| Notes |
- NOTE 1./ Biography
Archer was co-heir with his brother William, of their father's plantation on Mill Creek. On November 16, 1768 Archer sold his portion of inherited land (299 acres) to his brother, William, for100 pounds (Botetourt Co., D.B. 15, pg. 190). He removed to Greenbrier Co, WV in 1778, before the town of Greenbrier was created. In the few years he lived in Greenbrier, he acquired numerous tracts of
land in the County, and at the first town lot sale in 1784, he purchased lot #6 facing Jefferson Stand near the northwest corner of Randolph. I do not believe he ever lived there, but it is said that he had intended to build a home "in town".
Archer was said to be a man of great ability and outstanding qualities. He was one of the first Magistrates and continued in that office until his premature death. He reviewed roads, sat on the County Court, and was elected as a delegate to the Virginia Legislature from Greenbrier in 1780 and 1782. When the town of Lewisburg was created in1782, he was one of the first trustees appointed by the General Assembly. He was a charter member of the oldest Masonic Lodge west of the Allegany Mountains. He was a soldier in the American Revolution and a saddler by trade. His original homestead was built of logs about 1780 and stood three miles north of Lewisburg on the western side of Route 219 with Weavers Knob in the background. His farm was quite large, consisting of at least one grant for 600 acres and another for 300 acres. On one part of the property is what was referred to in the first deeds as a "wallow hole" and in later deeds was more politely described as a "gravelly spring". It was a shallow spring-fed pool where animals came to wallow and had been known to hunters, both Indian and white men, for many years.The Mathew's farm passed through many ownerships, but was always referred
to in the early deeds as the "Archer Mathews' Old Place". An interesting reference in a deed of 1872, to the road along which this property lies (Route 219), designates it as the "Oakland and Lewisburg Turnpike". Oakland, MD is approximately 150 miles from Lewisburg, WV.
NOTE 2./ Greenbrier County, West Virginia - 160th Anniversary Booklet
Historical Booklet - Greenbrier County; 160th Anniversary - 1778-1938; Published 1938
Lewisburg, the third oldest town in the state, was created by an Act of the Virginia Assembly in October, 1782. The trustees were: "Samuel Lewis, James Reid, Samuel Brown, Andrew Donnally, John Stuart, Archer Mathews, William Ward, and Thomas Edgar." The place was "laid out into lots of half an acre
each, with convenient streets. *** It to be unlawful to build a house less than 18 x 20 feet, and, in addition, it must have a brick or stone chimney."
Lewisburg was originally called "The Savannah," then "Fort Savannah," and finally "Lewisburg," in honor of Gen. Andrew Lewis.
|
1744 - 1786 (42 years)
