Charles B. Mathews

MATHEWS, BOWEN, MATTESON

Posted By: Emmet County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 3/4/2011 at 20:10:30

For almost half a century Charles B. Mathews has been a resident of Emmet county, and he has taken a very active and prominent part in its development and improvement along agricultural lines. He was born in Erie county, Ohio, on the 12th of December, 1844, and is a son of John and Mary (Bowen) Mathews, both natives of England who came to America before their marriage and located in Ohio. There the father died in 1847 and subsequently the mother removed to Wisconsin where she lived for several years. Her last days, however, were spent in Nebraska. In the family were two children both of whom are still living.

Charles B. Mathews was quite small when he accompanied his mother on her removal to Wisconsin, and there he was educated, attending the common schools. When the country became involved in Civil war he offered his services to the government, enlisting in 1863 in Company H, Thirty-third Wisconsin Infantry as a private. He participated in several hard fought battles including the engagement at Nashville and the siege of Mobile but fortunately was never wounded, and at the close of the war was mustered out at Mobile in 1865. On leaving the service he returned to Wisconsin but remained there only a short time and then removed to Minnesota, where he took up a claim. In 1871, however, he came to Emmet county, Iowa, and located on a farm in Armstrong Grove township, where he has since made his home, his time and energies being devoted to agricultural pursuits.

In 1870 Mr. Mathews was married to Miss Laura Matteson, who was born near Freeport, Illinois, and is a daughter of Truman and Maria (Chapman) Matteson, natives of New York and Connecticut, respectively. Both of her parents are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Mathews have been born eight children, namely: Claude A.; Eva, the wife of Thomas Akre of Algona, Iowa; Mary, the wife of Frank Dundar; George W., a resident of Wisconsin; Daniel W., of South Dakota; Martha E., a nurse who is a graduate of the City Hospital at Minneapolis; Nellie, who is a graduate of the Cedar Falls Normal School and is now teaching at Ashland, Oregon; and Hattie K., who is pursuing a three years' course at the City Hospital in Minneapolis.

Mr. Mathews is a prominent Mason and has filled all the chairs in both the Blue Lodge and Eastern Star Chapter. For four years he held the position of county supervisor and for a long period of sixteen years was a member of the school board. He is a veteran of the Civil War and is a man highly respected by all who know him.

Source: History of Emmet County and Dickinson County Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, The Pioneer Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1917.