[p. 813] a representative citizen of Wayne Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, was born in the old home opposite his present place, June 13, 1857. He is a son of Elijah Gad and Sarah Ann (Nye) Matheny. The Mathenys and Nyes have long been established on American soil, and were pioneers of Wayne Township.
The Mathenys were originally French Huguenots, and fled to the shores of Scotland in 1685 to seek safety from persecution. They later were located in Ulster, North of Ireland, where they remained until they joined the tide of immigration of the Scotch-Irish and Huguenots to America because of religious intolerance. The date of their arrival is not known, but it was some time prior to 1770. They were induced by the William Penn Colonists to locate in Western Pennsylvania, and after the explorations of Governor Spottswood in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, joined the outpouring into that territory. The family was located in Augusta, Loudoun, Rockbridge and Botetourt Counties, Virginia, but the only ones of the early family of whom there is any knowledge were Nathan, Joseph and Andrew. Andrew Matheny was born in 1751, came to Virginia from Scotland, and was a soldier of the Revolution, being awarded a medal for bravery. He had a son, Stephen, to whom many in Virginia and elsewhere trace their lineage.
Joseph Matheny, great-grandfather of Jordan N. Matheny, was married to Nancy Bradley, by whom he had the following children: John; Absalom; George; Moses; Israel, who was drowned at Brownsville on the way to Lawrence County, Pennsylvania; Isaac; Aaron; Rachel, and Mahala.
Moses Matheny was the grandfather of Jordan Nye Matheny. He was born August 13, 1780, in the Shenandoah Valley, and was young when he accompanied the family to Wayne Township. In his youth he learned the trade of a cabinetmaker. He was in 1806 married to Hannah Nye, of Wayne Township, and moved to a farm which he had purchased near the old Nye home place. In 1817 he moved to near Wooster, Ohio, but after a short stay there returned to Lawrence County, purchasing a farm in Wayne Township, where his son, Elijah Gad, was born. It was but slightly improved and for a number of years his labors were directed toward clearing the land. In this his trade proved of great assistance, exchanging furniture which he made for his neighbors' assistance in the woods. In 1820, in company with Judge Hemphill, he purchased a 300-acre tract on the present site of Wurtemburg. There were indications of salt on the place, and as that was a very valuable commodity in those days and none being obtainable with- in a distance of hundreds of miles, he and his partner drilled to a depth of 586 feet. A small amount of water was all there was to reward their efforts, producing one barrel of salt in twelve hours, it being at that time worth $4.00 per barrel. As on this place was the only salt lick in the community, cattle strayed to the place from many miles distant. Moses Matheny built and operated a mill near Wurtemburg, which he subsequently traded for the farm which Elijah G. Matheny inherited. At that time it contained 373 acres of valuable land. He also was the owner of what is known as the Blanchard farm, and was a very prosperous man of his time. In 1839 he built the old stone house at Rock Point, which was used as a hotel for the canal. He died in 1841 at the age of sixty-one years. His wife died August 19, 1854, at the age of sixty-five years. They were parents of the following children: Joseph, who was born October 15, 1808, and died April 18, 1838, was first married to Mary McGregor, and afterwards to Jane Sterrit; Nancy, born May 19, 1810, died September 19, 1872, unmarried; Aaron, born October 31, 1812, married Elizabeth Hickman and died April 26, 1855; Rachel, who was born August 2, 1813, and died near Scioto, Ohio, was first married to Michael Nye and subsequently to Jackson Deevers; George, born February 2, 1817, married Rebecca Biddle and died in 1878; Mahala, who was born October 22, 1818, died June 10, 1838; Elijah Gad, father of Jordan Nye; Amanda, who was born February 8, 1823, died July 10, 1838; James Parker, born April 19, 1825, and died October 2, 1899, married Nancy Bannon; Hannah Lenora, born July 25, 1827, married a Mr. Reynolds and lived at Adrian, Mich., at her death, March 3, 1860; Moses Erskine, born July 3, 1829, died in October, 1864, at St. Louis, Mo., and John Deemer, who was born July 11, 1832, and died August 28, 1906, married Caroline Shoemaker.
Elijah Gad Matheny was born March 30, 1821, in Wayne Township, and died on what is known as the old Nye farm, on which his wife was born, February 9, 1904. He was united in marriage February 12, 1846, with Sarah Ann Nye, who was born June 24, 1824, and is now living at the advanced age of eighty-five years. She is a daughter of Jordan Miller and Hannah (Plant) Nye, and comes of one of the very earliest families of this vicinity. Her paternal grandfather, Andrew Rose Nye, was born January 6, 1750, and died March 21, 1821. He came with his family from Washington County, Pennsylvania, and located on the present site of Ellwood City, in 1793. He married Rachel McDonald, and had three sons who were prominent in the pioneer days of Wayne Township, namely: Andrew, Thomas and Jordan M. Jordan M. Nye was born March 10, 1789, and died June 17, 1867. He married Hannah Plant, and they reared three children: Cynthia Jane, who became the wife of John C. Johnson; Sarah Ann, wife of Elijah G. Matheny, and John. who died as he was entering manhood.
Elijah G. and Sarah Ann Matheny became parents of the following children: Calista I., who was born November 12, 1847, and resides with her mother in Wayne Township; Melissa Jane, born October 30, 1848, died October 11, 1850; Albert Tobias, born January 24, 1851, died in February, 1872; Alice Arazina, born October 15, 1852, married Francis M. Davis in 1883; Alma Diadema was born December 25, 1854, and is unmarried; Jordan Nye; and Sherman Marshall, who was born March 22, 1862, was married June 9, 1896, to Miss Nettie Grove, daughter of Captain Grove, of Ellwood City.
Jordan Nye Matheny was reared in his native township, and has always engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has fifty-eight acres of valuable farm land, the southwest corner of the old home place, which he inherited from his father. He and his father erected the commodious residence which adorns the farm, in 1892, and also built the barn to replace the one destroyed by fire in 1903. He is a man of superior ability and has met with considerable business success.
November 30, 1882, Mr. Matheny was united in marriage with Anna Mary Gillespie, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Martin) Gillespie. Henry Gillespie was born in Belfast, Ireland, February 25, 1817, and died in 1894. He came to America with a cousin, John Elliott, when twenty-eight years of age. His wife was born in County Antrim, North of Ireland, and was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. She was a daughter of John and Margaret (Dodds) Martin, who came to America at an early date and settled in Hickory Township, Lawrence County, at that time Mercer County. John and Margaret Dodds Martin had the following children: Elizabeth, born September 26, 1825; Ann, deceased, was wife of William McConaghey; Margaret, who married Robert Armstrong, of Leesburg; Mary, deceased, was the wife of Ezekiel Wilson, of Slippery Rock Township; James Dodds, who married Letitia Harris, resides in Lamar, Colo.; William is a veteran of the Civil War, who resides in Kansas, was first married to Sarah Stewart, and subsequently to Margaret Dodds; George Martin was first married to Mary Hope, and subsequently to Rose Douthitt; Daniel Cargill was married to Lucretia McIntosh, of Allegheny; and Thomas, a resident of Kansas and a veteran of the Civil War, married Jemima Davis, deceased.
Henry and Elizabeth Martin Gillespie became parents of four children, as follows: Margaret, born June 29, 1855, married Ernest Rodenhoffer and resides near O'Fallen, Mo.; John Martin, who was born November 17, 1857, and died July 27, 1895, married Miss Dana Noggle; Anna Mary, who was born January 1, 1860; and William Henry, who was born January 12, 1867, and resides in New Castle, married Miss Leonora Eperthuer. The parents of these children were married April 14, 1853; the mother died January 7, 1879, and the father March 17, 1879.
Mr. and Mrs. Matheny are parents of two children: Alice Arizina, who was born September 1, 1883, and is a teacher in the public schools; and Joseph Gillespie, who was born February 15, 1891, and lives with his parents. Mrs. Matheny is a member of the Covenanter Church, and her daughter is a member of the United Presbyterian. Mr. Matheny was a member of Glen Park Lodge, No. 1016, I.O.O.F., and later became a charter member of Refuge Lodge, No. 142, I.O.O.F. He is a Republican in politics.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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