HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



i6i 



ginia; Benjamin, who also removed to 

 Virginia; Edward, who lived in New 

 Britain, on Pine Run; Margaret, who 

 married a Thomas; Ann, who married 

 Simon Morgan; and Thomas. John, the 

 eldest son, died in New Britain in 1783, 

 and his widow Diana in 1799. Their chil- 

 dren were: Benjamin; Margaret, married 

 John Young; IMary, married Thomas 

 Barton; Joseph; Rachel, married James 

 Meredith: Ann, married Jonathan Doyle, 

 and removed to Huntingdon county, 

 Pennsylvania, and Susanna, married 



Thomas. 



Thomas Mathew, youngest son of Si- 

 mon and Jane, was born in New Britain 

 • in 1728. He inherited the homestead 

 farm near Chalfont, and was a prominent 

 and successful farmer, acquiring consid- 

 erable other land in the vicinity. He 

 married IMary Stephens, daughter of 

 David Stephens and granddaughter of 

 Evan Stephens, an early Welsh settler in 

 New Britain. He died in 1795. 



Edw^ard Mathew, son of Thomas and 

 Mary (Stephens) Mathew, was born on 

 the old homestead in New Britain (pur- 

 chased by his grandfather in 1720), in 

 1755. In 1779 he purchased a farm of 

 one hundred acres in New Britain, on 

 which he resided until 1791, when his 

 father conveyed to him the homestead 

 farm of 127 acres, whereon he resided 

 until his death in the winter of 1813-14- 

 He married Eleanor Thomas, daughter 

 of Ephraim and Eleanor (Bates) 

 Thomas, of Hilltown, and granddaugh- 

 ter of "Elder" William Thomas, who 

 was born in Llanerwarth, Wales, in 1678, 

 and came to Pennsylvania in 1712 and 

 located in Radnor, Chester county, re- 

 moving to Hilltown in 1718. where he 

 became a very large landholder and one 

 of its most prominent residents. He was 

 a Baptist preacher, and officiated in that 

 capacity for the Baptists of Hilltown 

 prior to the founding of the Hilltown. 

 church, the land for which w^as donated 

 by him and the first church erected at his 

 expense. Edward ^Mathew w^as a man of 

 excellent parts and good standing in 

 the community. He was for many years 

 a deacon of the Baptist church of New 

 Britain. The children of Edward and 

 Eleanor (Thomas) Mathew were: Abel; 

 Rebekah, wife of Charles Humphrey; Si- 

 mon; and John, all of whom married and 

 reared families in New Britain. 



Simon Mathew. second son of Edward 

 and Eleanor (Thomas) Mathew. was 

 born in New Britain in 1781. At the 

 death of his father he inherited sixty- 

 three acres, of the old homestead, on 

 which he resided for some years, though 

 he was at one time a resident of Mont- 

 gomerv county, and prior to the death 

 of his father had resided in Roxborough, 

 Philadelphia. He was a man of excellent 

 character, and succeeded his father as 

 deacon of the New Britain church. He 

 died in New Britain in February, 1828. 

 11-3 



He married his cousin. Isabella Stephens, 

 daughter of William and Sarah Stephens, 

 of Doylestown, formerly New Britain 

 township, and granddaughter of David 

 and Ann Stephens, who were the parents 

 of his grandmother Mary (Stephens) 

 Mathew. Isabella was born and reared 

 on the old homestead of the Stephens 

 family in Doylestown (then New Britain 

 township) which was purchased by her 

 great-grandfather Evan Stephens, in 

 1729, and most of which remained the 

 property of the family for four genera- 

 tions. Isabella (Stephens) Mathews died 

 in 1833. 



Dr. Charles H. Mathews, only son of 

 Simon and Isabella, was born at Rox- 

 boro. Philadelphia. November 6, 1805. 

 He received a liberal education and 

 graduated from the medical department 

 of the University of Pennsylvania in 

 1827. locating at Doylestown, Bucks 

 county, where he practiced his chosen 

 profession until his death, July 25, 1849, 

 He was a man of fine intellectual ability, 

 pleasing address and irreproachable 

 character; a popular and skilled physi- 

 cian, who was loved and respected by all 

 who knew him. He took an active inter- 

 est in the affairs of the town and county, 

 and filled many positions of trust. He 

 was prothonotary of the county for the 

 term 1836-9. He was for several years 

 an officer of militia, and was commis- 

 sioned major-general of the district com- 

 posed of the counties of Bucks, Mont- 

 gomery and Delaware, his commission 

 being delivered to him by General W. 

 W. H. Davis but a week prior to his 

 death. Dr. Mathews married first Mary 

 INIeredith, of Doylestown township, and 

 (second) Margaret Rodman, daughter of 

 Gilbert and Sarah (Gibbs) Rodman, and 

 a sister of his classmate, Dr. Lewis Rod- 

 man, who achieved high distinction in 

 the practice of his profession in Phila- 

 delphia. 



Mrs. Mathews was born January 29, 

 1797, and died January 12. 1875. She 

 married Dr. Mathews on May 3, 1837. 

 She belonged to a family that had been 

 prominent in state and national affairs- 

 for several generations. Her grand- 

 father, Richard Gibbs. was sheriff of the 

 county of Bucks for the term 1771-2. and 

 filled a number of other high positions. 

 The pioneer ancestor of the Rodman 

 family was John Rodman, who died in 

 the Barbadoes in 1685. He is supposed 

 to have been the same John Rodman, a 

 Quaker, who for wearing his hat at the 

 assizes at New Ross. Ireland, in 1665, 

 was sent to jail for three months and 

 later banished the country. See Rutty's 

 "History of Quakers in Ireland." This 

 theory is strengthened by the known 

 fact that a great number of Quakers and 

 other "dissenters" were transported to 

 Barbadoes between the years 1669 and 

 1685. John Rodman died on his planta- 

 tion in the parish of Christ Church, 



