Mary Martha (Wright) Mathews (1747 - 1825)

Born 1747 in Augusta, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of William Mathews — married 28 Nov 1763 in Augusta, Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died 1825 at about age 78 in Kentucky, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Frances Carner [send private message] and Bill Wright [send private message]

Biography

Marriage

28 Nov 1763, Augusta, Virginia, United States^[1]

We need a better source for the date of Mary's marriage. There are too many inconsistencies in her account. She is said to have been born in 1747, but had a child born in 1753 when she was 6 years old and 10 years before her marriage to William Matthews. The primary record for the baptisms of children of Mary's alleged father is available on microfilm from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City listing four children baptized between 1743 and 1748. Mary is not one of the children listed. If Mary is the daughter of William Wright, the 1747 year of birth would appear to be incorrect. Marrying at the age of 16 would have been unusual, even in the mid-1700s. Her husband is said to have been born in 1715, placing his age at 48 at the time of his marriage to 16-year-old Mary. Comments by Bill Wright, descendant of William Wright (1707-1776), posted 1/14/13. Bill Wright

I just adopted this orphaned profile and found that I had already made the pertinent comment above. There is no evidence that William and Margaret Wright had a daughter Mary. That is an argument from silence, and if anyone has contrary evidence, please let me know. The only source I have found for Mary Wright daughter of William and Margaret marrying William Mat(t)hews is a published Matthews genealogy. In querying Matthews descendants I was told that the source may have been a family Bible. But where is the Bible? I have speculated that William and Margaret Wright may have have children born before the baptisms of their two sons both named Samuel Wright in the early 1740s. Based on William's Wright birth ca 1707, he likely would have married in the early 1730s. Mary could have been a daughter born shortly after that marriage. But that still leaves the problem of the 20 year age difference between Mary and her husband William Matthews. The moral of this story is do not believe all the stuff you see posted on the internet. The uploaded family trees are full of garbage.

This Mary (Wright) Matthews's grandparents Wrights are unknown. But there are several WikiTree family trees that given a variety of guesses - none documented and I will say that they are undocumentable. The 1,000 years of civil wars in Ireland have long since destroyed any records that would have identified them. I have found some published rental roles from the 1680 that name a Wright who could have been William Wright's grandfather. What makes these roles intriguing is the other names on the roles that I find associated with William Wright and his descendants for moer than 100 years. Bill Wright 3/20/2014

Mary was born before 1737. She married William Mathews about 1747 in Augusta County, Virginia.

She passed away about 1825.

Research

Mary Wright married William Mathews of Augusta County. There is some confusion as to William's ancestry. Some family trees list him as a son of John Mathews and Ann Archer, but other sources conflict with this assertion. Mary's lineage and relationship to William Wright and Margaret Malcolm (Tinkling Springs) is more strongly supported by available evidence.

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry Family Trees. #R-1801649135

Acknowledgements

This profile created through the import of Martin_O_Daniels_Lorentz_Toale.ged on 21 March 2011.

• Mathews Family Bible, transcription by Frances Marion Hanger of which appeared in the Arkansas Gazette 22 Feb 1916, p. 4.
• Davies and Allied Families Papers. Arkansas Archives. Little Rock, AR.
• Peyton, J. Lewis. "History of Augusta County, Virginia." ISBN-13 978-0788410673
• U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. SAR 98086 among others.
• Ancestry Family Trees (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), Ancestry.com

The Source reference to the Mathews Family Bible in the Arkansas Gazette could not be found when accessed on line on 17 Dec 2022.