John Robert Matthews

1867 - 1954  (87 years)

• Name	John Robert Matthews  [1]
  Born	5 Aug 1867	Canaan, Jefferson, Indiana, USA   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Died	15 Sep 1954	Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA   [1]
  Buried	Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA   [1]
  Person ID	P4899	Woelfel Test
  Last Modified	19 Jun 2020

  
  

  Father	Thomas M. Matthews,   b. 1840,   d. 1869  (Age 29 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Sarah Earhart (Wilson),   b. 26 May 1842, Jefferson County, Indiana, USA ,   d. 17 Nov 1927, Rantoul, Champaign, Illinois, USA  (Age 85 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Married	28 Aug 1859	Jefferson County, Indiana, USA
  Family ID	F1240	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Louise Dorothy Newman (Matthews),   b. 15 Jan 1883, Menomonie, Dunn, Wisconsin, USA ,   d. 15 Mar 1975, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA  (Age 92 years)
  Children	1. John Francis Matthews,   b. 27 Jan 1904, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 6 May 1985, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA  (Age 81 years)  [natural]   2. Donald Ellsworth Matthews,   b. 10 Jul 1906, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 21 Apr 1986, Albany, Stearns, Minnesota, USA  (Age 79 years)  [natural]   3. Violet Louise Matthews (Smith),   b. 18 May 1907, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 4 May 1993, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA  (Age 85 years)  [natural]   4. Evelyn Annabelle Matthews (Palmer),   b. 21 Aug 1910, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 18 Jan 2006, Bloomington, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA  (Age 95 years)  [natural]   5. Lloyd Allen Matthews,   b. 4 Dec 1911, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 17 Jul 1967, Los Angeles County, California, USA  (Age 55 years)  [natural]   6. Albert Newman Matthews,   b. 23 May 1915, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 28 Oct 1984, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA  (Age 69 years)  [natural]   7. Muriel Elaine Matthews (Baran),   b. 15 Jul 1916, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 2 Feb 2014, Lakeville, Dakota, Minnesota, USA  (Age 97 years)  [natural]   8. Louis Frederick Matthews,   b. 1 Mar 1918, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 20 Apr 2003, Vallejo, Solano, California, USA  (Age 85 years)  [natural]   9. Robert Vernon Matthews,   b. 21 May 1925, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA ,   d. 19 Sep 2004, Los Angeles County, California, USA  (Age 79 years)  [natural]
  Last Modified	19 Jun 2020
  Family ID	F1241	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  John was born in rural Jefferson County, Indiana, near the Town of Caanan, on August 5th, 1867. He was the son of Thomas M. Mathews and Sarah Earhart, who were married in Jefferson County on August 28th, 1859. Thomas died before 1870, and Sarah remarried about 1880, to David H. Wilson. There was apparently friction between John and his step-father, because John left home when he was in his teens. From the early 1880's to 1900, John traveled and worked through the United States. He learned the barbering trade, and according to his retirement article in the Northern States Power in-house magazine, he "practiced the tonsorial art in all forty-eight states, Mexico, and part of Canada." John first appears in the records of Minneapolis in 1901, as a barber, working in a shop at 124 Hennepin Avenue. His residence was a boarding house at 622 Hennepin. The 1903 city directory also has a listing for a young lady living at the same address, named Louise Newman, a cashier. Louise didn't take long to tame the "traveling man" in John, because they were married on June 17th, 1903 in Minneapolis. Soon John and Louise were living on Nicollet Island and raising a family. John Jr., Donald and Violet were born on Nicollet Island. In 1909, John began working for Northern States Power, which was then known as Minneapolis Mill Company, as a watchman. The family moved to a home on NE. Washington Street and kept growing. Evelyn, Lloyd, Albert & Muriel were born between 1910 and 1916. Around 1918, John and Louise moved to the near south side of Minneapolis and bought a home at 2213-16th Avenue South. Louis, Douglas & Robert were born between 1918 and 1925, completing the Mathews family at ten children. John retired from NSP in December, 1948. John and Louise celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1953. John was 86 at the time. On September 12, 1954, at the age of 87, John suffered a heart attack at his home and died. He is buried at Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

  
  

• Sources

  [S-911861636] U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, Ancestry.com, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.).