Civil War Service
Seaborn Caswell Matthews
Hugh <= Benjamin <= Benjamin <= <= Allen <= Seaborn (Seborn) Caswell Matthews
Private - Card #44237482
Served in Captain Vernon Lagrange Terrell's Unattached Company Mississippi Cavalry, USA. Seaborn's name appears on a list of prisoners of war from the above company. Surrendered at Citronelle, Alabama by Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor, CSA to Major General E.R.S. Canby, USA, May 4, 1865 Paroled at Jackson, Mississippi on May 13, 1865.
Microcopy 269--Roll 80
Seaborn Caswell Matthews also served in Captain Grave's Company (Copiah Horse Gurads), Mississippi. Card # 47231
Above information obtained from "Lineages, Inc.", Salt Lake City, Utah
Erastus Allen Matthews
Hugh <= Benjamin <= Benjamin <= Loderick & Mary Harrell
Erastus Allen Matthews along with his brother-in-law Leander Garrett were among the original members of the Texana Guard - Co K, 2nd Texas Inf. The company was formed of men from Jackson County and the town of Texana. Initially commanded by Clark Owen. They were among the Confederate forces that were surrendered at Vicksburg. The company was reactivated after the men were officially exchanged and served the remainder of the war in the Houston area. Documentation from the National Archives included copies of pay slips that showed he was either ill or wounded for several months; a copy of a letter written to his wife to let her know he had been given leave; a copy of the surrender document that the soldiers signed.
Augustus A. Matthews
Augustus Matthews son of Arthur Matthews:
A.A. (Agustus) Matthews
Co. I, Dockery's 19th AR Inf.
PVT, enlisted 3 Mar 1862 in Union Co., AR.
Died, Crystal Springs, MS, 30 June 1862.
(He was in the same unit with his 1st cousin, Benjamin Rush Matthews (oldest son of Loderick Matthews). Disease must have been rampant in their camp. This cousin almost died that same month.)
Benjamin Rush Matthews
Hugh <= Benjamin <= Benjamin <= Loderick & Mary Harrell
Benjamin Rush Matthews - Captain Company I, 19th (Dockery's) Regiment, Arkansas Infantry CSA
Loderick William Matthews
Hugh <= Benjamin <= Benjamin <= Loderick & Mary Harrell
Loderick William Matthews - Major 15th Arkansas Infantry CSA
Russell Erastus Laney
Russell Erastus Laney, a grandson of Arthur Matthews and son of Louisa Matthews Laney:
Russell Erastus Laney
Pvt. 6th AR Vol Inf.
He was in the old Company D, and in Companies H & B. (They seem to have done a lot of reorganizing.)
Arthur Franklin Matthews
Arthur Franklin Matthews was a private in Company A, 3rd Mississippi
Battalion Infantry - enlisted October 10, 1862. He again enlisted August 25, 1863 as a private in Company A, 4th Mississippi Cavalry where he was wounded in the shoulder and listed as a prisoner of war - paroled at Jackson, Mississippi May, 1865.
Benajah Matthews – Jones County, MS
Benajah Matthews was apparently too old to serve. He was in Jones County MS at the time of the War, which became a hotbed of controversy. Many of the men in Jones County were Union Sympathizers even though they were conscripted into the Civil States Army. Several Jones County men who and their immediate families joined Newton Knight's band. Among these were Taply Bynum, James Madison Collins and his father Simeon, his brother Riley James Collins (who later deserted the CSA and joined the Union Army), Benajah's brother Lazarus Mathews, and several others.
Newt Knight and the "Free State of Jones" is a subject of interesting reading for anyone who had ancestors in Jones Co MS in the Civil War. Apparently Benajah Matthews was a probate judge at some time in Jones County, for at the close of the War he wrote a letter defending Newt and his band which is on file in the National Archives and which he signed BA Matthews, ex-probate judge of Jones County.
Benajah's son John R Matthews may have served in the Civil War.
Simon Jackson Matthews, James Martin Matthews, Neil Archibald Matthews
Three of Jacob Matthews and Lurany Johns sons served in the CSA.
Simon Jackson Matthews enlisted 9 Aug 1861 at Bolton's Landing, MS in Co. C, 3rd MS Infantry CSA, under Capt. Thos. A. Mellon. He was a casualty in Featherstone's Brigade in engagement near Peachtree Creek, GA 20 July 1864. Wounded severely.
James Martin Matthews enlisted 9 Aug 1861 at Bolton's Landing, MS, Co. C. 3rd MS Infantry (Downings Rifles) CSA, under Capt. Thos. A. Mellon. Killed in Action 20 July 1864 in Battle of Peachtree Creek, GA.
Neil Archibald Matthews enlisted 9 Aug 1861 at Bolton's Landing, MS, Co. C, 3rd MS Infantry (Downings Rifles) CSA, under Capt. Thos. A. Mellon Captured 17 May 1863 Champion Hill, captured by Army of the Tenn and sent to Memphis, TN 26 May 1863. Sick In hospital in Meridian, 31 Oct 1863. Hospital Muster roll, Breckenridges Division, Hosp. # 2, Lauderdale Springs, MS, Nov-Dec 1863, Hospital July 1864 (no location given). Discharged on Surgeon General's Certificate of Disability (no date or location).
