Born ‎11 Jan 1823 Urbana, Champaign county Ohio, died ‎10 Sep 1905 Princeton IL‎, 82 years, buried ‎ Oakland Cemetery, Princeton, Bureau, IL. Occupation: Carpenter Grocer
From ELI R. MATHIS in Past and Present of Bureau County [IL] : Eli R. Mathis, numbered among the pioneer residents of Princeton, located there in 1840, when the city was a mere village, and was identified with its growth and development throughout his remaining days. He figured in business circles as a dealer in groceries and dry goods and he also worked at the carpenter's trade. He was widely recognized as a man of enterprise and unfaltering determination, whose business methods would ever bear the closest investigation and scrutiny.

A native of Ohio, Mr. Mathis was born in Urbana, Champaign county, on the 11th of January, 1823. His parents were Jeremiah and Esther (Morse) Mathis, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of the Buckeye state. Jeremiah Mathis removed to Urbana, at an early period in its development and there worked at the carpenter's trade until he came to the west. His wife died in Urbana when their son Eli was but eight years and father and sons afterward came to Illinois together in 1840, settling in Princeton, where the former worked at the carpenter's trade until his death on the 30th of April, 1863.

At the time of his mother's demise Eli R. Mathis started out in life on his own account. He learned the carpenter's trade under the direction of his father and as opportunity afforded he pursued his education continuing as a pupil in the old log schoolhouse in West Bureau during the early period of his residence here. He afterward began work at his trade, being first employed on what is known as the old William Chamberlain home [this is a name in Jeremiah's NJ ancestry]. In 1855 he helped to finish the residence which his widow now occupies. All through life he was active and energetic, constantly watchful of opportunities, which he improved, making them a resultant factor in the acquirement of a gratifying pleasure of success. He continued to work, at the carpenter's trade for several years and he assisted in building some of the first business blocks of Princeton. He then turned his attention to the grocery and dry-goods business, opening a store in the old Templeton building, where he remained for several years. He afterward resumed building operations for a few years, but eventualy gave up all business cares and retired to private life. Mr. Mathis was twice married. He first wedded Miss Matilda Green, of Bureau township, Bureau County, who died in Princeton. Subsequently he married Miss Esther Phillips, also of Bureau Township and a daughter of John and Betsy (Templin) Phillips, both of whom were natives of Urbana, Ohio, whence in 1833 they came to Illinois, casting in their lot among the pioneer residents of Bureau county. They first lived in what was known here by the pioneers as the Squatters' log cabin in West Bureau, Bureau township, and there Mr. Phillips improved a farm and carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1856, when he removed to Livingston county, Illinois, and was engaged in farming until his death. His wife also passed away there. In their family were five children, namely: Mrs. Mathis; Mrs. E. J. Lemon, of Princeton; Levi T., a resident farmer of Princeton township; James E., who is living in St. Joseph, Missouri; and Mrs. Sarah Leonard of Livingston county, Illinois. There were four children born unto Mr. and Mrs. Mathis; Alice M., the wife of A. C. Best, of Princeton, who is engaged in the conduct of a monument business here; Leslie Eli, city salesman for the White Lead Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, who married Alice Fesler and after her death wedded Janna S. Scroggins; Leonard Templin, who resides in Chicago, where for five years he has occupied the position of clerk in the Victoria Hotel; and Guy Roy, who married Grace D. Boyd of Springfield, Illinois, where he is engaged in the real estate and automobile business.

Eli R. Mathis served as school treasurer in Princeton for over thirty years and was a warm champion of the cause of education. He took an active interest in politics and always voted the republican ticket and his effort extended to many measures and movements which he deemed would prove of value to the community in promoting its material, intellectual, social and moral progress. He was a charter member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Princeton, which he assisted in organizing in July, 1851. He always took much interest in temperance work and was an earnest Christian man, who gave liberally to the poor and needy and was widely known for his charitable work which, however, always was done in an unostentatious manner. In his business interests he prospered, becoming well-to-do as the years passed by and in his later life he lived retired, enjoying a well earned rest until he was called to the home beyond on the 10th of September, 1905.

Mrs. Mathis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is identified with various fraternal and social organizations. She has been a member of the Woman's Club here since it was established and in fact assisted in organizaing it. She is also connected with the Daughters of Rebekah, the Sons of Temperance and the Women's Christian Temperance Union, all of Princeton - affiliations which indicate her deep interest in the temperance cause and her efforts for its promulgation and adoption. She now owns and occupies a nice home at No. 419 South Main street and she also has much other property here, including several store buildings on Main street, which return to her a good rental. The name of Mathis has for about two-thirds of a century been associated with Princeton and its interests and Eli R. Mathis is justly numbered among the honored pioneers.