same men who handled Robert's inventory.⁴²⁸ One note for $556.00 that was owed to Mary was mentioned as the entire estate. This was obviously not the same Mary that was a purchaser at Robert's estate the following month. I presume that she was Robert's wife, but this is far from certain. Why was it necessary for Robert to have been her estate administrator? If she was his wife everything she owned should have been his by default (unless there were a pre-nuptial agreement). For the moment I leave Mary as Robert's wife, but there is room for doubt on this. It is possible that she was the widow of a son of Robert and she died without issue in which case she may have had an estate that needed to be administered. On the other hand, the fact that the appraisers were able to complete her estate appraisal and inventory, albeit only a single note on hand, and Robert's estate in a single day almost seems to imply that both estates were at the same location, ie. the appraisers did not have to travel to two locations. This might imply at the very least that Mary lived with Robert, or on his land, therefore implying she may have been his wife.

On 25 Apr 1805 the estate sale for Robert was held and, as noted above, the purchasers were Mary, Robert, Samuel and Reddick Matthews.⁴²⁹ There may have been others, but this information comes from a compiled book and these were the only names given. The sale was signed off by Solomon Matthews.

On 6 Aug 1806 Moses Alexander was appointed guardian of Anna, orphan of Robert Matthews.⁴³⁰ Here we find the name of another child of Robert. Also included in this same entry is that Sarah Wright was appointed guardian of Sarah and William, orphans of Wylie Wright. This extra entry may have been completely unrelated to Robert, but see the final entry below for year 1821.

On 5 Mar 1807 Solomon Matthews and Moses Alexander, administrators of Robert Matthews, petitioned the court to sell 200 acres on Williams Creek.⁴³¹ Tax lists to 1807 are not available to me so I do not know the total amount of land Robert owned in Georgia. This record does not tell us what county this land was in so it is possible this was part of the 300 acres that Robert was taxed for back in 1791. Since we find now that Moses Alexander was at some point also granted administration on Robert's estate this confirms that the Anna in the 1806 record was indeed Robert's daughter (as opposed to "some other Robert" or "some other Moses Alexander" who just happened to live in the same area--- the coincidence would be too great to be plausible). I get the feeling from this that Anna was young so perhaps the Mary who died around Feb 1803 was a second wife and there was indeed a pre-nuptial agreement. Just a guess.

The final entry that makes mention of Robert is an 1821 return for the estate of Wylie Wright.⁴³² The administrator for Wright was Moses Alexander who had been appointed guardian of Anna Matthews, orphan of Robert Matthews in 1806. The entry makes note that Alexander paid $167 to Robert Matthews in 1805 (was this to Robert II or a note owed to the estate of Robert Matthews? see section below on children of Robert Sr. for the explanation) and that he paid Sarah Wright, guardian of Sarah and William Wright, $115 in 1806. Taken in conjunction with the court record 6 Aug 1806 where Sarah Wright was mentioned in the same entry as Alexander being appointed guardian of Anna Matthews does this imply that the younger Sarah Wright and William Wright were somehow related to Robert? Possibly children of a daughter of Robert who died before he did? Perhaps their mother was a daughter of Moses Alexander?

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Peter Mathews is another child of Isaac Mathews Sr. who may have fought in the Revolution. He disappears from Halifax County, North Carolina shortly after the Revolution, is mentioned as living in South Carolina at one time and then fades away. In 1786 Halifax County deed books record that Peter Mathews of South Carolina sold 182 acres, the land he inherited from his father, to Samuel Mathews (Peter's brother).⁴³³ After this date the fate of Peter is unclear.

As mentioned in the section on Robert, Georgia had an abundance of land available after the war. It's population was relatively small and to attract settlers bounty land was awarded to veterans of the Revolution. I do not want to suggest that Peter moved to Georgia, but there are very few mentions to anyone named Peter Mathews in Georgia from the 1780s to 1800 so due to the low number of references to the name they should all be investigated to see if it is possible to determine if any of them might refer to our Peter Mathews. The only two records that I know of that mention a Peter Mathews are a record for bounty land awarded in (or near) Wilkes County, Georgia in 1786 and later 1805 and 1807 Georgia land lottery records that mention Peter Mathews (1805) and his orphans (1807) in Burke County, Georgia.

The bounty record states: "Warrant to John Rogers for 4075 acres on fourteen bounty certificates assigned by Col. Elijah Clarke for 287 1/2 acres each in the names of Stephen Williams, John Weaver, James Matthews, John Matthews, Peter Matthews, Willeby Sikes, Henry Sikes, Samuel Williams, Joseph Williams, Peter Williams, James Howard, Daniel Howard, Elias Blackborn and Jesse Lee."⁴³⁴ Most of these names are not known to me, but several stand out, aside from the Matthews names, as having possible ties to Halifax County. Whether or not James Mathews and John Mathews were any of the various Mathews men named James or John is unknown, but the names Willeby Sikes and Jesse Lee are cause for interest. There was a Willoughby Sikes/Sykes in Halifax County who lived near the children of James Mathews Jr. (Jeremiah, Richard and James III in particular) and a Jesse Lee is known to be part of the Lee family of Halifax County and Chatham County in North Carolina and recall that John Lee was a witness to the will of Isaac Mathews Sr. If any of the other men named could be shown to have had ties to Halifax County then I think that this would introduce interesting implications for the Peter Mathews named here.

The Georgia land lotteries of 1805 and 1807 mention a Peter Mathews in Burke County, Georgia. Burke County lies on the eastern side of Georgia on the border of South Carolina and a few miles south of Augusta. Of those registered to draw from Burke County in 1805 was a Peter Mathews, but for that lottery he drew a blank.⁴³⁵ By the time registration was underway for the 1807 lottery Peter had apparently died and his orphans were registered and they drew a lot in Baldwin County.⁴³⁶ Apparently this lot was in what would become Jones County, formed in 1807 from parts of Baldwin, Bibb and Putnam Counties, for we find a later 1816 deed from Jones County that mentions the orphans of Peter Mathews and the lot they drew.⁴³⁷ This Peter's orphans sold their lot to John R. Gregory in 1813 and the grantees were the orphans of Peter, Sarah and Peter Mathews [Jr.], and their mother Sarah Mathews. Whether or not this Peter was the son of Isaac Mathews Sr. is unknown at this time.

One final topic on Peter should be discussed here in case anyone is able to put together the pieces of a puzzle that so far has eluded me. The will of Arthur Davis, written 1790 and recorded in Halifax County, mentions a daughter Sarah Matthews and grandchildren Josiah, Patty and Patience Matthews living in Georgia.⁴³⁸ The will doesn't say that Sarah was living in Georgia or that she was the mother of Josiah, Patty and Patience, but presumably she was their mother and lived in Georgia also. The available pool of Mathews men from this generation whose wives are not known and who were not living in North Carolina in 1790 is very limited and really only comprises two sons of Isaac Mathews Sr: Peter and Robert Mathews. This very short list completely ignores any of the mystery Mathews who may have been living in Halifax County earlier, but for various reasons I do not feel that the mystery men are viable candidates. Several supposed children of Robert are mentioned as buyers of his estate as seen in the section on Robert and none have the names of the grandchildren listed in the will of Arthur Davis. This leaves only Peter as the ideal candidate for Arthur's son-in-law. It should be noted as well that Arthur Davis was one of the witnesses to the deed where Peter Mathews sold the land his father had willed to him, although admittedly this little tidbit in and of itself does not really mean that much. There was a Josiah Mathews in the 1820 census for Burke County, Georgia⁴³⁹ as well as a Peter Matthews⁴⁴⁰ and as we saw above in the deed where the orphans of the Peter Mathews of Burke County sold their lottery land that their mother was named Sarah.

The discoveries discussed in the above paragraph have only recently come to light to me so further research will need to be carried out. It is known that others from Halifax County were making their way to Burke County, Georgia as early as the 1780s, in particular some Wards related to the second husband of the widow of Repps Mathews, Francis Ward. This topic is something that needs to be researched further, but few early records from Burke County remain as the courthouse burned down twice by 1856.

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Samuel Mathews was possibly the youngest son of Isaac Mathews Sr., or at the very least one of the youngest. Halifax County court records indicate that he died, presumably intestate since no will is recorded, in or before Feb 1797.⁴⁴¹ The same court records give us the name of his wife: Anne. Samuel's wife may have been a Davis (haven't we seen enough Davises already?), possibly the daughter of Henry Davis and Mary Marriott. This idea is based solely on the fact that Marriott Davis (a known son of Henry Davis) was appointed guardian of Samuel's sons (Samuel's widow Anne was appointed guardian of his daughters). The guardianship in itself is highly suggestive of some sort of familial relationship. Although it is slim evidence of anything it is also worth mentioning that Henry Davis did have a daughter named Anne. This daughter Anne is not known to have married so there is nothing preventing the possibility that she did marry Samuel Mathews at some point.

Samuel appeared in all Halifax County tax lists that I have viewed, sometimes in District 15,⁴⁴² where the other families of Isaac Mathews Sr's children lived, but sometimes in District 12⁴⁴³ where the families of the children of James Mathews Jr. lived. The differences were possibly due to error (possibly redistricting) and I believe that Samuel may have lived on the opposite side of Little Fishing Creek from his brothers and mother--- ergo, the difference in tax district with the creek serving as the dividing line. Court records named four sons and four daughters, but the 1790 census only shows 3 sons so whichever son was the youngest (probably James or Willie/Wiley) probably had not been born by 1790.⁴⁴⁴ After Samuel's death his widow Anne is not found in the 1800 census or tax list, but she does show in the 1802 tax list where she was not taxed for any adult men which more or less agrees with the estimated range of age for Guilford Mathews (born between 1781 - 1784) who was probably the oldest son.⁴⁴⁵

Samuel's widow Anne died in Halifax County ca. November 1806 and she left a will naming the same children found in the court records earlier.⁴⁴⁶ The executor of Anne's will was Marriott Davis, the same man who was appointed guardian of her sons, which further suggests a familial relationship with Marriot.

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Susannah Mathews was almost certainly not the youngest child of Isaac Mathews Sr. even though she was the last named in his will. Her name is not included in the list in which Isaac named 9 of his 10 children. Since she is listed separately from the other children and is only left 5 shillings so it seems to me that she was possibly one of the oldest of Isaac's children.

In any event virtually nothing is known of Susannah aside from the fact that she had married a Humphries (spelled Humphris in the will). If the supposition that one of James Mathews Sr's unknown daughters married a Griffin Humphries in Brunswick County, Virginia then perhaps Susannah's husband was related to that family. In the deed books of Halifax County, North Carolina there is a deed showing a Thomas Humphries witnessing a land sale involving several sons of Thomas Mathews, Sr.⁴⁴⁷ Given the single deed this is merely an observation and no conclusions can really be drawn from this. No other Matthews deeds have been found from Halifax County with any Humphries mentioned. More research needs to be done with the Humphries family to possibly determine which one married Susannah.

It is almost certain that Cebell Mathews was the oldest child of Isaac Jr. Her date of birth, as well as that of her younger sister Elizabeth, are known and estimates are available for most of the rest of her siblings. An argument could possibly be made for Moses being the oldest, but various bits of circumstantial evidence point to his birth being about 1761. Cebell's birth date of 11 Mar 1760 is calculated from her date of death as given in the family bible of her son John Pace Carr (her age is given in years, months and days so birth was calculated backwards).⁴⁴⁸ She would have been born in Halifax County, North Carolina since her family was well established in North Carolina by this time.

Cebell was first married to Thomas Pace,⁴⁴⁹ a wealthy Halifax County, North Carolina slave owner, sometime prior to Feb 1779.⁴⁵⁰ Halifax County tax lists from the 1780s show Thomas living in District 15 very near to Cebell's father. The 1782 tax list in particular illustrates his wealth where we see he was taxed for over 600 acres of land, 30 slaves, 8 horses and 33 cattle.⁴⁵¹ Thomas died in 1795 leaving a will naming his wife Cebell and his 7 children.⁴⁵²

Cebell would next marry Benjamin Carr,⁴⁵³ a witness to the will of Thomas Pace and wealthy Halifax County tavern owner and slave holder. The date of Cebell's marriage to Carr is unknown, but must have occurred no more than about a year after the death of Thomas Pace as the only child of Cebell and Benjamin Carr, Thomas Pace Carr, was born in May 1797.⁴⁵⁴ Benjamin Carr is not found in the 1810 census of Halifax County. The family moved to Georgia at some point, presumably before 1810, and in 1820 they are found in the census records of Warren County, Georgia.⁴⁵⁵ When Benjamin and Cebell moved to Georgia several, if not all, of Cebell's children from her first marriage moved with them for we find several mentions of both Carrs and Paces in Georgia records in the area of Warren County. By 1840 census records show Benjamin and Cebell⁴⁵⁶ as well as the family of their son John Pace Carr⁴⁵⁷ living in Newton County where they would remain until their deaths. Cebell and Benjamin lived to be quite old and died within a month of each other, May and April respectively, in 1860.⁴⁵⁸

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While Moses Mathews was either the second or third child of Isaac Mathews, Jr. he was definitely the oldest son. As mentioned in the section above discussing Isaac Jr. we find that Moses was listed as the head of household for his father's property in Halifax County, North Carolina in both 1785 and 1786. It would appear that Isaac and the rest of his family had moved to Edgefield County, South Carolina leaving Moses behind temporarily. The reason for this separation is unknown. Two possibilities come to mind: perhaps Moses was finalizing his father's matters in North Carolina or perhaps Moses remained behind to marry and care for his infant daughter before moving. Curiously the 1785 tax list shows no white polls for the household, implying that the current estimated date of birth for Moses (abt 1761) is inaccurate as he should have been counted if he were legally an adult, age 21. If he was not yet 21 in 1785 then he was possibly born as late as 1765. The 1786 state census shows Moses in the under 21 and over 60 bracket (obviously in the "under 21" category) with 2 females in the household who were presumably his wife Martha and either his first daughter Nancy who was born 3 Apr 1786 or his mother-in-law Susannah (see below). The census was dated Feb 1786 so it would seem more likely that the other female was the mother-in-law of Moses. Whatever the explanation for what was occurring with Moses in Halifax County he had left the state by the following year and was presumably to be found in Edgefield County after the 1786 state census record.

The mother-in-law of Moses Mathews brings up an interesting discussion which apparently has gone misunderstood or unnoticed by others researching the Mathews family of Edgefield County. The Edgefield County court of March 1792 records the will of Susannah Mathews in which she names her daughter Martha, son-in-law Moses Mathews, grandchildren Nancy, Elizabeth and Lewis Mathews, and a brother of Moses named Lewis.⁴⁵⁹ Also, the will was witnessed by Lewis Mathews, Moses Mathis and Isaac Matthis (yes, three different surname spellings are used in the same document and this is not the only known occurrence of this happening). The odds would seem to be astronomical for this Susannah to have been the mother of anyone other than the wife of Moses Mathews. From other documents we know that Martha was the name of Moses's wife (see below equity case discussion) and we also know that Moses had a brother named Lewis (also from the equity case) and that Moses's two oldest daughters, born before Susannah's will was written, were Nancy and Elizabeth. The Isaac who was a witness of the will was obviously the father of Moses and Lewis. Although Isaac died before the will was recorded (per the equity case) he was still alive at the time it was written: 29 Dec 1790.

Since his mother-in-law was a Mathews it would seem likely that Moses married a daughter of one of his father's cousins or possibly the daughter of an uncle. The possibility that Susannah was the wife of some Mathews completely unrelated to the at-large Mathews family under discussion on this site just does not feel likely to me at all (I could be wrong of course). The "daughter of an uncle" possibility doesn't hold much water because said uncle would have had to have been dead in 1790 when Susannah wrote her will otherwise her husband would have gotten everything she had when she died (barring a prenuptial agreement). None of Isaac Jr's brothers fit the bill here as none were known to have been married to a Susannah; of those who were dead none had a widow named Susannah and of those about whom little is known, Peter and Thomas, we know that Thomas was still alive and Peter was likely alive. The only other Mathews who were still hanging around in Halifax County in the 1780s were the children of James Mathews Jr., however, all of James Jr's sons, James III, Jeremiah and Richard, were still alive in 1790 and were either still in Halifax County or living in Georgia--- the implication here is that Susannah would have been with her husband in either of those places rather than in South Carolina. So, this leaves only those "mystery" Mathews that I've mentioned from time to time; one of whom must have been married to Susannah. The only other alternative to any of this is that Susannah remarried to a Mathews after her first husband died which would mean that Martha wasn't necessarily a Mathews. A final point on this first observation is the consideration that Susannah may have been the Susannah Mathis in District 12 of the 1782 Halifax County, North Carolina tax list.⁴⁶⁰ District 12 is where the children of James Mathews Jr. lived so it is possible that District 12 Susannah was the daughter of James Jr. rather than Martha's mother. Although it is also possible that James Jr's daughter Susannah had married another Mathews meaning that even though she is named as Susannah Mathews in his will she was actually already married at that time. This would open the door to Moses being married to a granddaughter of James Mathews Jr.

Moses died sometime before 1810 as Martha is shown as head of household for that year's census.⁴⁶¹ In 1814 Martha and Moses's youngest brother, Daniel, brought a case against Daniel's surviving siblings which is recorded in the equity court records of Edgefield County.⁴⁶² The value of this equity case cannot be overstated as it is the lynchpin which unequivocally ties Isaac Mathews of Edgefield County to Halifax County, North Carolina and in doing so allows us to clearly connect him as the son of Isaac Mathews Sr. which thereby firmly establishes him as a descendant of James Mathews Sr. By telling us that one of Isaac's daughters was Cebell who had previously been married to Thomas Pace and who was, as of 1814, married to Benjamin Carr the equity case gives us the ability to jump backwards geographically to Halifax County to find an obvious relationship between Carr and Pace to the Mathews in Halifax County. It gives us the ability to deduce that Isaac Jr. was the same man who owned 100 acres in Halifax County and by the fact that it was situated right in between the land owned by other children of Isaac Mathews Sr. that Isaac Jr. must have been the son of Isaac Mathews Sr. Along with this clear connection back to James Mathews Sr. we are also given an invaluable record of Isaac Mathews Jr's children and many of his grandchildren. The case gives us the names of all spouses of Isaac's daughters as well as the names of the children of his deceased sons Moses and Lewis and also the names of the spouses of those children of Moses and Lewis who were married as of 1814. The purpose of the equity case was to give clear title to the land that Isaac Jr. died possessed of to Daniel and Moses's widow Martha as that was, per the equity case, Isaac's well-known dying wish. Apparently after the death of Moses clear title to Isaac's land had still not been conveyed so the case was brought so that Moses's children could inherit their father's real estate.

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The second daughter of Isaac Mathews Jr. was Elizabeth Mathews who was either his second or third child depending on how we estimate the year of birth of her brother Moses. Based on her age, given in years, months and days, as given on her tombstone she was born 28 Nov 1762⁴⁶³ which would place her birth location as Halifax County, North Carolina. Elizabeth was mentioned in the will of her grandfather Hubbard Quarles when he died about Oct 1780. The will was written in 1779 and all of Isaac's children should have been born by 1779, but Elizabeth was the only one named (not counting a Molly Mathews also named who may have been a daughter of Isaac who died young). Elizabeth's sister Cebell was likely already married to Thomas Pace by the time the will was written and Elizabeth would have been a young woman by this time so perhaps the bequest was merely a loving legacy given to Hubbard's unmarried granddaughter.

We know from the equity case discussed in the section on Moses, above, that Elizabeth married a man named George Fluker. George's Revolutionary War pension request tells us that he had lived in Bute County, North Carolina and while he was on one tour of duty the county had been split into Franklin and Warren Counties.⁴⁶⁴ After the split he found his home in Warren County and married Elizabeth. Warren County was formed in 1779 so this places his marriage to Elizabeth in 1779 or afterwards. After his marriage he moved to Halifax County and then followed Isaac Mathews Jr. and his family to Ninety-Six District which was the original name of the territory from which Edgefield County, South Carolina was formed.

George apparently moved around quite a bit. His pension tells us, and other records agree, that he moved from Edgefield District to Washington County, Georgia, then back to Edgefield and then from there to Maringo County, Alabama and then finally to Wilcox County, Alabama where he and Elizabeth would remain. Cemetery records of Gastonburg Cemetery in Wilcox County place George and Elizabeth's dates of death at, respectively, 30 Aug 1839⁴⁶⁵ and 14 Apr 1841. George left a will in which he mentioned his wife, 3 sons and a granddaughter who was presumably born of a daughter (her last name was not Fluker).

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The next child of Isaac Mathews Jr. was my 4th great grandfather, Hardy Mathews. Using the census records of 1800 to 1830 Hardy's year of birth can be narrowed down to between 1765-1770 ("abt 1765" is used in my database as his brothers Lewis, Micajah and Daniel are also factored into the calculation of Hardy's date of birth).

Hardy's name appears occasionally in the deed records of Edgefield County, South Carolina beginning in 1801 when he purchased 247 acres from John Ewing Calhoun.⁴⁶⁶ The land was on Little Saluda River adjoining his brother Lewis and in the same general area that his other siblings and extended family lived. It was also near various Corleys, Etheridges, Hardys, Wests and other families that the descendants of Isaac Mathews Jr would intermarry with during the antebellum period.

Compared to some Mathews who are discussed on this site Hardy appears in a relatively large group of distinctively different record types. He was mentioned in the equity case of 1814 discussed above in the section on his brother Moses, but always after his brother Lewis (which means I probably have their order of birth reversed). He is in a fair number of deed records that both tell us clearly where he lived and who his wife was (Nancy).⁴⁶⁷ He left a descriptive will that names not only his children, but also some grandchildren (and the implication that he really didn't like his son-in-law John Sawyer),⁴⁶⁸ and after his death estate papers flesh out his family a little more.⁴⁶⁹

His wife's name is given as Nancy in at least one Edgefield County deed where we find her releasing dower. Her maiden name, unfortunately, is unknown. Hardy's will was witnessed by three Pope men so perhaps there was a familial connection to the Popes through his wife, but that is entirely conjecture. The Popes intermarried quite a few times with both the Isaac Mathews Jr. family and the family of Isaac's cousin William Mathews who lived in the northern part of Edgefield County so we really shouldn't draw too much from their unexplained appearance in any Mathews records.

Hardy's will was written in Nov 1829 and recorded 31 Oct 1831 so he probably died the month it was recorded at the courthouse. The will named a son Micajah; a daughter Cebell "on conditions she does not return to live with her husband John Sawyer"; a deceased son Isaac and Isaac's children; and other children Moses, Nancy and Henry. Hardy's estate records indicate that Henry died about the same time as his father.

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Assuming the year of birth typically found on the internet for Lewis Mathews is accurate then he was born 1777 and would have been younger than Hardy discussed above. The year 1777 is given in many records, but the fact that he was always named before Hardy in the equity case discussed above brings doubt to this date. The only census record he appears in is 1800 and he is listed in the 26-44 bracket which places his date of birth in 1773 or earlier.⁴⁷⁰ The 1800 census shows 3 girls 0-9 in his household and 2 boys in the same age bracket. Assuming they were all his children then he was likely married at least by 1790 which would make the 1777 date of birth a little hard to accept and would likely push his date of birth back to at least around 1770 if not earlier.

The 1814 equity case brought by his brother Daniel and sister-in-law Martha Mathews names 8 children that Lewis had, four boys and four girls. Lewis was married to Nancy Allen, daughter of Josiah Allen and Elizabeth DeLoach,⁴⁷¹ and the equity case, as well as a prenuptial agreement found in Edgefield deed records, tell us that she married Bailey Crouch after Lewis died in March 1809.

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The two youngest sons of Isaac Mathews Jr. were almost certainly Micajah and Daniel. Micajah is very often confused with a younger nephew named Micajah, son of Hardy above. Many family trees on the internet attribute the wife of the younger Micajah to his uncle or conflate their birth dates and time period for which they lived. Even a superfluous investigation of the records easily reveals that there were two different men named Micajah and the names of the wives of each are clearly given in the records. The Micajah who was Isaac's son was born abt 1774 based on his given age of 75 in the 1850 census of Crawford County, Georgia.⁴⁷² Tracing Micajah back through prior census records to 1800 the age bracket that he falls within always agrees with this approximation.

Micajah appears in 3 deeds in Edgefield County and one of those gives the name of his wife: Martha (maiden name currently unknown).⁴⁷³ Two of these deeds, dated 1804, are for Micajah purchasing 50 acres⁴⁷⁴ and 100 acres⁴⁷⁵ from, respectively, Nathan Corley and Robert Corley. The property was between the Little and Big Saluda Rivers placing Micajah in the same general area where his brothers lived. At some point between 1804 and 1806 Micajah also acquired additional acreage in the form of a South Carolina state grant. By 1806 Micajah had decided to move to Georgia. On 21 Feb 1806 Micajah sold all of his land in Edgefield County to George Gray and after this he is no longer located in South Carolina records.⁴⁷⁶

Jumping ahead to 1820 we find Micajah in the census records of Georgia (US census records are lost for Georgia before 1820) where he is now found living in Jones County.⁴⁷⁷ By the time of the 1830 census Micajah had moved to Crawford County⁴⁷⁸ where he would remain until he died abt Jun 1856. Micajah is known to have had 3 children: George F., Nancy and Catherine.

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The youngest child of Isaac Mathews Jr. was Daniel Mathews, but little is known about him. Aside from the oft-mentioned equity case above he is only known for certain from two census records: 1800⁴⁷⁹ and 1810⁴⁸⁰ in Edgefield County. Those two censuses did not have precise age brackets for adults so the best we can approximate for Daniel's birth is sometime between 1774 and 1784. If his older brother Micajah was born about 1774 then Daniel was probably born no more than 2 to 3 years after that assuming there were no unknown siblings who died young who might have also been born after Micajah. There was another Daniel Mathews living in Edgefield County who apparently died before 1794 and some of things that we think we know about Daniel might actually apply to the other man. Later estate records from Edgefield County seem to suggest that there was yet another unrelated Daniel Mathews active in the early 1800s making identification of Isaac's son difficult.

One strange thing about the two census records where we find Daniel is that in 1800 he is enumerated within a page or two of his brothers, but in 1810 he is enumerated almost 40 pages away from his brothers or sisters-in-law (perhaps this is the second unrelated Daniel Mathews mentioned in the previous paragraph?). The 1810 census shows 3 girls 0-9 and one boy 10-15 living in his home, but who these children were is unknown. Daniel is not enumerated again after 1810 so it is possible that he moved. In 1840 we do find another Daniel Mathews in the Edgefield census records, but he is listed in the 80-89 age bracket which would put this man's date of birth between 1750-1760 which is highly unlikely to be indicative of the Daniel who was Isaac's son so this other Daniel must be some other unknown Mathews.

Some researchers give Mary Louise Thompson as the name of the wife of Daniel Mathews, but to date I have found no firm evidence of this. While it is quite possible that this woman married a Daniel Mathews I am not quite so certain that the Daniel she married was Isaac's son. Given that we know there were two other men in Edgefield County also named Daniel Mathews there would be a reasonable chance that she actually married one of the other two men named Daniel.

Reddick is presumably the "Riddick" Matthews found in the US Army's Register of Enlistments during the period of the War of 1812.⁴⁸⁵ Due to the obscurity of the name Reddick I have not found another man named Reddick Matthews for this time period or general geographic area. The Register of Enlistments shows this Reddick was issued a receipt for clothing (uniform) 1 Dec 1809, that he was present at Fort Hull 28 Feb 1814 and was discharged 2 Feb 1814 (register does show the discharge as the earlier date so perhaps there was a slight error in dates). Fort Hull was located just across the current border of Georgia in Alabama, south of Tuskegee. Various reminiscences of the war show that it was in February 1814 that American forces with their Creek Indian allies engaged the Red Stick Indians near Fort Hull so it would seem likely that Reddick was involved in those actions (see here for further historical details). After Feb 1814 no record of Reddick has been found.

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As of early Spring 2012 a great deal of new information came to light concerning Robert Mathews Jr. that makes it quite clear that he has been unquestionably identified and with a family. Email correspondances with two individuals, one a descendant of Robert Jr. and the other a researcher who was working on this family at the request of another descendant, have filled in the missing details on the fate of Robert Jr. after the death of his father.⁴⁸⁶

The initial email from Bob Johnston contained the majority of the information that confirmed the fate of Robert Mathews Jr. (all data that follows came from his email and was not confirmed by me personally). In his email Bob lists an almost uninterrupted stream of tax listings that show Robert Mathews Sr. between 1787 and 1805 owning the same 200 acres on Williamson Creek all the way until his death in 1805 as well as more or less owning the same number of slaves until 1805 (the number drops to 8 in 1793, but grows to 11 by the time he died). This is far more tax information than I had readily available when I first wrote the section on Robert Sr. above. The purpose of pointing this out is to show that we are without doubt talking about the same Robert Matthews Sr. from the time he first appears in Georgia until he died in 1805.

Furthermore, the tax records of Wilkes County first list a Robert Mathews Jr. in 1799 (listed adjacent to Robert Sr). Family records among his descendants say that Robert Jr was born in 1777. He would have been taxable when he turned 21 so 1799 would roughly correspond to 21 years of age if he was in fact born in 1777. Robert Jr. was not shown with any land or slaves indicating that he was most likely simply still living with his father and not yet married.

The identity of the wife of Robert Mathews Jr. as passed down through his descendants is Mary Smith. A large amount of circumstantial evidence does lend quite a bit of creedance to this notion and makes it almost a foregone conclusion that Robert's wife almost certainly was Mary Smith. The description of this circumstantial evidence is a bit circuitous, but hopefully the reader will persevere! Mentioned above in the section on Robert Mathews Sr. in the various court records related to his estate is the name Moses Alexander (the man who became guardian of Robert's daughter Anna). Moses was a brother of Mary Smith's mother, Sarah Alexander. To make things even more cozy recognize that Sarah and Moses were children of the Samuel Alexander (and wife Olivia Wooten) who sold Robert Mathews Sr. his 200 acres of Williams Creek in Wilkes County. Sarah Alexander is believed to have first married a Capt. John Smith and from that union Mary Smith was born (John Smith was a bit older than Sarah and she is believed to have been his second wife). Capt. Smith died in 1794 and mentioned his wife Sarah, daughter Mary and son Alexander (possibly from an earlier marriage?) in his will. Sarah Alexander Smith is then believed to have later married a Wylie Wright and at least children resulted from that marriage: Sarah and William Wright. Remember in the section above on Robert Mathews Sr. that there was an 1821 court entry stating that Robert Mathews was paid from the estate of Wylie Wright and that Sarah [Alexander Smith] Wright, guardian of Sarah and William Wright was also paid from the estate. This entry had been confusing to me for a number of years since "Robert Mathews" had been dead for 16 years when money was paid to him, but knowing what we now know about Robert Jr. the entry makes complete sense: Robert, in lieu of his wife Mary Smith was paid out of the estate of Wylie Wright just as Wylie's widow (Mary Smith Mathews's mother) and children were. (Information from this paragraph from email from Sharon Noyes to Greg Matthews 4 Mar 2012.)

Further to the meandering description of the Alexander family we notice an interesting entry from the tax list data provided by Bob Johnston. Bob's email points out that in 1804 Sarah Wright was marked on the tax list right after Robert Mathews Sr. This certainly makes clear how Robert Jr. would have known his wife: their parents were neighbors!

Robert Jr. remained in Wilkes County, Georgia until shortly after 1820 when he was enumerated in the census there. By 1824 he appears on a tax list for Fayette County, Georgia and he is also enumerated there in the 1830 census. Robert died in Fayette Co by 1832. Probate and family records show that he and Mary had 10 children, all but one of which was a son.

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More is known of Anna J. Mathews than of the other children of Robert Mathews Sr. She was born between 1800 and 1805 which is based on census records and the fact that Robert died in 1804. Since the date is so late and since Solomon Mathews at the very least was almost certainly into middle age it would seem quite possible that she was the daughter of a second wife of Robert Sr, one that was almost certainly a bit younger than he. Robert Sr's estate records show that Moses Alexander was granted guardianship of Anna, "orphan of Robert Matthews". Since Moses Alexander was an administrator of Robert Mathews who owned land on Williams Creek it is a foregone conclusion that the Robert Matthews who had an orphan named Anna was indeed the Robert who was a son of Isaac Mathews Sr. (no other Robert is known from this time period aside from the Robert who purchased from the elder Robert's estate, but by making this point we take away any question that Anna might have been some other Robert's daughter).

On 26 Apr 1821 Anna married Cullen W. Alexander, a nephew of Moses Alexander.⁴⁸⁷ Not much is known of Anna beyond her marriage, however it is known that she and her husband eventually moved to that portion of Randolph County that would become Clay County.

Guilford Mathews was married 8 Nov 1817 to Frances Ward⁴⁹² who appears to have been a daughter of Francis Ward⁴⁹³ who was the second husband of Guilford's aunt Sarah Mathews, widow of Repps Mathews. Although he wasn't married to Frances until 1817 he still appears in the 1810 with a house full of people, some of which were probably siblings. There were, however, 3 young children who were either children of a marriage prior to Frances Ward or children of one of his siblings.

Guilford remained in Halifax County for a number of years and is found there in all census years though 1840. By 1850 he is found in Cass County, Georgia in the company of Mark L. Mathews who was most likely a grandson of Repps Mathews (see above).⁴⁹⁴ In 1860 Guilford and his wife Fanny were enumerated in Gordon County which was formed out of part of Cass County in 1850.⁴⁹⁵ After 1860 neither are to be found and likely died before the 1870 census.

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Temperance Mathews married Thomas Davis in Warren County, Georgia in 1814.⁴⁹⁶ How she came to be in Georgia is completely unknown, but due to the fact that her mother is believed to have been a Davis and that Tempey married a Davis it would seem reasonable to believe that she and probably some of her siblings moved to Georgia with Davis relatives.

Family papers belong to one of Thomas and Tempey's grandsons list the birth and death dates for his grandparents as well as the names dates of birth for all of their children.⁴⁹⁷ Dates for Temperance are given as 19 May 1791 to 26 May 1870 and for Thomas 5 Jan 1792 to 4 Nov 1862. Ten children to this couple were named. Only two census records have been located for Thomas Davis which place him in Warren County, Georgia in 1820⁴⁹⁸ and in Henry County, Georgia in 1850.⁴⁹⁹