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Morgan Mathewson was born in 1808 in New York State. That is what all the census' say and so does his death certificate. Nowhere does it mention who his parents where except his death certificate which says Selinda Mathewson and Oliver Mathewson. I know who two of his cousins were from a newspaper article in 1916. That is it. I am guessing that Selinda Mathewson was a person I found in Walworth, Wayne County NY . The daughter of Daniel Mathewson born in Worcester, Providence Rhode Island . This is because of the cousins and because of one of her brothers' grandsons also named Morgan. She never married until she was in her 30's and only had one child with her husband, last name Robbins.
Finding Oliver is a real challenge, Morgan lived in New Berlin, Chenango County, NY when he first got married to Amanda Crosby around 1830. There is an Oliver Matterson living in Chenango county who was old enough to be Morgan's father. There was also an Oliver Matteson living 30 miles away in Otsego County a few years older. Looking at the 1810-1850 census, never is there a child in these families that fits Morgans age. These Mathewsons were Quakers. How do I find my Morgan's father?
Linda
Maybe I'm missing something in your explanation, but I don't see how a Selinda Matthewson who married someone named Robbins could be the mother of Morgan Mathewson??? Most likely whoever gave the info for the death certificate didn't know Selinda's maiden name so they gave her married name instead. The fact that there are some similar names in Daniel Mathewson's family and in your family suggest that the two families may have a common ancestor somewhere, but the connection is likely on Morgan's father's side not his mother's. Daniel could have been Morgan's uncle or something along those lines.
When I look at the 1810 census, there's an Oliver Mattison in Sparta, Ontario, NY with 2 sons under 10. There are also two Oliver Matteson's in West Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island both of whom have 2 sons under 10. I know you thought your Morgan was born in NY, but if you got that from census records or his death certificate it's possible that the info is not correct (especially if it was the death certificate--if he lived most of his adult life in NY whoever gave the info for the death certificate could have easily assumed that he was born there). In the 1820 census, one of the Olivers is still in West Greenwich RI and he has a son in the right age range. There are also two Oliver's in NY--one in Butternuts, Oswego and one in Bergen, Genesee. Neither has a son in the right age range, but they both have at least one son under 10. Ages in census records can be hit or miss at times, and since Morgan would have been 12 at the time (if the 1808 date is correct) it's conceivable that he might have been included in the under 10 bucket. Or if there were a lot of relatives in the area, it's always possible he was living with a grandparent, uncle, etc instead of his parents.
Unfortunately since only heads of household are listed in the pre-1850 census and since many families would have cousins, etc all with the same names and of similar ages it can become very confusing to try and narrow down exactly which family your person belongs to. What I would probably try to do next is search for marriage records that might shed some light on Selinda's maiden name. I'd look both in RI and NY for those. And I'd also see if you can track down wills for some of the Oliver's (or consider other older Mathewsons if you're not 100% convinced that the death certificate is right about his father's name). If you know the names of any of Morgan's siblings, you might also try looking for their death certificates to see if they have any different information on the parents.
You might also investigate Noah Mathewson as a possible father for Morgan--in the 1840 census in New Berlin, Chenango, NY there's an older gentleman Noah and several younger men who could be his sons (Noah Jr, Morgan, Waterman, Johnathan, and Erastus). When I'm doing my research and I spot something like this where there's one older man and several younger ones in the same town like that, it often turns out that it's father & sons. It's of course possible that Noah is Morgan's uncle rather than his father, but if you hadn't found the death certificate saying his father was named Oliver, Noah would have been my first "suspect" for his father.
One other thing that might help you with the next generation back...I found a Rhode Island birth record for an Oliver Matteson born 3 Feb 1782 to Silas & Patience Matteson--those could be Oliver's parents. Although since there were 2 Olivers of similar age in RI it's hard to say whether that's your Oliver or the other Oliver (most likely a cousin of your Oliver).
You might also try DAR's search engine--chances are that Morgan's grandfather was of an age to serve in the Revolutionary War, so you might search for Mathewson's who served from RI and look at their descendant listings. If nobody from your line has applied for membership in DAR then this may be a dead end, but it's definitely worth checking.
Thanks, your post has a lot of good ideas. Yesterday, I went to Norwich and the Chenango County Court house. I read Noah seniors Will. No mention of Morgan in there. Interestingly, the Will was contested . Noah junior got the 90 year old father to write a new will on his death bed. The oldest son George was left out of the Will completely and he contested it.
I checked out Jojn J Mattesons will and two others. No luck. I couldn't find a will for Oliver living in New Berlin. I will have to ride over to Cooperstown when the weather is better and check out Otsego County Wills.
Syracuse University has a collection of Church records that they just made public. They have the Quaker records for Butternuts, Otsego County available. The Mathewsons married a lot of Butternuts Quaker women so that will be a good place to search. Selinda Mathewson's father Daniel participated in the Revolutionary War.
Linda
If you search using Matterson for Oliver , you will find some more possibilities in Chenango County. One in New Berlin and another in Bainbridge. Both were born around 1782.
To add more confusion. A cousin of sorts insists her family record shows Morgan's father was a Lewis Mathewson of Rhode Island. Morgan's middle name shows and L. His first two children were twins named Lewis H. and Lovisa. Lewis H named his first son Frank so that doesn't help much . His second son was Elisha and his third son was Lewis Wardell.
I believe Morgan L Mathewson was named after the governor of New York State Morgan Lewis end of story...maybe ...except Morgan's grand daughter married George Morgan. I am so confused :) I am leaving no stone unturned. I found a property transfer yesterday where Morgan's wife allowed him to sell a large property in 1837. She must have been given the property as a wedding gift.? I could not find a deed transfer. Her maiden name was Crosby ( yes related to Bing and Fanny)
Linda
Sounds like you've got some good leads--sometimes it's just a matter of following up on a bunch of things and eventually you'll find one that works out. At least you're lucky that you live near the area where the people that you're researching lived--I'm all the way across the country from where any of my ancestors lived so I have to rely on what's been put online or pay other people to go look stuff up for me!
Thank you so much for the offer, but I don't really have many ancestors from NY. There is one family that moved from New Jersey to Walkill around 1800, but then by 1830 they had moved on to Ohio. One of these days I'm hoping to take some vacation and hit NJ/CT/MA/PA to do some research--that's where the bulk of my ancestors were.
Mommagoose, My first husband was a Mathewson from Plymouth, NY, near Norwich. I know that I have seen a forum of Mathewsons on Genforum. Have you tried that site? It is free, and it is a site where people answer inquiries about ancestors. Good luck!
Yes, I am on the Mathewson genforum and the Matteson forum too. When I started researching the Chenango, Broome and Otsego county Mathewsons, there were a lot of us doing the same. Now there are only 3-4 of us left in this generation. I would really love to answer this question in my lifetime. That is why I have stepped up my postings , trying to find the right person with the family Bible or the the family story :)
Linda
I thought my ancestors were from Arkansas as that is where my mama and daddy were from. While in Arkansas my brother and I went to the historical society there. We found a copy of a book that is in the Georgia archives. Come to find our our lineage in the U.S. started in Wilmington, N.C., and they kept moving, and settled in upper Georgia. We were so lucky to find that book. Incidentally, my maiden name is McDonald, and my dear deceased husband use to say there was one under each rock. Now if we could find our Mother's family, but the Arkansas birth records were burned in a fire. I grew up in Georgia, and to say I was suprised is an understatement.
