ISAAC N. MATTHEWS. There are many points in the individual career of Isaac N. Matthews that deserve record in this history of White County. He represents one of the oldest families to be established in the southern part of the county, and more than eighty years have elapsed since the family home was moved to the country bordering upon the Wabash Valley. He is one of the few veterans of the Civil war who has survived the assaults of time and is still living to enjoy the respect and esteem of a generation that has reaped untold benefits from the sacrificing devotion of their patriotic forefathers. In the half century since the was he has been a capable farmer and a public spirited citizen, has reared and liberally provided for a large family of children who lived to do him honor, and can now enjoy the peace and comfort the attractive surroundings and conveniences of his home, located three miles northeast of Brookston. His grandparents were Ezekiel and Letitia (Meredith) Matthews, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Scotland. These grandparents came to America and settled in Western Pennsylvania, where John Matthews, father of Isaac N., was born on May 19, 1808, in Allegheny County. After reaching manhood he moved to Pike County, Ohio, and in 1833 married Rheuamy Chenoweth, a daughter of Arthur Chenoweth, who was of English stock. Immediately after their marriage John Matthews and wife came West to the new country of Northwestern Indiana, and located in Tippecanoe County, arriving there in the fall of 1833. From Tippecanoe they moved over into White County in 1845, and John Matthews bought land direct from the Government, consisting of forty acres, in section 2 of Prairie Township. Two years later he entered eighty acres more in section 35 of Big Creek Township. This fine old pioneer was prospered in his undertakings as a farmer and at the time of his death owned a total of 360 acres, divided into three tracts. A brief record of his eight children is as follows.: Arthur, now deceased; Elizabeth, who is the wife of James K. Price and lives in Brookston; Thomas M., deceased; Isaac N.; Ezekiel, who married Clara Wallace and lives in Lafayette; Letitia J., deceased; Nancy E., who is the wife of Robert Taylor and lives in Chalmers; and Emmarillis A., deceased. Isaac N. Matthews was born in Larramie Township of Tippecanoe County December 26, 1841. About four years later he was brought to White County and his recollections of the people in Southern White County cover almost seventy years. He attended some of the early schools conducted in Prairie township and came to manhood just about the time the civil was at its height. On July 25, 1863, he responded to the call for more troops and enlisted in Company E of the 116th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was in Burnside's command for some time and his service was in the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia. On March 1, 1864, he was given his honorable discharge at Lafayette. Thereafter for a period of nearly half a century he has followed an uninterrupted career as a practical farmer, and is now living in comfort and plenty on his farm of 91-1/2 acres in Prairie Township. He has always been known as a man of generous inclinations, and has acted on the principle that others were as honest as himself, a trait which has caused him a number of losses at different times. On September 24, 1909, death bereaved Mr. Matthews of his devoted wife and the companion of many years. She is buried in the Knight of Pythias Cemetery at Chalmers. Her maiden name was Margaret K. Lister, a daughter of James W. and Rhoda (Mowbray) Lister of Carroll County. Her memory is now enshrined in the hearts of her husband, her children and grandchildren and the many loyal friends she had in Southern White county. There were nine children: Elizabeth J. is the wife of Newton J. Schooler, living in Prairie Township, and of their five children, May Sharpe and Pauline Nichols, are married, the fourth, Hazel, is deceased, and the third and fifth are William and Virgil. John H., who is a farmer in Big Creek Township, married Dora Thompson, and their two children are Cecil Pearl and Opal. Rhoda R., the third of the children, is now deceased. Mary E. married D. E. Noland, who is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church and lives at Coatesville, Indiana, and the names of their four children are Lowell, Neva, Margaret and Florence. Nancy L. is the wife of John F. Hankins and they live with her father, their three children being William M., Leona L. and Lillian P. Lynn E., who lives at Maza, North Dakota, married Minnie Gibson and has two children, Cecil and Paul. Schuyler A. lives at Maza, North Dakota. Roy N., who lives at Garske, North Dakota, married Cora Sites and has a child named Kenneth N. George W., whose home is in Plymouth, Indiana, married Laura Schneider, and their one child is Howard. While always a republican, Mr. Matthews has been content to do his civic duty by being a good neighbor and a friend to all progressive movements, without participation in office seeking. His is a member of the Christian Church at Spring Creek, and revives memories of the war by his association with Champion Hill Post No. 171 of the Grand Army of the Republic at Brookston.

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