Archer Mathews

Archer Mathews
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the Greenbrier district
In office
1780–1782
Preceded by John Stuart
Succeeded by James Reid
Personal details
Born 1744
Augusta County, Virginia
Died c.1796
Lewisburg, West Virginia
Spouse(s) Letitia McLanahan
Relations Mathews family
Occupation Saddler
Politician
Military service
Service/branch Virginia militia
Battles/wars American Revolution

Archer Mathews (1744 - c. 1796) was an American politician and city founder from Greenbrier County, Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Greenbrier County from 1780-1782.[1][2]

Biography

Greenbrier Lodge A.F. & A.M., chartered December 5, 1796 by Archer Mathews, James W. Williams, and John C. Brown

Archer Mathews was born in 1744 in Augusta County, Virginia to John and Anne (Archer) Mathews. His parents were among the first settlers of Augusta County who had immigrated to America during the Scotch-Irish immigration of 1710-1775.[3] On his father's death, he moved to Greenbrier County, where brothers Sampson and George had established the county's first mercantile outpost.[4]

In Greenbrier County, he was saddler [2] and was active in the Virginia frontier skirmishes between European settlers and local Native American tribes. When Fort Randolph was erected at the site of the Battle of Point Pleasant of Dunmore's War, he acted as commissary, purchasing a large drove of cattle and hogs for the post.[5][6] He served as one of Greenbrier County's first magistrates, overseeing road construction, surveying the land, and holding court.[6] He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from Greenbrier County from 1780-1782,[1] and in the latter year was appointed one of eight original trustees of the city of Lewisburg, Greenbrier County on its foundation by the Virginia General Assembly.[2] As trustee he divided the city land into plots to be sold.[7] One such plot was bought by a nephew, Joseph Mathews, who was the grandfather of West Virginia Governor Henry Mason Mathews.[8]

In later life he was a charter member of the Greenbrier Masonic Lodge A.F. & A.M. when it was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Virginia on December 5, 1796.[9] This lodge is the oldest Masonic Lodge west of the Allegheny Mountains.[6][9] He died c. 1796 and was buried at the Old Stone Church in Lewisburg, West Virginia.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Leonard, Cynthia Miller 1978. The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619-January 11, 1978: a bicentennial register of members. Virginia State Library
  2. 1 2 3 Rice, Otis K. 1986. A History of Greenbrier County. Greenbrier Historical Society, p. 116
  3. ↑ Waddell, Joseph A (1902) "Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 Waddell's Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871, Retrieved October 20, 2012
  4. ↑ Handley, Harry E. (1963), "The Mathews Trading Post", published in The Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society: Volume 1, Number 1 (Lewisburg, West Virginia: Greenbrier Historical Society, August 1963) "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2012-11-30. Retrieved October 28, 2012
  5. ↑ Rice, Otis K. 1986. A History of Greenbrier County. Greenbrier Historical Society, p. 61
  6. 1 2 3 Dayton, Ruth W. (2009). "Greenbrier Pioneers and Their Homes." The History of West Virginia, Old and New (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009) p.215. https://books.google.com/books?id=ea6aAJ01TRkC&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=%22archer+mathews%22+%22general+assembly%22+virginia&source=bl&ots=P3DYBHzamc&sig=7eQ4v9M4q3Ipu3Xy58b73GFk-v8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pmOHUJahGoLM9gT8uoGIDg&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22archer%20mathews%22%20%22general%20assembly%22%20virginia&f=falseRetrieved October 23, 2012
  7. ↑ Greenbrier Historical Society (1938) Greenbrier Historical Society Historical Booklet, Greenbrier Co., 1938. http://www.lewisburg.org/history/mathewsbio.htmRetrieved%5B%5D 2012-10-19
  8. ↑ Combs, James Thurl (1987). "Greenbrier, C.S.A. Wartime Letters of Mason Mathews to his son Captain Joseph William Mathews, C.S.A." The Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society (Parsons, West Virginia: Greenbrier Historical Society) V (1): 5-44.
  9. 1 2 Lewisburg History Project (2005). http://www.lewisburg.org/history/firstmasoniclodge.htm Retrieved December 5, 2012.
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