1764 February 27th -- Susannah Matthews was identified in her father's will. Brunswick Will Book 4, p. 393, Dec. 31, 1762, Feb. 27, 1764. Will of William Read of St. Andrews Parish. To son Thomas my boy Ellick now in his possession. To son Robert my manner plantation whereon I now live and Negro girl Rhoda. To son William Read Negro fellow Dick. To dau. Frances Stone one shilling. To dau. Catherine Quarles Negro Sam. To dau. Elizabeth Read Negro girl Ruth. To son Robert all my estate real and personal in any parts of this Dominion. Resid. legatees Robert Read, Catherine Quarles, Elizabeth Read, Susannah Mathews, John Read, Anner Read, Mary Read and Lewis Read. To my wife Elizabeth. To son John Read (under 21). Extrs. my son Robert Read and James Quarles. Witt: Hugh Williams, Moses Quarles, Lewis Quarles.

1766, January 24th - Susannah Matthews was identified in her brother Robert's will -- Brunswick Will Book 4, p. 190, Sept. 25, 1766, Jan. 24, 1774. Will of Robert Read of Essex Co. The land my father William Read left me to be divided between my two brothers John and Lewis Read and my brother Lewis to have the manor plantation. To my sisters Anner Read, Mary Read, and Susannah Mathews. To William the son of James Quarles, Thomas son of William Read, Catherine dau. of Thomas Manning, Betty dau. of William Mathews, and Molley Read dau. of Thomas Read, £5 each. To friend James Quarles. James Quarles extr. Witt: Hugh Williams, Richard Ramsey, John Quarles.

Children’s marriage locations

Elizabeth
James - 10 Dec 1788, Brunswick Co., VA - migrated to Hawkins Co., TN
John - 25 Dec 1794, Brunswick Co., VA - migrated to Hawkins Co., TN
Sarah - 18 Jan 1794, Lunenburg, Co., VA
Susannah - Lunenburg Co., VA - migrated to Montgomery Co., Indiana
Matthew - 21 Dec 1796, Brunswick Co., VA - migrated to North Hampton Co., NC
Robert - 6 May 1803, Brunswick Co., VA
Drury - 19 Dec 1802, Brunswick Co., VA - migrated to Montgomery County, Tennessee
Jeremiah - 28 Dec 1804, Lunenburg Co., VA
William - 1st, 2 Jan 1806, Lunenburg Co., VA , 2nd, 17 Mar 1825, Lunenburg Co., VA
Lewis - 15 Feb 1816, Lunnenburg Co., VA
Mary

A note from Greg Matthews
Originally I had this William assigned as a son of Charles Mathews (M4), but recently it has been determined that I was incorrect. A deed transcription from Brunswick County, VA showed Charles Mathews selling or giving his son William some land and then subsequently William sold that land and his wife released dower on it. Great! He had a wife..but..... The person who transcribed the deed put a blank in for the name of the wife leaving me to believe that either her name was absent or there was something wrong with the page leaving her name illegible. turns out her name was completely legible and it was Mary, not Susannah. Along with a ton of circumstantial evidence we now know that the William Mathews of Edgefield County, SC is indeed the son of Charles Mathews (a fact that I wanted to believe for so verrrry long...). So, that leaves this William out, but I sincerely believe that this William who married Susannah Reade is a son of Matthew Mathews (M5). I am a long way from proving that however.617

eMail from Greg Matthews, dated 21 June 2009 - When I last emailed you I already had an idea as to how your William Mathews fits into the at-large Matthews family. After considering the possibilities and taking a look at a couple of deeds that I had not considered before I now believe that your William Mathews who married Susannah Reade was a son of Matthew Mathews who was (most likely) the youngest son of James Mathews Sr.

Here are the things that I took into consideration:

1) Your DNA results obviously are a close match to those of us who are definitely descendants of James Mathews Sr.

2) Given the above your William has to be a grandson of James Mathews Sr. in my opinion. He was most likely born by 1740 at the latest making him too young to have been a son of James MAthews Sr., but too old to be anything other than a grandson.

3) The sons of every other son of James Mathews Sr. are fully documented with the exception of Matthew of whom relatively little is known.

4) On 4 Oct 1762 John Mathews (husband of Lucretia Mathews who was a daughter of Charles Mathews) sold 160 acre plots to both Matthew Mathews and William Mathews adjacent to each other Lunenburg County.

That last point had never stood out to me until this past week when I took another look at the Lunenburg County deeds and noticed that John Mathews had sold Matthew and William those two side-by-side plots on the exact same day. Granted this circumstantial evidence is slim pickings, but as I see it it is the only possibility.

I stopped in Richmond, VA this week to spend some time at the archives for a couple of days. Even with two days I still wasn't able to finish everything I wanted to accomplish! However, I did go through the Lunenburg probate records and looked through the deed abstracts for post-1804 (when your William died) deeds hoping to gain some more insite into the possibility of Matthew being the father to your William. I didn't find any more evidence, but I also didn't find anything to contradict the theory.

I made copies of the William Mathews chancery file so if you would like to see it I can scan it and email you a copy. To be honest though there isn't much in there with the important exception of naming all of the children of William. It is a little maddening that there is no chancery record for Matthew Mathews in the archives when one should exist. Maybe it was lost at some point or is tucked away in some hiding spot in the Lunenburg County court house.

Regards
Greg Matthews618

In 1773, 1780 and 1783 William Matthis is mentioned in land transactions in Lunenburg, and in 1783 his wife Susan [Susannah] is mentioned. He died in Lunenburg in 1804, his estate was appraised there, his estate sale was there, and the 1811 court action regarding the distribution of his estate that names his heirs and his widow Susannah Matthews was in Lunenburg.

1781 - Source: Original court document from Brunswick County, VA.

The Comonwealth of Virginia to the Sheriff of Brunswick County

Greeting

We command you that you summons William Matthis, Luke Matthis, Matthew Bishop and Martha his wife, Richard Hardy & Molly his wife and John Matthis & Lucretia his wife to appear before our Justices of our said County Court in Chancery at the Courthouse on the fourth Monday in Next month then and there to answer a Bill in Chancery exhibited against them by Drury Matthis.

And this they shall in no wise omith under the penalty of 100 pounds each and have then there this wit:

Witness Peter Pelham junior Clerk of our said Court the 22nd day of January 1781 in the fifth year of the Commonwealth.

1804 - William's estate was divided into 12 parts plus his widow’s part. Only two of his children came to Jackson County, Alabama: John settled on Big Coon and James settled on Crow Creek.595

Matthews, William and Susanna Read, dau of William 31 Dec 1763, in Marriage Records of Brunswick County, Virginia 1730-1852, Compiled by Augusta B. Fothergill; Originally published 1953; Rreprinted with an improved index by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1976; Copyright © 1976; Geneallgical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Maryland