My Genealogy Hound

JAMES M. MATTHEWS. Although not actively identified with any business, Mr. Matthews was for many years one of the influential and successful men of Berrien County and had an extended acquaintance throughout this section of Michigan. He was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, April 25, 1819, and was the third among ten children. He was reared in Montgomery County until twenty-one years of age, when he commenced to learn the trade of a carpenter at St. Mary’s, Ohio.

At the expiration of his term of apprenticeship, Mr. Matthews went to Dayton, Ohio, and in 1838 he went to Delaware County, Ind., and worked at his trade there for about two years. Thence he removed to South Bend, and aided in building the dam at that place. The year 1849 witnessed his arrival in Buchanan, where he embarked in business ns a general merchant and continued in that occupation for seven years, his being the second store established in this place.

In 1876, accompanied by his wife, Mr. Matthews removed to Kansas and located on a stock ranch, where he remained until 1884. As a ranchman he was quite successful and accumulated considerable money, but he was not satisfied to remain in the Sunflower State and, accordingly, disposed of his interests there and returned to Michigan. He was the owner of four hundred acres in Kansas, in addition to considerable real estate in Buchanan. He was an honorable man, pleasant in his associations with others and genial with all. He was reared with the famous statesman, Schuyler Colfax, who was a stepson of our subject’s brother.

The lady who was the companion of Mr. Matthews, and his helpmate in the truest sense of the word, bore the maiden name of Mary E. Day, and was born in Delaware County, N. Y., May 9, 1829. Her father, Andrew C. Day, was born in Connecticut, and at the age of nine years went with his parents to Delaware County, N. Y., where he was reared to manhood. After his marriage in Franklin, that county, on the 12th of June, 1827, he came to Berrien County, Mich., and located in what is now known as Buchanan Township. Here he secured a claim on which there was a small log house, without roof or floor.

Moving his family into that primitive abode, Mr. Day commenced the work of clearing the place and cultivating the land. Soon after locating there he purchased an interest in a mill from John Hatfield, one of the first settlers in the village of Buchanan. There were but two houses here when Mr. Day came to this place, and he was one of the very first settlers of the now thriving village. Here his death occurred in 1854, when he was seventy-eight years old. He is still remembered with affection, not only by his descendants, but by all those who appreciate the efforts of the pioneers to clear the way for coming generations. Honest, upright and kind, he deserves to be held in remembrance by all the citizens of Berrien County.

The mother of Mrs. Matthews bore the maiden name of Betsy Spoor, and was born at Franklin, Delaware County, N. Y., where she died at the age of seventy-nine. She was the mother of two daughters: Julia, the wife of Benjamin E. Burns, and Mary E. The latter was seven years old when she accompanied her parents to Buchanan, or, as it was then called, McCoy’s Creek, and here she attended the pioneer schools, held in log buildings of rude construction and meagre furnishings. Although her educational advantages were limited, she has become an intelligent woman through reading and observation. She is a lady possessing an unusual amount of executive ability as well as industry and perseverance, and is widely known for her hospitality and unvarying kindness of heart. Two children blessed her marriage, Susan C. and Andrew Craig. The former married Frank Hall, an historian and journalist of Denver, Colo.; and the latter resides in Buchanan Township, Berrien County.