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Lodowick's Descendants
Mathews Name
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Overall Summary
Objective. Our Mathews family lived in and around Portsmouth,
Virginia. The first for-sure member of this family was Lodowick Mathews who
married Barbara White. This website is to share information about this family to
descendants and other Mathews family researchers. See
this page for an overview of the first
three generations. The chart below shows the first two generations.
First Family. Lodowick Mathews (whose father might have been James
and grandmother, Esther Mathews) was born about 1790 maybe in NC. He died before
1838. He was present in Norfolk County at some time. Information on this site largely devoted to their two children
(James William and Susan Maria) and their issue. We are still hunting for
Lodowick's and Barbara's ancestors.
 The North Carolina Connection. There were two Lodowicks in Gates
County, North Carolina. Because Lodowick's and Barbara's two children both
reported their birth states as North Carolina on two censuses, we have looked
there for a connection. Gates is on the North Carolina-Virginia line immediately
adjoining Norfolk County, so a connection there is quite plausible.
We find two Lodowicks in Gates. "Our" Lodowick Mathews is not the same
Lodowick Mathews who married Lavisa Foster in Gates County, North Carolina,
although they were probably related. See research report # 1 under "Files"
below.
Lodowick's Marriage. He married Barbara Smith of Norfolk Co. VA. in 9
March, 1814. This date is found in a Mathews bible owned by a descendant. There
is no record of their marriage in the Portsmouth area. Research continues. She
was born 13 September 1794 in Norfolk County, Virginia. If her husband died in
1838, she would have been a widow at about age 44.
Isle of Wight Connection. Lodowick was probably connected with the
Isle of Wight Mathews, because his wife Barbara moved from there to Portsmouth
in 1835 at age 41, probably after Lodowick's death, to be near her two children
living in Portsmth. Other Gates County Mathews were from Isle of Wight. In
addition to the possible Mathews connection to that county, Lodowick's
grandson's first wife's (Martha Elizabeth Neaville) father, John C. Neaville,
was also from Isle of Wight.
Lodowick Was No Big Catch. He left no will and is not found in any
real estate records in Portsmouth or Norfolk County (now city of Chesapeake.)
Barbara White. Barbara seems to have come from better stock ---a
large Norfolk Co. family that had roots in Accomack Co. over on the Eastern
Shore. We think her grandfather was the sheriff there, although this is not yet
proved. Barbary died in Portsmouth in 1867 (of grief, according to a newspaper
report. One of her grandsons shot a saloon-keeper).
Had Two Children. Lodowick and Barbara had two children, James
William and Susan Maria. Lodowick and Barbara must have spend the early years of
their marriage in Gates Co. because both children were born there. (Although
some conflicting census info says they were born in VA.)
Their Son. James William Mathews was born 1817 in NC and died 1880 in
Portsmouth. He was a man of some reputation and prominence. He was a contractor
(warf builder, according to one census record) and was a member of Portsmouth's
City Council for several terms. He was Portsmouth's chief of police during the
Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1855 and was charged with moving the ship that brought
the plague to quarantine grounds.
In 1847 James married Mary Ann
Amelia Manning. Mary Ann was from a prominent Norfolk County family long
established in the Julian's Creek area. Her parents were Mathew Manning Jr. and
Mary Hodges. One brother was sheriff of Norfolk County, another deputy clerk of
the Norfolk County court and a third, Clerk of Gosport Naval Shipyard. They all
lived in Portsmouth.
Their Daughter. Susan Maria Mathews was born 5 Dec 1825. She
married John Edward Morris of Portsmouth.
April, 2004: Break though research. Barbara Mathews, in 1835, transferred her
membership from Mill Swamp Baptist Church in Isle of Wight Co. to Court Street
Baptist Church in Portsmouth.
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