Great John Mathis by Charles Ewing

Great John Mathis (Mathews, Mathewes)[1]

1690-October 23, 1779

John Mathis is perhaps the most important and significant person in the history of Bass River Township, New Jersey. In the year 1713 John Mathis was living on Long Island. At an early date there were Mathewes who settled at Cape May, New Jersey. It is likely they were relatives of John Mathis and his brother Charles Mathis. It is said that John Mathis considered Mathews a difficult name to pronounce and write, thus he made the alteration, and it became modernized into Mathis. Long custom has made Mathis the permanent way of writing and pronouncing the name among most of the descendants of John Mathis. In almost all of the deeds for John Mathis' land his name is written Mathews. Scholars suggest that the Norman signification of the term Mathews is "As stubborn as a mule." It has also been said that it is “a useless waste of time and patience to attempt to turn a true, full-blooded Mathis or Mathews from what he considered the right course. A Mathis could be led by truthful and pleasant words and just and honorable acts, but treat him to the essence of meanness and he cannot be driven any further than can the most stubborn mule that ever came under the lash.” Doubtless the Norman invaders of England found Great John Mathis' ancestors as true as steel and as stubborn as mules to the interests of their native England and hence the designation for their stubbornness.

Others believe that “the Mathis family is remarkable for longevity and for their excellent memory, their preciseness in business affairs and their exalted sense of justice. They are further known for their aptness in learning, for keeping their own counsel and even the secrets of others. Finally they are known for tending to their own business instead of the business of others.”

In the year 1716 John Mathis married Mrs. Alice Andrews Higbee, widow of John Higbee of Long Island, and eldest daughter of Mordecai and Mary Wright Andrews, as shown from the will of Mordecai Andrews. Alice Andrews Mathis was a valuable wife and partner to Great John. She had the reputation of being a strong-minded woman who was possessed of unusual business talents, ordering and arranging her affairs with the utmost regularity and good judgment. It is also affirmed that she was a greater speculator than her husband, and it was in a measure owning to her influence, speculative passion and forethought that Great John became such an extensive landowner. Taking in consideration the age in which she lived and also the meager opportunities she had for acquiring knowledge, she had a fair education. Alice wrote a better hand than Great John. She is described as a large, tall and muscular woman, of a dark complexion with black eyes and black hair inherited from her father, Mordecai Andrews. Alice had married John Higbee about 1712. He died soon after and left two children, Abigail and Edward Higbee. Abigail Higbee was born May 22, 1713. She married Robert Leeds, son of Joseph Leeds 1st. Their children were: Solomon Leeds, Rebecca Leeds, and Mary Leeds.

Alice’s mother was Mary Wright (Andrews). She was noted for her religious zeal and for her endurance under persecution at the hands of the intolerant governor and magistrates of Massachusetts. They executed their laws against the Quakers disgracefully and inexcusably, by reason, that the very men who fled from persecution in their native land to find a place wherein to worship God according to their conscience. In fact they were the foremost to persecute and oppress those who happened to differ with them in religious faith. Their persistent barbarity in putting Mary Dyer to death excited the indignation of all converts to the Quaker faith, and impelled many to flock to Boston under the firm persuasion that they were called of God to utter their exhortations and warnings in the very ears of their persecutors. Among those who appeared there shortly after Mary Dyer's execution (A. D. 1660) were the sisters Mary and Hanna Wright. They were particularly "bold in speech," publicly denouncing the magistrates for their part in that affair. They were immediately seized and lodged in Boston jail. There were at this time twenty-five others, some under sentence of death, some to be whipped and others to be banished. Alluding to the events of this period, Bishop,[2] in his New England Judged(1703), says: “Several of Salem friends ye committed, and have continued them long prisoners at Boston, as M. Trask, John Smith, Margaret Smith, Edward Wharton, and others; Robert Harper, also, of Sandwitch, and Deborah ye committed likewise; and these were in your prison the 30th of the l0th Month, 1660. Several ye banished upon pain of death, as Winlock Christison, and Will. King of Salem, and Martha Standly, a maid, belonging to England, and Mary Write of Oyster Bay in Long Island, who gave her testimony against you for your cruelty in putting Mary Dyer to death, whose blood ye also thirsted after, because of it."

Fortunately for the imprisoned ones, upon knowledge of these persecutions reaching England, the Home Government expressed its concern. The Court hastened to enact what they termed a New Law, which commenced with the following merciful preamble: “This Court, being desirous to try all means with as much lenity as may consist with our safety, to prevent the intrusions of the Quakers, who, besides their absurd and blasphemous doctrines, do, like rogues and vagabonds, come in upon us, and have not been restrained by the laws already provided, have ordered." It ordered that every person convicted by a magistrate of being a Quaker shall be "stripped naked from the middle upwards, and tyed to a cart's tail, and whipped through the town, and from thence immediately conveyed to the constable of the next town towards the border of our jurisdiction, as the warrant shall direct, and so from constable to constable, till they be conveyed through any the outwardest towns of our jurisdiction.”

On the 22nd of May, 1661, the Court made the following order respecting the prisoners then lying in the jail: "It is ordered that all the Quakers now in prison be acquainted with the New Law made against them, and forthwith released from prison, and sent from constable to constable, out of this jurisdiction; and if they, or any of them, be found after twelve hours within the same, he or they shall be proceeded with according to the law made this present Court.” Being a practicing Quaker required great courage and conviction. Mary Wright apparently was well possessed of these qualities.

Mary’s Son in Law, Great John Mathis was the first white settler in the Bass River area and politically, economically, and socially dominated the region for over fifty years. One writer referred to him as Bass River's Christopher Columbus and George Washington rolled into one, a status recognized by his peers who called him "Great" John Mathis.[3] Mathis family tradition tells us that John Mathews was born in Merthyr Tydfi Wales around 1690. He, along with his brother Charles, immigrated to Oyster Bay, Long Island in the early 1700's. Little is known of their life in Oyster Bay except that John and two other Oyster Bay residents, William Birdsall and Moses Forman, purchased Biddle's Island (named after William Biddle one of the West Jersey Proprietors) in 1713 as part of a 250-acre tract. One year later John bought out his partner's interest in the island and moved to Little Egg Harbor.

The fact that John had the funds to make this purchase suggests that he had considerable money prior to coming to Little Egg Harbor. Whether this wealth was inherited or earned after his arrival in Oyster Bay is unknown. John and Alice established a homestead on remote Biddle's Island (now called Oak Island) and began, as was the custom at the time, raising a large family. Micajah Mathis was born September 9, 1717 and died November 11, 1804. He was followed by Job Mathis, born May 13, 1719 and died 1771. Then came Sarah Mathis born July 19, 1721 and died April 17, 1799. Daniel Mathis, born September 7, 1723 and died in 1764 or 1765 was next. Jeremiah Mathis, was born March 14, 1726, and died December 23, 1762. Nehemiah Mathis born June 13, 1728, Little Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester County now Atlantic County and Eli Mathis, born June 4, 1730 and died April 14, 1795.

Biddle's Island was surrounded, not by water as we think of an island, but rather by vast acres of salt marsh networked with creeks. John quickly went about the business of developing a farm from this coastal wilderness. He built causeways, dikes, and bridges stabilizing the high ground of the island and allowing overland transportation to the mainland. Some of these causeways can be seen on today's aerial photos and geodetic maps of the area. The enterprise that evolved, although called a farm, was more like a self-sustaining plantation with labor provided by slaves[4]. This is not surprising as there were no nearby towns or cities. The area that was later to become Tuckerton was little more than a collection of farms, the Andrews' gristmill, and the Friends' (Quaker) Meeting House. John purchased 813 acres in 1729 to the west of and adjacent to his Biddle's Island farm. He built a new house in the area of the present day Viking Yacht Company and proceeded to develop another farm with a ship building facility along the Bass River. The virgin forest of the surrounding area provided timber for the ships that supported fishing and trade ventures. The success of these ventures became the foundation for Great John's ambitious land acquisition program. Mathis schooners, one of which was captained by his son Daniel, engaged in the West Indies trade, swapping south Jersey lumber for produce and other goods that enabled the Mathis farms to prosper. His continuing land purchases would eventually encompass four large, contiguous farms containing almost 5,000 acres. It is said that at one time he owned and managed all the land in the present Bass River Township from the coast northward to Bridgeport. Deeds for much of this land list his name as Mathews; however, John changed the family name to Mathis as he felt it was easier to pronounce and spell. John Mathews from Oyster Bay, Long Island thus became Great John Mathis from Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Great John's status and influence continued to grow. He served as the King's magistrate in the West Jersey provincial government. He became well acquainted with government leaders in Burlington City, the provincial capital of West Jersey, and was well thought of in Quaker society through his marriage into the influential Andrews family. In today's vernacular, Great John was one of the well-connected "good old boys," an extremely big fish in the relatively small pond that was Little Egg Harbor.

There were no banks or financial institutions in the area, so those in need of money often went to Great John who used such opportunities to steadily increase his fortune. The wide scope of his influence can be seen by the number of loans he made in areas outside of Little Egg Harbor including Egg Harbor, Springfield, Northampton, Southampton, Monmouth County and even Philadelphia. He financed the building of the first tavern in Tuckerton by David Falkinburg. He later helped finance the American Revolution. Great John was compelled to take large packages of the script that soon depreciated to utter worthlessness. These packages of Continental Currency were kept in the Mathis family for several generations, but they are now destroyed. This loan proved a ruinous adventure for Great John’s money affairs, but did not interfere with his land speculations, and in spite of his numerous losses he died the wealthiest man of his time and the township in which he lived. It is impossible to name all the lands owned by John Mathis. Unfortunately, as a result of him helping the struggling Revolution, the British burned his house. He rebuilt the house and it remained as a beacon of Mathis influence in the area until 1973. Efforts by the Great John Mathis Society to save it were unsuccessful. It was demolished to make room for the Bass River Marina.

Great John deeded the original island homestead to his son Job in 1760, upon Job's marriage to Phoebe Leek. She was the daughter of John Leek and Phoebe Deviney Leek whose descendants populated Leektown. Job passed the farm on to his son Daniel Leek who passed it onto his son, Daniel, Jr. For many years the old Biddle's island homestead was called "Dan's Island." Today it is known as Oak Island and is part of the federal Forsythe Wildlife Refuge. The vast Mathis land holdings were left to Great John's sons upon his death on October 23, 1778 with each receiving a farm of at least 1,000 acres. As generations passed, the land slowly fell from Mathis family control. The area along Route 9 from the present Ocean County line at Balangee's Creek (called Mathistown Creek for many years) to Job's creek remained mostly in Mathis ownership for a long time and became locally known as Mathistown. Although Mathistown consisted mainly of large farms, in very early times the area around Mathistown Creek had an ancient log schoolhouse and a fulling mill.[5] The fulling mill later became a sawmill operated by Eli Mathis and later Thomas French. Old school records indicate that a Mathistown schoolhouse may have existed on the lower road from Tuckerton to Bass River diagonally across from Munion Field Road near the intersection of Route 9 and old Route 4. It was moved about a mile closer to the village of New Gretna in 1853, burned down in 1866. It was replaced the following summer by the present building, which functioned as the Mathistown School until the early 1900's. It is now a private residence. Today, the name Mathis is largely gone from the area.

The vast Mathis land holdings have long vanished, and there is little left to remind us of Great John and the tremendous influence he and his descendants had on Little Egg Harbor and Bass River Township history. [Note: Bass River Township was created from Little Egg Harbor in 1864.] Perhaps his greatest legacy is the large number of his descendants, many who married into other influential families in the Little Egg Harbor area. They carried on the Mathis tradition of community involvement and service into the mid twentieth century.[6]

In 1738 Great John Mathis acquired from his stepson, Edward Higbee, lands in Huntington Township and the County of Suffolk on Long Island. Higbee's grandfather paid three hundred pounds for the right to locate the land above named. There must have been several thousand acres as rights were very low at that time. At this time no one knows what Mathis did with those lands he owned on Long Island. He might or might not have conveyed them away. It is probable that he did sell the land and that was one source from which he derived the money lost by the Continental paper. In 1722 John Mathis bought from Thomas and William Fox of Springfield, New Jersey, a large tract of marsh on the west neck Meadow which lies in the township of Little Egg Harbor extending from the point of Miles Island to a considerable distance above Mathistown Mill including within its bounds cedar swamp and upland. He also bought surveys of George William and Thomas Pancoast, also George Budd, Williams Hewlings, Thomas Macks, Henry Davis, and others. To his son, Jeremiah he gave what is now called Mathistown, Nehemiah he gave the property called the Point Place, to Eli, he gave the property on the west side of Bass River in which is now included the Arthur Crammer Farm, the Maja Mathis farm, the Crammer Howell farm, the Enoch Adams farm and the other settlements.

Great John Mathis was the first King's Magistrate appointed for the township of Little Egg Harbor. He was associated with many of the eminent men of his day and generation, and especially of the state of New Jersey. Since he married into the most eminent family of the first settler in Egg Harbor, he was related to people of the highest standing in that locality, as well as in other sections. He was related to Edwards Andrews, an eminent Quaker minister, a brother-in-law to Jacob Andrews and Peter Andrews, both noted ministers in the Society of Friends (Quakers), also a brother-in-law of Robert Allen of Bass River, and brother-in-law to Thomas Ridgway. His son-in-law, John Leeds was a public Friend, his grandson, Vincent Leeds (son of John Leeds), was minister and some of his nephews and nieces of the Society of Friends. John Mathis died at the advanced age of 88 years on October 23, 1779 at Tuckerton, New Jersey, and his wife lived to the age of 91 years. They were buried in the Friends' Graveyard at Tuckerton, New Jersey, where all of the first settlers and several generations of their descendants are buried.

Jeremiah Mathis died in New Jersey at the relatively young age of 46.

His son Jeremiah John Mathis received a Certificate granted from Society of Friends to move to Ohio Member 1st Friends Church established in Logan Co, Ohio on September 12, 1816. He was nicknamed "The Carpenter"

Jeremiah John Mathis (sometimes called Jeremiah John) “the Carpenter” is buried in Curl Cemetery, Logan County, OH. He was in the Revolutionary War in the 2nd N.J. Regiment, listed in Stryker's Register, No. 864.

A transcription of a document stored in an old wallet passed down in the Job Mathis family is worded such that either John or Deborah Grant Mathis wrote it. The original document is in the possession of Roxanne Myers Neel. The name Caleb Mathis is written twice with two different birth dates. Caleb must have died and another son named Caleb being Caleb, Sr. who married Margarette Horn.

"A Chronology of the ages of Children of John and Deborah Mathis.

Our son Jeremiah Mathis was born the 26th Day of Month October 1778.

Our son John Mathis was born this 7th Day of the second Month, February 1781.

Our son Caleb Mathis was born the (unclear) Day of the 5th Month May 1783.

Our Daughter Sarah Mathis was born the 13th Day of the 7th Month 1785

Our son Job Mathis was born the 12th Day of the 6th month June 1791

Our son Caleb Mathis the 3 of the 3rd month, March 1793

Our Daughter Deborah Mathis was born March the 4 1799"

Deborah Mathis married John Ewing on April 24, 1817 in Logan County, Ohio. John Ewing died most likely in 1839. Deborah then married Job Garwood Sept. 14, 1842. She died in 1865 in Champaign County, Ohio. She and Job had several children among them are Judge Levi Garwood, Napoleon Bonaparte Garwood and Calvin Garwood. John and Deborah had 8 children, Oliver Ewing[7], Elizabeth Ewing Blair, James Ewing, Milton Ewing, John R. Ewing (the Randolph referred to in other places), Mary Eliza Ewing, Sherman Ewing and Martha Jane Ewing.

Charles Ewing Dublin, OH Email Home Page December 17, 2004 Revised February 15, 2014

[1] Some of the information contained herein has been verified. Much has been taken from various publications and yet other information is contained in various postings on the Internet. Personal verification is necessary before relying on information contained herein.

[2] Bishop, George, author, joined the Quakers in 1654, and between 1660 and 1668 published several works on their doctrines, tie published in 1661 " New England judged, being a Brief Relation of the Sufferings of the Quakers in that part of America from the Beginning of the 5th Month, 1656, to the End of the 10th Month, 1660." A second part appeared in 1667 ; and both were reprinted in 1703, with "An Answer to Cotton Nather's Abuses," by John Whiting.

[3] DAR Patriot Index, Cen. Edition, Part 2, p 1923, "Patriotic Service" Great John Mathis and Mathistown" by Peter H. Stemmer

[4] Quaker beliefs soon evolved to fiercely denounce the concept of slavery. This is one of the reasons the Quakers at Wrightsboro, Georgia moved back to North Carolina and many of them ultimately removed to Eastern Ohio.

[6] Most of this information came from Leah Blackman's 1880 work, "The History of Little Egg Harbor Township" Reissued by The Great John Mathis Foundation, Inc. Tuckerton, NJ. (1963) and "Bass River Gazette" A newsletter from the History Committee of the Bass River Community Library Issue No. 3 - January 1999.

[7] http://www.ewing-online.com/Oliver_Ewing.htm