William Dominick Matthews (1827 - 1906)

Born 25 Oct 1827 in Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Died 2 Mar 1906 at age 78 in Leavenworth, Kansas, United States

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Biography

William Matthews is Notable.

William Dominick Matthews was born on 25 Oct 1827 in Maryland, United States. He is the son of Joseph Matthews and Henrietta (Wyatt) Matthews.

In the 1850 census William (age 10) was in Caroline, Maryland, United States.^[1]

Prior to the Civil War, he operated a boardinghouse in Leavenworth, Kansas which became a stop on the Underground Railroad.^[2]

He was one of the very few black men to receive a commission as an officer during the Civil War. He saw service in the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry (as Captain) and the Independent Battery, US Colored Light Artillery (as 2nd and 1st Lt.).

William married Fanny "Annie" Howard. They had four children.

William died on 2 Mar 1906 in Leavenworth, Kansas aged 78. He is buried in Leavenworth National Cemetery, Leavenworth, Kansas.^[3]

Research Notes

• Per Coddington:^[4] Matthews mustered out in October 1865 and returned to his home [Kansas] and wife, Fanny, whom he had married shortly before he enlisted. They raised four children who lived to maturity. He died in 1906 at age seventy-eight. William D. Matthews pension record, NARS
  • Both his sons died in in young adulthood in 1890s per a newspaper article. Could not locate family in census records on quick look.Weatherall-96 05:10, 13 April 2022 (UTC)(&Katie)

Sources

1. ↑ 1850 Census: "United States Census, 1850"
   Citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
   FamilySearch (accessed 12 February 2022)
   FamilySearch Image Image number 00167
   William Mathews (10) in Caroline, Maryland, United States.
2. ↑ https://kcblackhistory.org/articles/william-d-matthews/
3. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3674765/william-dominick-mathews : accessed 12 February 2022), memorial page for CPT William Dominick Mathews (25 Oct 1829–2 Mar 1906), Find A Grave: Memorial #3674765, citing Leavenworth National Cemetery, Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA ; Maintained by Ed Catterson (contributor 46515941).
4. ↑ Coddington, Ron S. African-American Faces of the Civil War. Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012.

• https://www.civilwarvirtualmuseum.org/1861-1862/african-americans-in-the-war/william-matthews.php
• https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/matthews-william-dominick-ca-1833-ca-1910/
• https://www.visitleavenworthks.com/visitors/page/william-d-matthews-and-leavenworths-underground-railroad
• https://www.nps.gov/fosc/learn/historyculture/firsttoserve.htm
• https://suvcw.org/mollus/usctofficers.htm
• Wikipedia: William D. Matthews
• Wikidata: Item Q18720118, en:Wikipedia
• Morgan, James R., III. The Lost Empire: Black Freemasonry in the Old West, 1867-1906. Lulu Publishing, 2018, page 305.
• "The Washington Bee," 09 Apr 1904, pages 1, 4.