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| Notes for John "The Great" Mathis | ||||||||
| Land speculator BURI PLAC Friends' Graveyard,Tuckerton,NJ John Mathis was born in England about the year 1690, and when a young man he and his brother, Charles emigrated to America. Their first place of residence in the new world was at Oyster Bay, on Long Island. Charles Mathis finally settled at Shrewsbury township, Monmouth county, New Jersey, where he has a numerous race of descendants. At a early date there were Mathewes who settled at Cape May, New Jersey. No doubt they were relatives of John Mathis and Charles Mathis. When John Mathis first came to Long Island, he resided at Oyster Bay. John Mathis appears to have been the first white man who settled at Bass River. In the year 1713 John Mathis was living on Long Island, and in that year, he and William Birdsall and Moses Forman purchased Daniel Mathis Island, (Then called Biddle's Island) of Daniel Leeds of Springfield, New Jersey. In the year 1714 John Mathis was residing in Little Egg Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, and in September of the same year William Birdsall sold his share of the island to John Mathis, and shortly after Moses Forman sold Mathis his portion of the property. This survey contained in all 250 acres. This was John Mathis' first purchase of land in Egg Harbor. It is portion that Moses Forman finally settled in Ocean county, and was the forefather of the Formans in that section; from a certain record he owned a farm in Egg Harbor. It is situated on the east side of Bass River, and this was the commencement of his course as a land speculator, which steadily increased until he became the greatest land holder of the township. At the time he bought it, it was in its primeval state, but he settled on it and soon had it cleaned up and formed into a valuable farm. This island received its original name from William Biddle, one of the great land proprietors of New Jersey. The island has remained in the Mathis family till 1887. Mathis is not the original, and therefore not the proper method of spelling the name. The ancient form was "Mathews." It is said that John Mathis considered it a difficult name to pronounce and write, and for this cause he made the alteration, and thus it became modernized into Mathis, and 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. The learned in such matters say, that the Norman signification of the term Mathews is "As stubborn as a mule." This is indeed an appropriate appellation, for it is a useless waste of time and patience to attempt to turn a true, full-blooded Mathis or Mathews from what he considers the right course. A Mathis can 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 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. The Mathis family is remarkable for longevity, for their excellent Memory, and for their preciseness in business affairs, and their exalted sense of justice, and further for their aptness in learning, for keeping their own counsel and even the secrets of others, and lastly for attending to their own instead of other peoples' business. These are the traits of character of the thorough dispositioned Mathis, yet there are many who possess the name who have but a small portion of the nature and principles belonging to the genuine race. In the year 1716 John Mathis married Mrs. Alice Higbee, widow of John Higbee of Long Island. She had the reputation of being a strong-minded woman who possessed of unusual business talents, ordering and arranging her affairs with the utmost regularity and good judgment, and it is also affirmed that she was a greater speculator than her husband, and it was in a measure owning to her influence and speculative passion and forethought that he became such an extensive land holder. After John Mathis had gotten his island farm in successful operation, he purchased 813 acres of land of John Budd, and on this tract he cleared a farm now known as the Francis or more properly the Thomas E. French farm situated on the east side of Bass River. His next location of a farm was what is known as the Enoch Mathis or Smith Mathis farm on the west side of the same river and opposite his first two farms, and his next establishment of a farm was on the farm west and south of the Enoch Mathis farm which is known as the Arthur Cranmer and Daniel Sooy Farms. John Mathis was a slave holder and employed his slaves in clearing land and farming. It will be seen that he had at this time four farms, two on each side of the river and these four, tradition says, were carried on under his direction and supervision, he going from farm to farm as necessity required. This state of things continued until some of his sons got married when he deeded each one of them a farm and set to work for themselves. He was not only an extensive farmer and land holder, but was also a money lender. He seems to have loaned to persons in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., Springfield, Northampton, Southampton, New Jersey, and various other places. David Falkinburg secured the one hundred and fifty pounds from John Mathis for the first tavern established in Tuckerton. During the Revolutionary War he loaned a considerable amount of money for the purpose of assisting in the struggle for freedom, but when payday came he was paid with Continental paper which proved to be next to no pay. The lender was compelled to take large packages of the scrip which soon depreciated to utter worthlessness. These packages of continental paper were kept in the Mathis family for several generations, but at this time it is all destroyed. This War loan proved a ruinous adventure for his 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 at this time, 1887, to name all the lands owned by John Mathis. The following list can be vouched for, they're dated, number of acres and names of the sellers, viz.: 1713 250 acres of Daniel Leeds. This is Dans Island and has never been out of the possession of the Mathis family. 1722 50 acres of Thomas Wetherill 1722 270 acres of Thomas Wetherill 1729 813 acres of John Budd 1727 10 acres of John Budd 1734 10 acres of Zebulon Grant 1737 50 acres of Zebulon Grant 1737 37 acres of Zebulon Grant on Ives Branch 1737 100 acres of Nathaniel Gripps 1737 156 acres of Mordecai Andrews 1737 68 acres of Joseph Parker 1738 10 acres of Joseph Parker on Bass River Branch 1739 5 acres of Joseph Parker on Bass River Branch 1739 50 acres of Reuel Elton on Bass River Branch 1741 50 acres of Joathan Wright 1742 20 acres of Joathan Wright 1742 50 acres of Joathan Wright Turtle Island at the mouth of Mullican River 1742 50 acres of Joathan Wright 1742 109 acres of Joathan Wright 1742 150 acres of Joathan Wright This was a tract of cedar swamp on Tronqurlity 1742 100 acres of Langdon Bills of Bucks Co., Pennsylvania. 1745 400 acres of Joseph Parker of Chester, Pennsylvania. 1747 230 acres of marsh on Belanga Creek 1747 44 acres of Thomas Wetherill of Burlington City, New Jersey 1749 150 acres of Thomas Wetherill 1751 50 acres of Charles Read 1751 107 acres of Charles Read 1751 100 acres of Thomas Gardiner 1759 36.5 acres of Thomas Gardiner 1761 50 acres of Smith & Hewlings 1738 John Mathis bought of his step son, Edward Higbee, lands which he owned in Huntington township and 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 which he owned on Long Island. He might and he might not have conveyed them away. I think it probable that he did sell the land and that was one source from which he derived the money which he lost by continental paper. In 1722 John Mathis bought of 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 Pancoat, also George Budd, Williams Hewlings, Thomas Macks, Henry Davis, and others. Whenever one of John Mathis' sons married he provided him with a farm as far as his farms went he gave each a farm. Too such as he had not farms for he deeded large tracts of unimproved land on which they settled and made farms for themselves. He deeded his son, Micajah the farm now known as the Francis French farm. To his son, Job, he deeded Daniel Mathis Island, John gave Sarah her portion of his estate in money. To his son, Jeremiah what is now call 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. 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. Having 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 the soninlaw of Edwards Andrews, an eminent Quaker minister, a brotherinlaw to Jacob and Peter Andrews, both noted ministers in the society of Friends, also a brotherinlaw of Robert Allen of Bass River, and brotherinlaw to Thomas Ridgway. His soninlaw, John Leeds was a public Friend, his grandson, Vincent Leeds (son of John Leeds), was a minister and some of his nephews and nieces of the Society of Friends (Quaker Ministers). 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 awaiting the resurrection of the dead. | ||||||||
| Last Modified 15 Feb 2005 | Created 15 Feb 2005 using Reunion for Macintosh |