Mary Frances ("Sis") Matthew was born in 1853 to Rebecca (Conyers) and Rev. Lewis Charles Matthew, themselves children of early settlers of an Illinois township (18N8W) that straddled the border of Cass and Menard counties. Newmansville, on the Cass County side, was home to the family's Methodist Episcopal Church and is where the Newmansille Cemetery is still found. Section 16 of this township, home to the tiny unincorporated township of Newmansville, is where the widowed Rebecca Matthew is listed as a landowner in an 1871 atlas. Her home was adjacent to the cemetery. The church and school were in this section as well. Many generations of the Conyers, Matthew, and Williams families are buried in this cemetery and listed in church records.
Mary Frances married Elijah Williams in 1873. It seems Elijah was a distant cousin on Mary's mother's side, but definite proof that their grandparents were siblings has not yet been found. The Conyers, Williams, and Matthew (Mathews) families intermarried with distant cousins often - which makes sense in a rural area with large families, and which makes the genealogists' jobs tricky! The two grew up very near each other, their families appearing on the same census pages or the same rosters of church meetings.
Elijah was a Civil War veteran whose health was affected by an illness contracted during his service. Their first child, Alice, died in infancy. Olive "Ollie" and Nellie "Dommie" survived both of their parents. Mary and Elijah's homestead was on the Menard-Cass county line, near both of their parents. Many records are split between the two counties, though the occasions they record may have happened a hundred yards apart.
Some letters from the mid-late 1870s, between "Sis" and a sister-in-law, discuss the milk and egg yields of their livestock, upcoming church meetings, and the difficulty in traveling to see one another a mile or two away from one another.
A transcription on the Illinois Genweb site, citing her death certificate, indicates she died of Typhoid Fever.
NOTE: Biography written by TMW, direct maternal descendant of Mary Frances. Sources include documents from the family collection and stories passed from her daughter Nellie, to Nellie's granddaughter, to the author.
Mary Frances married Elijah Williams in 1873. It seems Elijah was a distant cousin on Mary's mother's side, but definite proof that their grandparents were siblings has not yet been found. The Conyers, Williams, and Matthew (Mathews) families intermarried with distant cousins often - which makes sense in a rural area with large families, and which makes the genealogists' jobs tricky! The two grew up very near each other, their families appearing on the same census pages or the same rosters of church meetings.
Elijah was a Civil War veteran whose health was affected by an illness contracted during his service. Their first child, Alice, died in infancy. Olive "Ollie" and Nellie "Dommie" survived both of their parents. Mary and Elijah's homestead was on the Menard-Cass county line, near both of their parents. Many records are split between the two counties, though the occasions they record may have happened a hundred yards apart.
Some letters from the mid-late 1870s, between "Sis" and a sister-in-law, discuss the milk and egg yields of their livestock, upcoming church meetings, and the difficulty in traveling to see one another a mile or two away from one another.
A transcription on the Illinois Genweb site, citing her death certificate, indicates she died of Typhoid Fever.
NOTE: Biography written by TMW, direct maternal descendant of Mary Frances. Sources include documents from the family collection and stories passed from her daughter Nellie, to Nellie's granddaughter, to the author.
Mary Frances ("Sis") Matthew was born in 1853 to Rebecca (Conyers) and Rev. Lewis Charles Matthew, themselves children of early settlers of an Illinois township (18N8W) that straddled the border of Cass and Menard counties. Newmansville, on the Cass County side, was home to the family's Methodist Episcopal Church and is where the Newmansille Cemetery is still found. Section 16 of this township, home to the tiny unincorporated township of Newmansville, is where the widowed Rebecca Matthew is listed as a landowner in an 1871 atlas. Her home was adjacent to the cemetery. The church and school were in this section as well. Many generations of the Conyers, Matthew, and Williams families are buried in this cemetery and listed in church records.
Mary Frances married Elijah Williams in 1873. It seems Elijah was a distant cousin on Mary's mother's side, but definite proof that their grandparents were siblings has not yet been found. The Conyers, Williams, and Matthew (Mathews) families intermarried with distant cousins often - which makes sense in a rural area with large families, and which makes the genealogists' jobs tricky! The two grew up very near each other, their families appearing on the same census pages or the same rosters of church meetings.
Elijah was a Civil War veteran whose health was affected by an illness contracted during his service. Their first child, Alice, died in infancy. Olive "Ollie" and Nellie "Dommie" survived both of their parents. Mary and Elijah's homestead was on the Menard-Cass county line, near both of their parents. Many records are split between the two counties, though the occasions they record may have happened a hundred yards apart.
Some letters from the mid-late 1870s, between "Sis" and a sister-in-law, discuss the milk and egg yields of their livestock, upcoming church meetings, and the difficulty in traveling to see one another a mile or two away from one another.
A transcription on the Illinois Genweb site, citing her death certificate, indicates she died of Typhoid Fever.
NOTE: Biography written by TMW, direct maternal descendant of Mary Frances. Sources include documents from the family collection and stories passed from her daughter Nellie, to Nellie's granddaughter, to the author.
Mary Frances married Elijah Williams in 1873. It seems Elijah was a distant cousin on Mary's mother's side, but definite proof that their grandparents were siblings has not yet been found. The Conyers, Williams, and Matthew (Mathews) families intermarried with distant cousins often - which makes sense in a rural area with large families, and which makes the genealogists' jobs tricky! The two grew up very near each other, their families appearing on the same census pages or the same rosters of church meetings.
Elijah was a Civil War veteran whose health was affected by an illness contracted during his service. Their first child, Alice, died in infancy. Olive "Ollie" and Nellie "Dommie" survived both of their parents. Mary and Elijah's homestead was on the Menard-Cass county line, near both of their parents. Many records are split between the two counties, though the occasions they record may have happened a hundred yards apart.
Some letters from the mid-late 1870s, between "Sis" and a sister-in-law, discuss the milk and egg yields of their livestock, upcoming church meetings, and the difficulty in traveling to see one another a mile or two away from one another.
A transcription on the Illinois Genweb site, citing her death certificate, indicates she died of Typhoid Fever.
NOTE: Biography written by TMW, direct maternal descendant of Mary Frances. Sources include documents from the family collection and stories passed from her daughter Nellie, to Nellie's granddaughter, to the author.
Family Members
Siblings
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William Wesley Mathew
1844–1930
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John Fletcher "Doc" Matthew
1847–1925
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Bartlett Kilbourne "Bud" Matthew
1848–1901
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Dr Charles Short ""Charley"" Mathew
1851–1910
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Milton Cartwright "Coon" Mathew
1855–1939
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George Rutledge "Doug" Matthew
1857–1942
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Evaline Dorcas "Lillie" Matthew
1861–1885
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Martha Salina Mathew Edwards
1863–1943
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Records on Ancestry
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