Family/Spouse: Henry L BRITT. Henry (son of CSA Levi H BRITT and Caroline HEARN) was born in 1849 in Crawford County, Georgia; died on 16 May 1922 in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia; was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Georgia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Thomas Erastus BRITT was born in 1877 in Crawford County, Georgia; died in 1946.

Notes:

NOTE 1./ 1860 Knoxville, Crawford County Georgia census:

Name Home Age Est Birth Yr Birthplace Gender
Philip Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 52 1807 South Carolina Male
Pricilla Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 38 1821 North Carolina Female
Susanna Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 22 1837 Georgia Female
Elizah Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 18 1841 Georgia Male
Elisha Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 16 1843 Georgia Male
Cherley Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 14 1845 Georgia Male
Naomi Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 12 1847 Georgia Female
George W Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 10 1849 Georgia Male
Wm H Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 7 1852 Georgia Male
Nancy E Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 5 1854 Georgia Female
Francis Mathews Knoxville, Crawford, GA 3 1856 Georgia Male

Philip married Priscilla BASS on 13 Oct 1839 in Crawford County, Georgia. Priscilla was born in 1822 in North Carolina; died before 1880 in Crawford County, Georgia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./
Philip appears in the Fairfield Dist. SC census of 1820
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 1840 U.S. Census, Crawford Co. GA, lists:
Matthews, Philip
0-0-0-1-1-0-0-0-0-1-0 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0 0-2-0-88-0
1 male 15-20, 1 male 20-30, 1 male 80-90, 1 female 70-80.
____________________________________________________________________

Note 2./
Buried: Providence Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, U.S, Hwy 80 West, Roberta, Crawford Co., Georgia; # 005 Headstone: MATHEWS, Philip N/D N/D "S.C. Regt. Rev. War"

NOTE 3./
"The Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the Revolutionary War" by Bobby Gilmer Moss, page 665:
Mathews, Philip R7031
b. 1760 Buckingham County, Va. He enlisted during 1781, while residing in Fair Forest District, and served one hundred fifty-six days under Lt. William Robb, Thomas Ammon, Capts. Thomas Parrot, Anderson Thomas, Charnel Durham, Andrew Gray and Colonel Richard Winn. (Moved to Ga.)
A.A. 4828A; S270.

NOTE 4./
PROVIDENCE CHURCH CEMETERY
U.S. 80 HWY WEST
ROBERTA, GEORGIA 31078

This Primitive Baptist Church is located in the City of Roberta and the Cemetery is located one mile from the Roberta City Limits on U.S. 80 Hwy. west of Roberta. "# 005- Mathews, Philip N/D N/D "S.C. Regt. Rev. War"."

NOTE 5./ Virginia Pension Roll of 1835 Report from the Secretary of War In relation to the Pension Establishment Of the United States 1835: <>

PHILIP MATHEWS
PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY
PRIVATE
VIRGINIA MILITIA
$23.33 ANNUAL ALLOWANCE
$69.99 AMOUNT RECEIVED
NOVEMBER 12, 1832 PENSION STARTED
AGE 78

NOTE 6./ Philip Mathews enlisted for service in July of 1781 under Captain Thomas Parrott and served a total of 156 days of militia duty, under Colonel Winn. During this time he was stationed at Congaree, Orangeburg, Four Hole and Edisto Fort.

NOTE 7./ About 1724, Philip Mathews moved his family to Crawford County, Georgia, about two miles south of Knoxville, Georgia, and about one-half mile off the Columbus highway. Nearby is Old Providence Cemetery, where most of the older Matthew's were buried.

NOTE 8./ The Year Was 1780 Historical time frame:

The year was 1780 and the American Revolution wasn't going well for the Americans in the South. British forces captured Charleston and 5,400 American troops garrisoned there. During the siege, South Carolina Governor John Rutledge managed to escape and when word reached the British General Cornwallis, he sent Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton to chase Rutledge and troops under Colonel Abraham Buford who were escorting him to North Carolina. Tarleton's men caught up with Buford's troops near the Waxhaws District six miles south of the North Carolina state line, as Governor Rutledge continued north. Buford's men put up a brief fight during which Tarleton's horse was shot from under him. As the American troops began to surrender, Tarleton's men, thinking he had been killed began renewed their attack on the surrendering Americans. More than one hundred men were killed outright and perhaps another hundred died of their wounds shortly after.

Up to that point, most thought that the South was going to remain loyal to Britain, but the Waxhaws Massacre became a rallying point for the rebels, with "Tarleton's Quarter" becoming synonymous with "no mercy."

The divisions in the South were apparent in the Battle of King's Mountain, which was fought between two American forces--Tories under the command of Major Patrick Ferguson, and the "Overmountain Men," American frontiersmen from what is now Tennessee and parts of Virginia. The Americans surrounded the Tories and this time it was they who gave "no quarter" to the surrendering Tory troops. Eventually American officers were able to reign in the troops and the battle was over. The defeat was a turning point in the Revolution in the South and forced General Cornwallis to retreat further south.

To the north, a British spy was captured with correspondence revealing that Benedict Arnold, who had recently been given command of West Point, planned to surrender it to the British. When news that the spy had been caught reached Arnold, he fled to the safety of a British ship and became a brigadier-general for the British, siding with them for the remainder of the war.

There was trouble in England as well. In 1778 a Catholic Relief Act had been passed, which reversed some of the Penal Laws of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It allowed Roman Catholics to join the armed forces with an oath amenable to Catholics and gave them the ability to hold longer leases on land. It also ended the requirement that a Catholic distribute his lands evenly among his sons upon his death. The Catholic Relief Acts weren't popular with some Protestants though and in 1780 Lord George Gordon established the Protestant Association in 1780. In June of that year an estimated 60,000 people marched on the House of Commons demanding the Relief Acts be repealed. The huge crowd turned violent and a week of rioting left two hundred and ninety people dead, and devasted Roman Catholic churches and related buildings, as well as the homes of prominent Catholics and supporters of the legislation. Troops had to be called in to end the rioting. Twenty-five of the leaders of the riot were hanged, but Gordon was found "not guilty" of treason.

May 19th was a dark day in New England--literally. A low-lying dark cloud that at times had a yellow and at times reddish hue descended on New England and was noted from Maine to as far south as New Jersey. It was darkest around northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire and Maine, where it became so dark that candles needed to be lit to see. The cause is thought to have been a combination of low clouds that mixed with smoke and ash from a forest fire, but at the time it wasn't known and the event caused panic for many.

New England's dark day was a minor event though in comparison to the hurricane season of 1780. Eight storms struck in various parts of America and the Caribbean. British fleets off American shores took heavy hits during several storms. (Hurricanes in the 1780s were the cause of more British Naval losses than battle.) The worst storm struck on October 10th devastating Barbados and the Windward Islands, and claiming an estimated 22,000 lives.

RS married Nancy Priscilla NELSON in 1790 in Fairfield District, South Carolina. Nancy (daughter of ThomasSr NELSON and Susannah WOODWARD) was born in 1771 in Fairfield District, South Carolina; died in 1850 in Crawford County, Georgia; was buried in Providence Cemetery, Roberta, Crawford County, Georgia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./ from James Ham & Family at<>

Moses Mathews was a gunsmith and maker of fine guns.
From: "A Genealogical History of the Mathews Family from a Remote Period to the Present Time" as compiled by Dr. James C. Mathews (now deceased), Greenville, Georgia. "Moses Mathews was born in Virginia in 1725. In 1753/54 he married Sarah Finley. Their first child James was born in Virginia in 1755. He moved his wife and firstborn to Winfield County, South Carolina and settled on the Broad River near Winsboro. In 1760/61 he bought a tract of land where he later built a gun shop where he could repair and manufacture guns. During the Revolutionary War his shop became a Government shop for the Colonial Government. He made and repaired guns for General Sumpter's command. Just before the end of the war his home was raided by the Tories. His stock of horses was stolen and his home, gun shop, his shop books, accounts, and family records were burned. He may not have been fully paid for his services and for materials furnished during the war. There is an account against the Government for $18,000.00 which was never fully paid. The only payment he ever received was a land grant of several hundred acres in then Wilkes County, (now Lincoln County) Georgia. In 1784 he was granted 270 acres on Lloyd's Creek. He built a home here with his family where he conducted a large farming interest until his death in 1806. He was one of the wealthiest men in Georgia in his day. He and his wife, along with other family members, are buried in a churchyard near his home.
From "Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia" compiled by Mrs. Howard H. McCall, published by the Georgia Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 1968: "Moses Mathews, b. Halifax Co., Va., 1725; d. Wilkes Co., Ga.1806. Was a Rev. Sol.; served as a gunsmith in Gen. Sumpter's S.C. Regiment; received grant of land in Ga. for his service. Mar. in Va.,Sarah Findley."

NOTE 2./ Will of Moses Mathews is as follows: March 13, 1806, Crawford County, Georgia
<>

"In the name of God Amen: I Moses Mathews of the State of Georgia and county of Lincoln being weak of body but of sound mind and perfect memory and knowing the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death do constitute this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following.
ITEM. I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Sally Mathews my house and land on the North side of Loyds Creek, two Negroe fellows named Bob and Pompey and two Negroe women named Denna and Jane for her comfort during her natural life to be disposed of at the discretion of my executors and two honest hearts of her choice and after her decease the above named Negro Bob to devolve to my son James Mathews and the above named Negroe Pompey to my daughter Polly Ware,wife of Nicholas Ware. I give to my son Jesse one Negroe woman named Jane after my wife's death.
ITEM. I give and bequeath to Sally Smith the wife of Henry Smith, one Negroe boy named Jack. I give my son William one girl Hannah.
ITEM. I give and bequeath to my son Phillip Mathews one Negroe fellow named Will.
ITEM. I give and bequeath to my son Moses Mathews five hundred dollars to be paid after his mother's decease or sooner if circumstances will admit the money to be raised by the hire of two Negroes named Jack and Will and all the money made over and above supporting my wife Sally Mathews yearly to go towards the payment of the above mentioned five hundred dollars till paid with all the livestock that can be spared by discretion of the here in after mentioned executors.
ITEM. I will and bequeath to my son Moses one feather bed of furniture.
ITEM. I will and bequeath that all my lands should be equally divided among my three sons Moses, William and Jesse Mathews agreeable to quantity and quality.
ITEM. I will that my wife should live peaceable on the plantation whereby she now lives during her life. ITEM. I will and bequeath that after the death of my wife Sally Mathews that all the stock that may be on this plantation may be sold with all the household furniture and all my tools and the money to be equally divided between James and Phillip Mathews, Sally Smith and Polly Ware. I will that Bob and Pompey should be hired after the death of my wife and the money go towards the payment of the within five hundred dollars. I do hereby constitute and appoint my sons James Mathews and Nicholas Ware Executors to this my last Will and Testament. In Witness where of I have set my hand and this 13th day of March and in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Six. Signed Sealed and Delivered Moses Mathews Assigns and Acknowledges in the Presence of Benjamin Samuel Issac Essy William Griffin. The Original Will as has been proven in Open Court William Harper C.C.O.

NOTE 3./
Wilkes County was created in 1777 as one of the original 11 counties of Georgia.
The original Wilkes (in some old records Wilks) County included all of the area now in Lincoln, Elbert, and Wilkes Counties; most of Oglethorpe,, Madison, Taliaferro and Warren Counties; half of Hart County, and parts of Clarke, Glascock, Greene Hancock , and McDuffie Counties, and of course present day Wilkes County. The County seat of Wilkes County is Washington.

NOTE 4./
DAR Patriot Lookup: Reference Code RFTYZXK:
Matthews Sr., Moses
Birth: VA 1725
Service: SC
Rank: Civil Service
Death: GA 1806
Patriot Pensioned: No Widow Pensioned: No
Children Pensioned: No Heirs Pensioned: No
Spouse: (1) Sarah Findley

RS married Sarah FINDLEY in 1748 in Halifax County, Virginia. Sarah was born in 1728 in Virginia; died after 1806 in Wilkes (now Lincoln) County, Georgia; was buried in buried in a churchyard near his home in Lincoln County, Georgia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./ Wilkes County was created in 1777 as one of the original 11 counties of Georgia.
The original Wilkes (in some old records Wilks) County included all of the area now in Lincoln, Elbert, and Wilkes Counties; most of Oglethorpe,, Madison, Taliaferro and Warren Counties; half of Hart County, and parts of Clarke, Glascock, Greene Hancock , and McDuffie Counties, and of course present day Wilkes County. The County seat of Wilkes County is Washington.

ThomasSr married Susannah WOODWARD. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]