Bailey Matthews (1846 - 1913)

Born 7 Jun 1846 in Edgefield County, South Carolina, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Martha S. (Black) Matthews — married 1869 in Pomeria, Lexington County, South Carolina, USA

Descendants

Died 13 Jan 1913 at age 66 in Saluda County, South Carolina, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Greg Matthews [send private message]

Below written by Greg Matthews (http://southernmatthews.com/)

A Note on Bailey's Middle Name

Many trees give Bailey's middle name as 'Boas'. It is entirely possible that this was his middle name, however, I do not include it in my own database. The only source I've found for his middle name is a brief manuscript on Bailey's family which listed info on Bailey, his wife Martha and their 10 children. This manuscript is not a historical document. Since I do not know it's provenance and cannot verify anything listed in it (no sources are given) I cannot in good conscience propagate the possibility that 'Boas' was his middle name until a better source can be found.

Biography

Bailey Matthews was born in either 1846 or 1847. His grave marker^[1] at Travis Park Cemetery in Saluda County, SC lists his birth date as 7 Jun 1846. The first census he appears in, 1850, shows his age as 3 when the census was taken in Nov 1850. Since I've never heard of a family bible record I accept the 1846 date. Whichever the date of his birth, Bailey enlisted with the 14th SC Volunteers in 1861 at the tender age of 15 for the duration of the war. Remaining in Co B of the 14th for the entire war he surrendered at Appomattox with General Lee per his service records.^[2] At the time of his surrender his age was listed as 16 which cannot possibly be correct. He would have been around 19 at the close of the war.

Aside from what can be gleaned from his service records, not much is known of Bailey's experiences in the Civil War. He enlisted a few months after hostilities began and mustered into a company of Edgefield County men commanded by a relative of Bailey's, Arthur Pinkney West. One of the first actions taken by the the 14th SCV was involvement in coastal defenses near Hilton Head, South Carolina. We do not know the details, but Bailey's service record states he was taken prisoner 19 Dec 1861 at Port Royal Ferry which is in the vicinity of Hilton Head and directly adjacent to Parris Island where the US Marine Corps today trains their recruits. Luckily for Bailey he was captured early in the war when both sides paroled POW's easily and often. He was imprisoned at a facility in New York Harbor in 11 Feb 1862, but was released by 11 July as part of a prisoner swap.

After that bit of excitement Bailey stayed with his company for the remainder of the war. His service records contain no other bits of information aside from periodic roll calls at which Bailey was always counted as present. His regiment saw action at many of the major East Coast battles of the war including Second Bull Run, bloody Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness campaign, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, the defense of Petersburg, and the surrender at Appomattox among many other engagements. Miraculously Bailey's service record shows no injuries or trips to the hospital for anything. I've read many service records over the years and seeing someone make it through the war physically unscathed is the exception and not the norm.

Knowing how intense my grandfather E.G. Matthews was about politics it was no surprise to discover that Bailey, E.G.'s grandfather, was directly involved in politics. Saluda County was formed out of Edgefield County, South Carolina and Bailey served as Saluda's first county supervisor. It is in this role that the only photograph of Bailey that I've ever come across originates. Attached to Bailey's profile here is a photograph of him with Saluda County's other officers in 1900.

On 13 Jan 1913 Bailey died of the flu at his home near Saluda (his obit calls it "the grip" which is what they used to call influenza). His obit said he was about age 60, but he was actually around 66 years of age. Bailey died leaving his widow Martha Black Matthews and 9 children.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Find-a-Grave," database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 31 Mar 2017), Bailey Mathews (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=197784&GRid=74847195&)
2. ↑ Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of South Carolina, microfilm publication M367 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, n.d.), roll 0274, Bailey Mathews, Co B 14th South Carolina Infantry.
3. ↑ "Bailey Matthews obituary," Augusta Chronicle, 14 Jan 1913, p. 3, col. 3; digital images, Genealogybank.com (https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2:11210D30DA68B248@GB3NEWS-114047F190043070@2419782-114047F1CB939B98@1?search_terms=Matthews%7CBailey : accessed 31 Mar 2017)