J. Newton Mathews

The following is a biography for J. Newton Mathews, Confederate veteran. The biography was supplied by a Mathews family descendent.

MATHEWS, JASPER NEWTON (1845 ~ 1919). Jasper Newton Mathews was born in August 1845 in Newton County, Missouri, a son of Andrew and Mary Mathews.  Shortly after he was born, the family moved to Cooke County, Texas.   On May 25, 1861, he was mustered into the Texas Militia Company at Camp Reeves, Grayson County, Texas.  They were led by Col. William Cocke Young.  The unit fought its first battles in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, securing the territory for the Confederacy.  In October of that year, the unit was inducted into Confederate service as the 11th Texas Cavalry and joined with other forces in Arkansas.

The 11th Texas Cavalry was one of the most active Texas Confederate units, participating in more than 100 battles and skirmishes.  Notable engagements included, Pea Ridge, Chickamauga, Knoxville, Dalton, Resaca, Allatoona Pass, Dallas/New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Savannah, and, finally, Bentonville, North Carolina.  A small number of 11th Texas Troops were present at the confederate surrender at Durham Station, North Carolina in April, 1985.  Most of the members of the 11th Texas Cavalry did not surrender.  Instead, they left North Carolina in small groups and simply returned to Texas.  Jasper was reported as present on all muster rolls from October 1861 until February 1864.  He was detailed as a teamster on the August 31 to December 31, 1862 and December 31 to April 30, 1863 muster rolls.

 

After the war, Jasper returned to Cooke County.  On July 3, 1870, in Fannin County, Texas,  he married Elizabeth J. Aldridge Cline the daughter of William and Nancy Aldridge and the war widow of Ezra S. Cline.  Elizabeth had one son, Melvin Luther Cline from her first marriage and together they were blessed with two daughters, N. Josephine Mathews Blanton and Sallie E. Mathews Cleghorn.  The family lived in Randolph, Fannin County, Texas, he was a farmer and a Mason.  Elizabeth died on May 22, 1916 and is buried at the Burns Cemetery in Trenton, Fannin County, Texas. 

 

On November 20, 1915, Jasper submitted the paperwork for his Confederate Pension which was approved on March 31, 1916, stating that he was 69 years old and in bad health.  In October 1917, Japser wrote the Texas Confederate Home requesting admission into the home.  Their response was, due to the large number of other applicants, older and more feeble than you, his admission had been deferred for future action.  Jasper appears on the Confederate Home Roster as being admitted to the home on June 4, 1918 with the disability of rheumatism.  He died in the home on August 21, 1919 of chronic nephritis.  
   
Sources:
Eleventh Texas Cavalry - Texas Historical Marker, located at Sherman, Grayson, Texas
Eleventh Texas Cavalry - The Handbook of Texas
United States Federal Census
Military Service Records
U.S. Confederate Pension Records #32673
Texas Marriage and Death Records