Mattson Families of Mercer County, Illinois
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Mattson Families
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Alternate Spellings - Matson, Matison, Matteson, Madison (a mispelling on a marriage record)

Links - Myers, Martin

Contacts - Jamie Paul is descended from Mary Westerblow Mattson Myers. Rowena Ginther has posted Mattson obituaries on the IllGenWeb Obituary Board. Be sure Mercer Board is selected and type in Mattson for the search.



The Mattson families of New Boston Township descend from a Mattson who was deceased by 1860, and his wife Catharine. Catharine was born about 1804 in Sweden and is found in the 1860 census in New Boston Township, age 56, living with her son, Peter, age 27, born Sweden, and his new wife, Mary, age 18. We speculate the father's name may have been Johnson A. Mattson (see more under land records below). If anyone can shed any light on this we would love to hear from them {email on the About Us Page}.

Mary Mattson, above, was Mary Westerblow, who married William Myers after the death of Peter Mattson in the early 1870's. Her obituary can be seen on the Mercer County IlGenWeb Obituary Board, posted by Rowena Ginther (link above). The Westerblow family was a large one (ten children rumored) but we find few records as spelling varied a great deal (since they did not live in our area of interest we have not pursued them further).

We have not located a marriage record for sure for Mary Westerblow and Peter Mattson. There is a Mary Anderson Westerblad who took out a license with Peter Metzler 7/26/1858 in Mercer County, but this marriage is doubtful as a Mattson marriage, as there were Metzlers in Richland Grove Township in Mercer County as early as 1839. There is also a Mary Andersdotter who took out a license with Nels Peter Peterson on 12/10/1858 in Henry County (adjoining Mercer County). The Swedish names are very difficult and a number of people came to Mercer County from Sweden. It appears that the Swedes in the early 1800's were still using naming patterns that had been used in Europe in earlier days - in other words a boy would be called "....son" and a girl would be called "....dotter", with the first part of the name being the given name of their father. Mary's father's name was Anders or Andrew and she then might have been "Mary Andersdotter". The transition to American naming patterns appeared to be painful and many versions of the names were put down by clerks and might have been used by the people themselves - therefore the Mary Anderson Westerblad could be a possibility. Peter Mattson was Swedish and was undergoing a transition to an American name although the surname Mattson could well be Swedish and be a combination of a given name Mat for the father and the suffix "son" meaning "son of." Or if his father's given name was Peter - he might be the Peter Peterson given in the Henry County license application. The Metzler surname belonged to a family located in Richland Grove Township as early as 1839; perhaps Peter used the surname Metzler for a bit and then found out there was already a Peter Metzler in the county. These are all just speculations!. Peter and Mary may have married across the river in Iowa as many young couples did; the Iowa marriage records are not easily searchable by different spellings; we have tried several spellings of both Mattson and Westerblow, but have found no likely records.

We do not find any record in New Boston Township in 1850 that might be Peter Mattson, so he likely came to America between 1850 and 1860. We do know that he bought a lot in New Boston at some point in time. There is a note in the files at the New Boston Museum from a descendant (Carole Hall), stating that the 1862 Delinquent tax list in the Aledo Weekly Record lists Peter Matson as owing $1.53 in back taxes for Lot 8, Block 2, in Turner's addition to the City of New Boston. In the March 29, 1864 edition of the Aledo Weekly Record Peter Matteson is shown as delinquent for 72 cents on the north half northwest quarter of Section 9 (76.46 acres) in Township 14 North, Range 6 West. He is delinquent for $2.54 on the 1867 tax list. This piece of property was in the possession of Johnson A. Matteson on the 1861 tax list and may be a clue as to the parent of Peter Mattson. This is the area of New Boston Township located along the River and often used by people as a source of firewood and lumber since it is where the timber grew in the 1800's. The delinquent tax lists are a good source of genealogical information as, in the cash poor times of the 1800's, many people were often delinquent in their tax payments.

Peter and Mary Mattson had two children, Alice and Julius, and are found in New Boston Township in 1870: Peter Matison, 34, fisherman, born Sweden; Mary, 28, born Sweden; Alice, age 9, born Illinois; and Julius, age 6, born Illinois.

Mary Mattson married William Perry Myers on 8/14/1873 in Mercer County so we know Peter Mattson died between 1870 and 1873. No tombstone was found for him when the DAR prepared the Mercer County Cemetery Records in the 1960's.

Daughter Alice Mattson married Albert J. Martin 9/11/1879 in Mercer County. The marriage record is as Alice Madison (probably a misunderstanding by the Clerk). This is likely Albert Martin, age 11, son of Jay and Eliza Martin, found in the 1870 New Boston Township census. We will check the 1880 census when time permits to verify this (we will be putting up a Martin page later as there were several Martin families in New Boston).

Son Julius F. Mattson married Eva Carlstrom on 8/29/1891 in Mercer County. Rowena Ginther has posted obituaries for Julius and Eva Mattson on the Mercer County IlGenWeb Obituary Board (Link above). Julius and Eva are shown with three children in the 1900 census in New Boston Township: Julius Mattson, born March 1865, married 10 years, born Illinois, parents born Sweden, farmer; Eva, born May 1871, 3 children born, 3 living, born Illinois, parents born Sweden; Clyde, son, born March 1892 in Illinois; Victor, son, born September 1893, Illinois; Dora, daughter, born April 1897, Illinois. Two more children are named in the obituary of Julius.

Julius Mattson is shown in the Mercer County Almshouse Register Index in 1928, 1929, and 1930, but apparently was not there when he died as he and Eva are buried in New Boston Cemetery: Julius F. Mattson 3/20/1865-7/29/1831; Eva C. Mattson 5/13/1871-1/2/1956.

An Arthur B. Matson married Sadie J. Williams on 3/14/1888 in Mercer County. There are also Matson burials found in Norwood Cemetery: Gertrude Matson 1861-1887; W. S. Matson Aug 21, 1823-Mar 17, 1894; Nira L., wife of W. S. Aug 10, 1824-Jan 24, 1890; Oliver W, died Aug 26, 1871, age 22; Rosa E., daughter of W. & Nira, died Oct 15, 1871, age 2 yr 3mo. They are not found in Mercer County in 1870 so may have arrived after that time. We do not know their connection, if any, with the above Mattson families. If anyone can shed any light we would love to hear from them.





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