John F. Mathews (1871-1934) of the Apshawa section of West Milford, with three of the five children born to him and the late Martha Gormley Mathews (1882-1958). From left are Verina Agnes, Anna Elizabeth and Albert Vincent. They are in front of the family farmhouse on Weaver Road about 1905. (Photo provided)
The surname of an area family sometimes is spelled with two tt’s while others use just one.
Ancestors of the Mathews family in the North Jersey likely immigrated from Scotland or Ireland between 1717 and 1775. They use only one t.
They are believed to have been among the 200,000 to 250,000 Scots-Irish people who came through Philadelphia.
Those immigrants left home because of religious persecution, economic hardship, and the promise of land and opportunities in the colonies. From 1607 to 1776, most immigrants who settled in the New World were not required to document their arrival.
According to published reports, the first and second groups of Scots-Irish people landed in Philadelphia and the Delaware River area in Pennsylvania. The third group moved into Virginia, Maryland and westward.
Dave Perry and his family live in Maryland. We continue to share what we have learned about Mathews family history, believing that we are second cousins removed, with my grandfather John F. Mathews and his grandmother Amanda Mathews Perry having the same paternal rooted ancestry.
Reports about these Scots-Irish people said they were robust, adventurous and rebellious people. They built churches to practice their Presbyterian faith.
Some of those who settled in the Butler, Apshawa, Newfoundland and Macopin area married the Catholic settlers from Germany who had come to America to work in the Charlotteburg iron mine. Children born to these “mixed marriages” usually were raised in the Catholic faith and they became parishioners at St. Joseph Parish.
Descendants of Frederick K. Mathews (1801-65), the first ancestor of the current Mathews family now settled in West Milford and the other areas of Passaic and Morris counties, was born in Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pa. He died in what is now West Milford on April 10, 1865, at age 63. The names of his parents are unknown.
His home is believed to be on what is now known as Ashbrook Lane, at the foot of Apshawa Mountain. People long ago walked from Van Nostrand Road on a trail out to the rocky point of the mountain to see New York City. The land is no longer in the Mathews family.
Frederick K. married Jane Ann Hyler, who was born about 1800. They had five children: Siles W. Mathews, Aaron Mathews, Amanda Mathews Perry, Mary Ann Mathews Jacobus and Emily Mathews Carman.
Frederick K. moved to Apshawa from Harrisburg when Aaron was 9 years old after his wife’s death. He was married a second time on Feb. 27, 1836, to Elizabeth Struble, a German descendant related to the people who had come to work in the Charlotteburg mine. Elizabeth was born Nov. 14, 1818, and died Sept. 18, 1867. Children born to the couple were Jennie, Edward, Daniel, William, Kate, John M., Fred and Andrew.
John M. Mathews (1837-1900) married Julia Weaver (1848-85). Their children were George, Mary, John F., Peter, Alice, Amos and Sarah.
Peter Mathews married Christina Hennion. Their children were Edna, Anthony, Henry, Walter and Gertrude.
Walter (1907-63) married Rose Ann Struble. They had two sons, Walter Lewis and Daniel Joseph, who lives in Bloomingdale.
John F. Mathews married Martha Gormley. Their children were Albert Mathews, Verina Agnes Mathews Genader, Anna Elizabeth Mathews, David Mathews and Eugene F. Mathews.
Albert married Anna Brady, and after she died at a young age, he was married a second time to Helen Machinga of Staten Island. They had two children, Frances Mathews and Albert Mathews Jr.
Verina married Arthur Genader of Jersey City and had three children, Anna Mary Genader, William John Genader and Joseph Arthur Genader.
Anna Elizabeth Mathews married Ernest Mancini. They did not have children.
David Mathews married Stella Everett, and their children were Verina Mathews Schneider, Marty (Betty) Mathews Dixon Miller, David Mathews, Martha Mathews Mackey and Thelma Caywood.
There is a Mathews Cemetery on vacant land off Weaver Road near where the John F. Mathews homestead was located. Many of the headstones were destroyed by vandalism. The cemetery is listed with others in the county by the Passaic County Historical Society.
A note on its website reports that the Mathews Cemetery is a family cemetery located “on the back of the Otto Wall (the name of an adjacent property owner) family field off Macopin Road in line with the junk yard off Weaver Road.” The report goes on to say, “It’s part of the Passaic County Cemeteries and also known for its unique location and the family history.”
The property, no longer owned by the family, stretches to the Apshawa Point. It had been owned by John M. Mathews.
A document dated April 1857 notes names of people with burial rights in the cemetery. It is signed by George R. Colfax, “one of the Masters in Chancery for the State of New Jersey.”
The names listed are S.W. Mathews, Aaron Mathews, William J. Mathews, John M. Mathews. James J. Mathews, Catherine Mathews, Andrew Mathews, Emma M. Carman, Mary Ann Jacobus and Amanda Perry.
John F. Mathews, a brother to those listed, is buried in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery with his wife, the former Martha Gormley.