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| EXPLORE * DISCOVER * CONSERVE |
| "For in the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught." - B. Dioum |
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Description
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Reprinted with permission from the Bass River Gazette. Contact Bass River Twp. Community Library PO Box 256 New Gretna NJ 08224 for a subscription by sending a SASE.
by Peter H. Stemmer. |
Full Text
:
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 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 Merdecai and Mary Andrews, in 1716. (Note: Leah Blackman incorrectly states Alice was the daughter of Edward Andrews, 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, Sarah, 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 colection of farms, the Andrews' grist mill, and the
Friends' Meeting House.
John purchased 813 acres in 1729 which were to west of and adjacent to his Biddle's Island farm. He built a new house in the area of the present day Vikng 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 Matthews; 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 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," an 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 the 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 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 Biddie's island homestead was called "Dan's Island."
Today it is known as Oak Island and 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, 1779, with each receiving a farm of at least 1,000 acres. As generations passed, the land slowly fell from
Mathis family control. The area along Route 9 from the present Ocean County line at 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. Alhough Mathistown Creek had an ancient log school house and a fulling mill which was to become saw mill operated by Eli Mathis and later Thomas
French.
Old school records indicate that a Mathistown Shoolhouse 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 of 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 from 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 descendents 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. |
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