"Great John Mathis and Mathistown" by Peter H. Stemmer

John Mathis is the most important and significant person in the history of Bass River Township. He was the first white settler in the Bass River area and politically, economically, and socially dominated the region for over fifty years. He was Bass River's Christopher Columbus and George Washington rolled into one, a status that was recognized by his his peers who called him "Great" John Mathis. Mathis family tradition tells us that John Mathews was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales around 1690. He, along with his brother Charles, emigrated to Oyster Bay, Long Island in the early 1700's. Little is known of their life in Oyster Bay except that John and two other Oyster Bay residents, William Birdsall and Moses Forman, purchased Biddle's Island (named after William Biddle one of the West Jersey Proprietors) in 1713 as part of a 250 acre tract. One year later John bought out his partner's interest in the island and moved to Little Egg Harbor. That John had the funds to make this purchase suggests that he had considerable money prior to coming to Little Egg Harbor. Whether this wealth was inherited or earned after his arrival in Oyster Bay is unknown. John married Alice Andrews Higbee, the widow of John Higbee and the daughter of Mordecai and Mary Andrews, in 1716. [Note: Leah Blackman incorrectly states Alice was the daughter of Edward Andres, Mordecai's younger brother.] They established a homestead on remote Biddle's Island (now called Oak Island) and began, as was the custom at the time, raising a large family. Micajah was born in 1717, followed by Job, Srah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, and Eli, each born about two years apart with the exception of Sarah who was born about 3 years after her brother Job. Biddle's Island was surrounded, not by water as we think of an island, but rather by vast acres of salt marsh networked with creeks. John quickly went about the business of developing a farm from this coastal wilderness. He built causeways, dikes, and bridges which stabilized the high ground of the island and allowed overland transportation to the mainland. some of these causeways can be seen on today's aerial photos and geodetic maps of the area. The enterprise that evolved, although called a farm, was more like a self sustaining plantation with labor provided by slaves. This is not surprising as there were no nearby towns or cities. The area that was later to become Tuckerton was little more than a collection of farms, the Andrews' grist mill, and the Friends' Meeting House. John purchased 813 acres in 1729 which were to the west of and adjacent to his Biddle's Island farm. He built a new house in the area of the present day Viking Yacht company and proceeded to develop another farm with a ship building facility along the Bass River. The virgin forest of the surrounding area provided timber for the ships which supported successful fishing and trade ventures that became the foundations for Great John's ambitious land acquisition program. Mathis schooners, one of which was captained by his son Daniel, engaged in the West Indies trade, swapping south Jersey lumber for produce and other goods that enabled the Mathis farms to prosper. His continuing land purchases would eventually encompass 4 large, contiguous farms containing almost 5,000 acres. It is said that at one time he owned and managed all the land in the present Bass River Township from the coast northward to Bridgeport. Deeds for much of this land list his name as Mathews; however, John changed the family name to Mathis as he felt it was easier to pronounce and spell. John Mathews from Oyster Bay, Long Island thus became Great John Mathis from Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Great John's status and influence continued to grow as he served as the King's magistrate in the West Jersey provincial government. He became well acquainted with government leaders in Burlington City, the provincial capital of West Jersey, and was well thought of in Quaker society through his marriage into the influential Andrews family. In today's vernacular, Great John was one of the well connected "good old boys," and extremely big fish in the relatively small pond that was Little Egg Harbor. There were no banks or financial institutions in the area, so those in need of money often went to Great John who used such opportunities to steadily increase his fortune. The wide scope of his influence can be seen by the number of loans he made in areas outside of Little Egg Harbor including Egg Harbor, Springfield, Northampton, Southampton, Monmouth County and even Philadelphia. He financed the building of the first tavern in Tuckerton by David Falkinburg and later helped finance the American Revolution which, unfortunately, cost him the burning of his house by the British and the loss of a goodly part of his fortune as the new American government paid him back in almost worthless Continental currency. He rebuilt the house and it remained as a beacon of Mathis influence in the area until 1973 when it was demolished to make room for the Bass River Marina after efforts to save it by the Great John Mathis society proved unsuccessful. Great John deeded the original island homestead to his son Job in 1760, upon Job's marriage to Phoebe Leek, daughter of of John and Phoebe Deviney Leek whose descendants populated Leektown. Job passed the farm on to his son Daniel who passed it onto his son, Daniel, Jr. For many years the old Biddle's island homestead was called "Dan's Island." Today it is known as Oak Island is part of the federal Forsythe Wildlife Refuge. The vast Mathis land holdings were left to Great John's sons upon his death on October 23, 1778 with each receiving a farm of at least 1,000 acres. As generations passed, the land slowly fell form Mathis family control. The area along Route 9 from the present Ocean County line a Balangee's Creek (called Mathistown Creek for many years) to Job's creek remained mostly in Mathis ownership for a long time and became locally known as Mathistown. Although Mathistown consisted mainly of large farms, in very early times the area around Mathistown Creek had an ancient log school house and a fulling mill which was to become a saw mill operated by Eli Mathis and later Thomas French. Old school records indicate that a Mathistown schoolhouse may have existed on the lower road from Tuckerton to Bass River diagonally across from Munion Field Road near the intersection of Route 9 and old Route 4. It was moved about a mile closer to the village of New Gretna in 1853, burned down in 1866, and was replaced the following summer by the present building which functioned as the Mathistown School until the early 1900's. Today it is a private residence. Today, sadly, the name Mathis is largely gone. The vast Mathis land holdings have long vanished, and there is little left to remind us of Great john and the tremendous influence he and his descendants had on Little Egg Harbor and Bass River Township history. [Note: Bass River Township was created form Little Egg Harbor in 1864.] Perhaps his greatest legacy is the large number of his descendants, many of whom married into other influential families in the Little Egg Harbor area. They carried on the Mathis tradition of community involvement and service into the mid twentieth century. I know I am richer for having known the present descendants of Great John, and I will be sure to pay my respect to his memory every Columbus Day and Washington's birthday. I hope you will do the same. [[Most of the information for this article came from Leah Blackman's 1880 work, "The History of Little Egg Harbor Township." Special thanks to Murray & Jean Harris and Shirley Whealton for help with additional research.]] "Bass River Gazette" A newsletter from the History Committee of the Bass River Community Library Issue No. 3 - January 1999

From various sources at the Atlantic County Historical Society: John Mathis was born in England about the year 1690, and when a young man he and his brother, Charles emigrated to America. Their first place of residence in the new world was at Oyster Bay, on Long Island. Charles Mathis finally settled at Shrewsbury Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. At an early date there were Mathewes who settled at Cape May, New Jersey. No doubt they were relatives of John Mathis and Charles Mathis. John Mathis appears to have been the first white man who settled at Bass River. In the year 1713 John Mathis was living on Long Island, and in that year, he and William Birdsall and Moses Forman purchased Daniel Mathis Island, (Then called Biddle's Island) of Daniel Leeds of Springfield, New Jersey. In the year 1714 John Mathis was residing in Little Egg Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, and in September of the same year William Birdsall sold his share of the island to John Mathis, and shortly after Moses Forman sold Mathis his portion of the property. This survey contained in all 250 acres. This was John Mathis' first purchase of land in Egg Harbor. It is the portion that Moses Forman finally settled in Ocean County, and was the forefather of the Formans in that section; from a certain record he owned a farm in Egg Harbor. It is situated on the east side of Bass River, and this was the commencement of his course as a land speculator, which steadily increased until he became the greatest land holder of the township. At the time he bought it, it was in its primeval state, but he settled on it and soon had it cleaned up and formed into a valuable farm. This island received its original name from William Biddle, one of the great land proprietors of New Jersey. The island has remained in the Mathis family till 1887. Mathis is not the original, and therefore not the proper method of spelling the name. The ancient form was "Mathews." It is said that John Mathis considered it a difficult name to pronounce and write, and for this cause he made the alteration, and it became modernized into Mathis, and long custom has made Mathis the permanent way of writing and pronouncing the name among most of the descendants of John Mathis. In almost all of the deeds for John Mathis' land his name is written Mathews. The learned in such matters say, that the Norman signification of the term Mathews is "As stubborn as a mule." This is indeed an appropriate appellation, for it is a useless waste of time and patience to attempt to turn a true, full-blooded Mathis or Mathews from what he considers the right course. A Mathis can be led by truthful and pleasant words and just and honorable acts, but treat him to the essence of meanness and he cannot be driven any further than can the most stubborn mule that ever came under the lash. Doubtless the Norman invaders of England found John Mathis' ancestors as true as steel and as stubborn as mules to the interests of their native England, and hence the designation for their stubbornness. The Mathis family is remarkable for longevity and for their excellent memory, and for their preciseness in business affairs, and their exalted sense of justice, and further for their aptness in learning, for keeping their own counsel and even the secrets of others, and lastly for attending to their own instead of other peoples' business. These are the traits of character of the thorough dispositioned Mathis, yet there are many who possess the name who have but a small portion of the nature and principles belonging to the genuine race. In the year 1716 John Mathis married Mrs. Alice Higbee, widow of John Higbee of Long Island, and eldest daughter of Mordecai and Mary Andrews, (not Edward and Sarah Ong Andrews as reported incorrectly throughout many genealogies, proof of this from Mordecai's will). John Mathis' wife brought him a valuable personal property. She had the reputation of being a strong-minded woman who possessed of unusual business talents, ordering and arranging her affairs with the utmost regularity and good judgment, and it is also affirmed that she was a greater speculator than her husband, and it was in a measure owning to her influence and speculative passion and forethought that he became such an extensive land holder. Taking in consideration the age in which she lived and also the meager opportunities she had for acquiring knowledge she had a fair education. She wrote a better hand than her husband. She is described as a large, tall and muscular woman, of a dark complexion with black eyes and black hair, which she inherited from her father, Mordecai's Andrews. Alice had married John Higbee in about 1712, he died soon after leaving two children, Abigail and Edward. Abigail Higbee was born May 22, 1713. She married Robert Leeds, son of Joseph Leeds 1st. Their children were: Solomon Leeds, Rebecca Leeds, and Mary Leeds.

Edward Higbee was born June 4, 1714. He married and lived in Atlantic County, New Jersey, and was the forefather of all Higbee of that section.

John and Alice (Higbee) Mathis had six sons and one daughter:

Micajah Mathis born September 9, 1717, died November 11, 1804,

Job Mathis, born May 13, 1719, died 1771,

Sarah Mathis, born July 19, 1721, died April 17, 1799,

Daniel Mathis, born September 7, 1723, died in 1764 or 1765,

Jeremiah Mathis, born March 14, 1726, died December 23, 1762,

Nehemiah Mathis, born June 13, 1728, Little Egg Harbor township, Gloucester County now Atlantic County,

and Eli Mathis, born June 4, 1730, died April 14, 1795.

After John Mathis had gotten his island farm in successful operation, he purchased 813 acres of land of John Budd, and on this tract he cleared a farm now known as the Francis or more properly the Thomas E. French farm situated on the east side of Bass River. His next location of a farm was what is known as the Enoch Mathis or Smith Mathis farm on the west side of the same river and opposite his first two farms, and his next establishment of a farm was on the farm west and south of the Enoch Mathis farm which is known as the Arthur Cranmer and Daniel Sooy Farms. John Mathis was a slave holder and employed his slaves in clearing land and farming. It will be seen that he had at this time four farms, two on each side of the river and these four, tradition says, were carried on under his direction and supervision he going from farm to farm as necessity required. This state of things continued until some of his sons got married when he deeded each one of them a farm and set to work for themselves. He was not only an extensive farmer and land holder, but was a money lender. He seems to have loaned to persons in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., Springfield, Northampton, Southampton, New Jersey, and various other places. David Falkinburg secured the one hundred and fifty pounds from John Mathis for the first tavern established in Tuckerton. During the Revolutionary War he loaned a considerable amount of money for the purpose of assisting in the struggle for freedom, but when payday came he was paid with Continental paper which proved to be next to no pay. The lender was compelled to take large packages of the scrip which soon depreciated to utter worthlessness. These packages of continental paper were kept in the Mathis family for several generations, but at this time it is all destroyed. This War loan

proved a ruinous adventure for his money affairs, but did not interfere with his land speculations, and in spite of his numerous losses he died the wealthiest man of his time and the township in which he lived. It is impossible at this time, 1887, to name all the lands owned by John Mathis. The following list can be vouched for, they're dated, number of acres and names of the sellers, viz.:

1713 250 acres of Daniel Leeds. This is Dans Island and has never been out of the possession of the Mathis family.

1722 50 acres of Thomas Wetherill

1722 270 acres of Thomas Wetherill

1729 813 acres of John Budd

1727 10 acres of John Budd

1734 10 acres of Zebulon Grant

1737 50 acres of Zebulon Grant

1737 37 acres of Zebulon Grant on Ives Branch

1737 100 acres of Nathaniel Gripps

1737 156 acres of Mordecai Andrews

1737 68 acres of Joseph Parker

1738 10 acres of Joseph Parker on Bass River Branch

1739 5 acres of Joseph Parker on Bass River Branch

1739 50 acres of Reuel Elton on Bass River Branch

1741 50 acres of Joanthan Wright

1742 20 acres of Joanthan Wright

1742 50 acres of Joanthan Wright Turtle Island at the mouth of Mullican River

1742 50 acres of Joanthan Wright

1742 109 acres of Joanthan Wright

1742 150 acres of Joanthan Wright This was a tract of cedar swamp on Tronqurlity

1742 100 acres of Langdon Bills of Bucks Co., Pennsylvania.

1745 400 acres of Joseph Parker of Chester, Pennsylvania.

1747 230 acres of marsh on Belanga Creek

1747 44 acres of Thomas Wetherill of Burlington City, New Jersey

1749 150 acres of Thomas Wetherill

1751 50 acres of Charles Read

1751 107 acres of Charles Read

1751 100 acres of Thomas Gardiner

1759 36.5 acres of Thomas Gardiner

1761 50 acres of Smith & Hewlings

1738 John Mathis bought of his step son, Edward Higbee, lands which he owned in Huntington township and county of Suffolk on Long Island. Higbee's grandfather paid three hundred pounds for the right to locate the land above named. There must have be several thousand acres as rights were very low at that time. At this time no one knows what Mathis did with those lands which he owned on Long Island. He might and he might not have conveyed them away. I think it probable that he did sell the land and that was one source from which he derived the money which lost by continental paper. In 1722 John Mathis bought of Thomas and William Fox of Springfield, New Jersey, a large tract of marsh on the west neck Meadow which lies in the township of Little Egg Harbor extending from the point of Miles Island to a considerable distance above Mathistown Mill including within its bounds cedar swamp and upland. He also bought surveys of George William and Thomas Pancoast, also George Budd, Williams Hewlings, Thomas Macks, Henry Davis, and others. Whenever one of John Mathis' sons married he provided him with a farm as far as his farms went he gave each a farm. Too such as he had not farms for he deeded large tracts of unimproved land on which they settled and made farms for themselves. He deeded his son, Micajah the farm now known as the Francis French farm. To his son, Job, he deeded Daniel Mathis Island, John gave Sarah her portion of his estate in money. To his son, Jeremiah what is now called Mathistown, Nehemiah he gave the proper called the Point Place, to Eli, he gave the property on the west side of Bass River in which is now included the Arthur Crammer Farm, the Maja Mathis farm, the Crammer Howell farm, the Enoch Adams farm and the other settlements. John Mathis was the first King's Magistrate appointed for the township of Little Egg Harbor. He was associated with many of the eminent men of his day and generation, and especially of the state of New Jersey. Having married into the most eminent family of the first settler in Egg Harbor, he was related to people of the highest standing in that locality, as well as in other sections. He was related to Edwards Andrews, an eminent Quaker minister, a brotherinlaw to Jacob and Peter Andrews, both noted ministers in the society of Friends, also a brotherinlaw of Robert Allen of Bass River, and brotherinlaw to Thomas Ridgway. His soninlaw, John Leeds was a public Friend, his grandson, Vincent Leeds (son of John Leeds), was minister and some of his nephews and nieces of the Society of Friends (Quaker Ministers). John Mathis died at the advanced age of 88 years on October 23, 1779 at Tuckerton, New Jersey, and his wife lived to the age of 91 years. They were buried in the Friends' Graveyard at Tuckerton, New Jersey, where all of the first settlers and several generations of their descendants are awaiting the resurrection of the dead. John Mathis had seven children, therefore, there will be seven branches of his descendants. I shall name them in the order of their ages and delineate them by generations as far as I am able. His descendants are many and widely scattered and it will be impossible for me to give a correct list of them all. I shall do the best I can with what information I can find.