This section really goes off the reservation with heavy speculation. Please take that into account while reading the following and for those doing research please do not simply add these names to your family database without thought. This data really needs to be researched further to see if more concrete evidence can be found to confirm or deny the following family groups as belonging to Matthew. As seen in the section on Matthew it appears that he may have moved to North Carolina in the area of Granville County by the mid 1750s. If this truly is the case then there is no evidence for him ever returning to Virginia, although there is no evidence to suggest that he did not or that the Matthew who was a son of James Mathews Sr. even left Virginia in the first place. By the early 1750s all of his brothers and his father were living in North Carolina (although Charles would eventually return to Virginia) so it would seem plausible that he also moved to North Carolina.

There are only three individuals who can be discussed as possible children of Matthew. The first of these is a younger Matthew Mathews who was the administrator for the estate of the Matthew Mathews who died intestate in 1784 in Lunenburg County, Virginia.578 Since we do not even know for certain if the Matthew who died in 1784 was in fact the youngest of son of James Mathews Sr. we cannot really claim that the administrator of the Lunenburg Matthew is even relevant to this discussion.

The second individual possibly tied to the Matthew who was the son of James Sr. is Philemon Mathews. As seen in the section on Matthew it is believed that he married Martha Russell, daughter of Philemon Russell, after the death of his first wife Judith. Lunenburg County deed records clearly state that Matthew's widow, Martha, had a son named Philemon.579 The fate of Philemon after this deed is unknown.

The final individual who may have been a son of Matthew was a William Mathews who married Susannah Reade, daughter of William Reade.580 While nothing is really known of Matthew Jr. or Philemon Mathews beyond one or two records there is a good bit of information on William, although there is not much to tie him to Matthew as a possible son beyond speculation. The caveat to the previous sentence is that there were several Williams in the area of Brunswick County and Lunenburg County who were all active at the same time. There was the William who was a brother of the John Mathews who married Lucretia Mathews; there was the William who was the son of Charles Mathews; and, there was the William who was possibly the son of Matthew Mathews. It is difficult to distinguish any particular William in the records unless we know something about the people they were either related to by marriage, or with whom they were known to have associated. The assignation of William Mathews to Matthew hinges on a pair of Lunenburg County deeds.

On 4 Oct 1762 John Mathis of Brunswick County sold two lots of 160 acres to "Mathew Mathis of Lunenburg County"581 and "William Mathis of Lunenburg County".582 The John Mathis in question is almost certainly not the John Mathews who married Lucretia Mathews as he is not known to have owned any land in Lunenburg County. Brunswick County tax lists refer to two men named John Mathews, one of whom was indicated to have lived near Red Oak Creek (the John who married Lucretia) and the other was indicated to have lived near Great Creek which was on the border of Lunenburg and Brunswick County.

There are two theories as to what was occurring with the 1762 deeds. The first is that the John Mathews who lived on Great Creek sold land to Matthew Mathews and Matthew's son William. The other theory is that this Matthew was not the son of James Mathews Sr. and that both this Matthew and William were sons of the John Mathews who sold them the land. The identity of the John who sold Matthew and William their land is unknown, but it is possible that he was a son of James Mathews Sr. as discussed here.

Regardless of whether William was a son of the Matthew who was James Sr.'s son or if he was the son of the John Mathews who lived on Great Creek is entirely debatable and at the moment I have no opinion one way or the other. What is known for certain is that William was in some way related to James Mathews Sr. as one of William's descendants has been yDNA tested and he is a match for those of us who descends from James Sr. This family has not researched especially well by me so the descriptions below will be brief. The names of the children of William and the spouses of his daughters who were married as of 1811 come to us from a chancery cause concerning his estate.583 The order of birth of his children below is not known for certain.

Children of William Mathews Spouse Marriage Date Migration
James Mathews (abt 1768 - 1846) Elizabeth Hardy 10 Dec 1788 Jackson Co, AL
Elizabeth Mathews (bef 1766 - ?) Buckner Winn ? ?
Sally Mathews (--?--) Mack Shipp ? ?
Susannah Mathews (--?--) David Epperson ? ?
Matthew Mathews (bef 1783 - ?) ? --- ?
Robert Mathews (--?--) ? --- ?
Drury Mathews (abt 1780 - 1847) Mary Wynne 19 Dec 1802 Montgomery Co, TN
Jeremiah Mathews (abt 1783 - ?) Elizabeth Farguson 26 Dec 1804 Davidson Co, TN
William Mathews (abt 1784 - ?) Rebecca Taylor 30 Oct 1807 Lunenburg Co, VA
John Mathews (--?--) Frances Miscell 25 Dec 1794 Jackson Co, AL
Lewis Mathews (abt 1783 - ?) ? --- Lunenburg Co, VA
Polly Mathews (--?--) ? --- ?

James Mathews was probably the oldest son of William. He first appears in the 1784 personal property tax list along with his father and two slaves.584 White males between 16 and 21 were supposed to have been listed with the head of household and since James does not appear in 1782 but is listed in 1783 we presume he turned 16 by 1783. This conflicts with his tombstone which states that he was born in 1764.585 On 10 Dec 1788 he married Elizabeth Hardy in Brunswick County. Elizabeth was the daughter of Richard and Molly Mathews Hardy.586 James, his brother John, and other families left Virginia and for a time lived in Tennessee before eventually settling in Jackson County, Alabama. Family records show James and Elizabeth had 7 children.587


Elizabeth Mathews was possibly the oldest daughter of William. She is first mentioned in the will of Robert Read, her mother's brother which was written 25 Sept 1766 so we know she was at least born before this date. She is listed as being married to Buckner Winn in a chancery cause over her father's estate, but another court record gives his name as Richard Winn588 so perhaps she was married twice or one of the given names for her husband was actually a middle name. Her fate is unknown at this time.


Sally Mathews has not been traced at this time, however from her father's estate records it is known that she married Mack Shipp.


As with her sister Sally nothing is known of Susannah Mathews beyond the fact that she was married to David Epperson per the 1811 chancery cause over her father's estate.


Nothing is known of Matthew Mathews beyond being mentioned in his father's estate records.


Robert Mathews is mentioned in his father's estate records and is presumed to be the Robert listed in the 1810 census of Lunenburg County.589 Nothing further is known of him.


Drury Mathews is believed to have eventually settled in Montgomery County, Tennessee. He married Mary Wynne in Brunswick County, Virginia on 19 Dec 1802590 and their family lived for a while in Lunenburg County for we find them in the 1810 census there.591 At some point they are believed to have left for Tennessee where we find the will of a Drury Mathews recorded Dec 1847. This Drury named a son Buckner Winn Mathews so perhaps the family of his sister Elizabeth also moved with him (Elizabeth's husband was Buckner Winn).592


Jeremiah Mathews was born about 1783 and on 26 Dec 1804 he married Elizabeth Farguson.593 He is believed to have moved to Davidson County, Tennessee. A Jeremiah Mathews is found in the census records of that county between 1820 and 1850.594


William Mathews was one of the few children of William Sr. who remained in Lunenburg County. He married Rebecca Taylor595 on 30 Oct 1807 in Brunswick County and with the exception of 1820 is found in the Lunenburg County census all decades from 1810 to 1850.596


John Mathews is almost certainly out of position in the above table and was probably William's second oldest son. He married Frances Miscell on 24 Dec 1794 in Lunenburg County and eventually settled in Jackson County, Alabama with his brother James.597


Lewis was one of William's youngest children and lived in Lunenburg County at least through 1830.598 On 2 Feb 1816 Lewis married Elizabeth Laffoon and they are believed to have had 10 children.599


While we know that Polly was the youngest child of William nothing further is known of her beyond her father's estate records.