Frances Martha DeShazer was the ninth child of John DeShazer (1786-1854) and Sarah (Sally) Thornton. She was born 5 January 1825, Martin Co., Indiana, but no record found as to where her parents were living. Since her brother, John (1815-1889) was born in Indiana, there should have been an 1820 census listing John and Sally DeShazer but none was found. A Jonathan DeShazer was found who could have been John's (No. 1) twin. It is possible the parents of Frances were living in another state and later moved back to Indiana before Frances was born in 1825. Frances Deshazer died 9 November 1905 according to the 14 November Salem, Oregon, Daily statesman obituary and the tombstone; however her death certificate No. 1324 stated she died on 15 November 1905 of measles and the doctor lasted attended her on 12 November. She was visiting her son, Charles Mathews, in Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon, when she became ill; however, her home was in Salem, Marion County, Oregon.
She married on 15 November 1846, DeKalb county, Missouri, William Simpson Matthews, son of William Matthews born North Carolina and Mary Simpson born Tennessee. William Simpson Matthews was born 27 December 1827, Howard county, Missouri and died 18 August 1908, Oregon. Both Frances DeShazer and her husband are buried in Oak Creek Cemetery, Douglas County, Oregon, where so many of their relatives were buried.
It is amazing how unsettled the people living in the early and mid-nineteenth century were. They moved to various locations. Frances DeShazer was born in Indiana, was living in Edgar County, Illinois when 1830 census taken, then to Morgan county, Illinois, in 1835 and on to Clinton County, Missouri by 1840. Her marriage license stated: "I William C. Garrett a minister of the Gospel of the regular bab(p)tist church certify that on the 15th day of November 1846 I joined in marriage William Matthis & Francis DeShazor. Given under my hand this the 18th day of Nov 1846." (Bk. B, pg. 8, DeKalb co., MO) DeKalb County was formed in 1845 from Clinton County; so Frances may have been living in the same location where she was living when the 1840 census was taken in Clinton County. William Matthews was listed at Holton, Jefferson Township, Jackson County, Kansas, in the 1860 census as a farmer with his oldest daughter Mary 12, fourth child Sarah 6, William 3 and Parthena 6 months, but his wife, Frances, and oldest sons, John and James, were not listed.
The following land transactions show further movements of William s. Matthews and Frances DeShazer. On 6 June 1865, Joseph E. Hocker, Nemaha County, Kansas, sold to William s. Matthews "Lot No. 62 in the town of Lincoln in said County together with the Lincoln steam mill" which was secured by "seven pair of steers estimated at eight hundred and ninety dollars…" The mortgage was paid off at Seneca, Kansas, 27 February 1866 (Vol. C, pg 717).
On 19 October 1866, William S. Matthews and wife "Francis" sold 78 12/100 acres for $300 to Benjamin H. Clark. The land was described as "the north half of the Northwest Fractional quarter of Section five (5) Township Four (4) of Range thirteen (13)" lying in Nemaha County (Bk. E, pp 68 & 69).
On 5 April 1870, Robert and Parthenia DeShazer appointed "Wm S. Matthews our attorney for us in our stead to sell and convey the following lands in Nemaha County Kansas to wit: The North half of the North East quarter of Section twenty four Township two (2) Range twelve also to collect and see for all sums of money that is now or may become due to us…" Robert DeShazer was the nephew of Frances (DeShazer) Matthews, and they had gone by train to Oregon. (Bk. H, pg. 17)
There, undoubtedly, were other land transactions involving the William S. Matthews family but they were not researched.
The U.S. census taken 3 August 1870 showed the Wm. S. Matthews family living at Seneca, Valley Township, Nemaha County, Kansas, in house 86. The son, James Matthews had married at the age of eighteen and he and his sixteen-year-old wife were living with his parents. At that time, William S. Matthews said he owned $4000 in land and his personal items were valued at $1900.
The Matthews family, consisting of four sons and two daughters, moved to Oregon at different times. The first Oregon move in the spring of 1879 included the parents, their daughter, Sarah and husband A. W. Drager, and undoubtedly the two youngest children aged sixteen and twelve. It took them eleven days to go by rail from Council Bluff, Iowa, to Oakland, California. The two families filled an entire coach. They transferred to a boat in San Francisco, went to Portland, Oregon, via the Columbia and Willamette rivers, and then again traveled by rail to Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon, the terminus of the Oregon and California Railroad at that time. They lived at Oak Creek in the Mt. Scott Precinct, ten miles northeast of Roseburg. William S. Matthews was described by his nephew, Fred Drager, as "a Hard-Shell Baptist Preacher." He was an elder in the 24' X 40' church at the Primitive (or Old School)_ Baptist group which was organized at Oak Creek in 1871 (History of Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry & Coos Counties, Oregon, pg. 442, published in 1884 by A.G. Walling Publishers, Portland, Oregon).
The Matthews Family Historian, Mae (Matthews) Cochran, a niece, in 1843 said her grandparents moved from oak Creek to a farm near the Pringle District, then to a place in south Salem, Marion County, Oregon, between the Odd Fellows Cemetery and the Catholic Cemetery where they lived for a number of years before moving to a farm three miles below Lincoln, Polk County, Oregon, called the Stratton Place. They lived there about ten years and then moved to Oak Street,, Salem, where they spent the remainder of their lives. She recalled her grandfather driving his faithful horse, Pilot, to attend church every weekend. William S. Matthews was a Baptist Circuit Rider on weekends and always faithful in connection with church activities.
From her photograph, Frances DeShazer was a rather heavy, stern appearing woman with her hair parted down the middle as was the custom during that period. She must have been an understanding mother from commends made by children of their activities and remarks among the children about their siblings' character. Like most women in those days, she was a good seamstress and took in sewing after they moved to Salem. Her health must have been good as she lived to be over eighty.
The children (third generation) of Frances Martha DeShazer and William Simpson Matthews were:
1) Mary Jane Matthews b. ca 1848 & d. after 1860 when she was listed in the 1860 Holton, Jackson co., KS census as being twelve years old. No mention has been made concerning her by Matthews descendants other than that she died.
2) John Powell Matthews b. 22 July 1849, DeKalb Co., MO, d. 1936, El Reno, Canadian Co., OK & m. 1873 to Margaret Ann Points who d. May 1880 & in Oct. 1892 OK m. Mrs. Mary Ellen Ellison
3) James Matthews b. 5 Jan. 1852, DeKalb Co., MO, d. 5 Aug. 1944, North Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. 17 Apr. 1870 Rhoda Ann Simon
4) Sarah Ellen (Ella) Matthews b. 25 July 1854, St. Joseph, Buchanan co., MO, d. 22 July 1934, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. 9 Oct. 1870 Seneca, Nemaha Co, KS Adolphus William Drager.
5) William David Matthews b. 21 Dec. 1856, DeKalb Co., MO d. 19 Jan. 1952, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. L. Icedore (Icy) Miller.
6) Elizabeth Parthenia Matthews b. 1859, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. D. ca 1929 & m. Dan Collard.
7) Frances Emmaline (Fannie) Matthews b. 30 July 1863, Topeka, Shawnee Co., KS, d. 23 Oct. 1937, Douglas Co., Org. & m. 1 Feb 1880, Douglas Co., Oreg. Josiah J. Thornton.
8) Charles Stephen Matthews b. 14 Feb. 1867, Seneca, Nemaha Co., KS, d. 4 Aug. 1944, Portland, Multnomah Co., Oreg. & m. 1888, Roseburg, Douglas Co., Oreg. Minnie A. Barker.
She married on 15 November 1846, DeKalb county, Missouri, William Simpson Matthews, son of William Matthews born North Carolina and Mary Simpson born Tennessee. William Simpson Matthews was born 27 December 1827, Howard county, Missouri and died 18 August 1908, Oregon. Both Frances DeShazer and her husband are buried in Oak Creek Cemetery, Douglas County, Oregon, where so many of their relatives were buried.
It is amazing how unsettled the people living in the early and mid-nineteenth century were. They moved to various locations. Frances DeShazer was born in Indiana, was living in Edgar County, Illinois when 1830 census taken, then to Morgan county, Illinois, in 1835 and on to Clinton County, Missouri by 1840. Her marriage license stated: "I William C. Garrett a minister of the Gospel of the regular bab(p)tist church certify that on the 15th day of November 1846 I joined in marriage William Matthis & Francis DeShazor. Given under my hand this the 18th day of Nov 1846." (Bk. B, pg. 8, DeKalb co., MO) DeKalb County was formed in 1845 from Clinton County; so Frances may have been living in the same location where she was living when the 1840 census was taken in Clinton County. William Matthews was listed at Holton, Jefferson Township, Jackson County, Kansas, in the 1860 census as a farmer with his oldest daughter Mary 12, fourth child Sarah 6, William 3 and Parthena 6 months, but his wife, Frances, and oldest sons, John and James, were not listed.
The following land transactions show further movements of William s. Matthews and Frances DeShazer. On 6 June 1865, Joseph E. Hocker, Nemaha County, Kansas, sold to William s. Matthews "Lot No. 62 in the town of Lincoln in said County together with the Lincoln steam mill" which was secured by "seven pair of steers estimated at eight hundred and ninety dollars…" The mortgage was paid off at Seneca, Kansas, 27 February 1866 (Vol. C, pg 717).
On 19 October 1866, William S. Matthews and wife "Francis" sold 78 12/100 acres for $300 to Benjamin H. Clark. The land was described as "the north half of the Northwest Fractional quarter of Section five (5) Township Four (4) of Range thirteen (13)" lying in Nemaha County (Bk. E, pp 68 & 69).
On 5 April 1870, Robert and Parthenia DeShazer appointed "Wm S. Matthews our attorney for us in our stead to sell and convey the following lands in Nemaha County Kansas to wit: The North half of the North East quarter of Section twenty four Township two (2) Range twelve also to collect and see for all sums of money that is now or may become due to us…" Robert DeShazer was the nephew of Frances (DeShazer) Matthews, and they had gone by train to Oregon. (Bk. H, pg. 17)
There, undoubtedly, were other land transactions involving the William S. Matthews family but they were not researched.
The U.S. census taken 3 August 1870 showed the Wm. S. Matthews family living at Seneca, Valley Township, Nemaha County, Kansas, in house 86. The son, James Matthews had married at the age of eighteen and he and his sixteen-year-old wife were living with his parents. At that time, William S. Matthews said he owned $4000 in land and his personal items were valued at $1900.
The Matthews family, consisting of four sons and two daughters, moved to Oregon at different times. The first Oregon move in the spring of 1879 included the parents, their daughter, Sarah and husband A. W. Drager, and undoubtedly the two youngest children aged sixteen and twelve. It took them eleven days to go by rail from Council Bluff, Iowa, to Oakland, California. The two families filled an entire coach. They transferred to a boat in San Francisco, went to Portland, Oregon, via the Columbia and Willamette rivers, and then again traveled by rail to Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon, the terminus of the Oregon and California Railroad at that time. They lived at Oak Creek in the Mt. Scott Precinct, ten miles northeast of Roseburg. William S. Matthews was described by his nephew, Fred Drager, as "a Hard-Shell Baptist Preacher." He was an elder in the 24' X 40' church at the Primitive (or Old School)_ Baptist group which was organized at Oak Creek in 1871 (History of Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry & Coos Counties, Oregon, pg. 442, published in 1884 by A.G. Walling Publishers, Portland, Oregon).
The Matthews Family Historian, Mae (Matthews) Cochran, a niece, in 1843 said her grandparents moved from oak Creek to a farm near the Pringle District, then to a place in south Salem, Marion County, Oregon, between the Odd Fellows Cemetery and the Catholic Cemetery where they lived for a number of years before moving to a farm three miles below Lincoln, Polk County, Oregon, called the Stratton Place. They lived there about ten years and then moved to Oak Street,, Salem, where they spent the remainder of their lives. She recalled her grandfather driving his faithful horse, Pilot, to attend church every weekend. William S. Matthews was a Baptist Circuit Rider on weekends and always faithful in connection with church activities.
From her photograph, Frances DeShazer was a rather heavy, stern appearing woman with her hair parted down the middle as was the custom during that period. She must have been an understanding mother from commends made by children of their activities and remarks among the children about their siblings' character. Like most women in those days, she was a good seamstress and took in sewing after they moved to Salem. Her health must have been good as she lived to be over eighty.
The children (third generation) of Frances Martha DeShazer and William Simpson Matthews were:
1) Mary Jane Matthews b. ca 1848 & d. after 1860 when she was listed in the 1860 Holton, Jackson co., KS census as being twelve years old. No mention has been made concerning her by Matthews descendants other than that she died.
2) John Powell Matthews b. 22 July 1849, DeKalb Co., MO, d. 1936, El Reno, Canadian Co., OK & m. 1873 to Margaret Ann Points who d. May 1880 & in Oct. 1892 OK m. Mrs. Mary Ellen Ellison
3) James Matthews b. 5 Jan. 1852, DeKalb Co., MO, d. 5 Aug. 1944, North Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. 17 Apr. 1870 Rhoda Ann Simon
4) Sarah Ellen (Ella) Matthews b. 25 July 1854, St. Joseph, Buchanan co., MO, d. 22 July 1934, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. 9 Oct. 1870 Seneca, Nemaha Co, KS Adolphus William Drager.
5) William David Matthews b. 21 Dec. 1856, DeKalb Co., MO d. 19 Jan. 1952, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. L. Icedore (Icy) Miller.
6) Elizabeth Parthenia Matthews b. 1859, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. D. ca 1929 & m. Dan Collard.
7) Frances Emmaline (Fannie) Matthews b. 30 July 1863, Topeka, Shawnee Co., KS, d. 23 Oct. 1937, Douglas Co., Org. & m. 1 Feb 1880, Douglas Co., Oreg. Josiah J. Thornton.
8) Charles Stephen Matthews b. 14 Feb. 1867, Seneca, Nemaha Co., KS, d. 4 Aug. 1944, Portland, Multnomah Co., Oreg. & m. 1888, Roseburg, Douglas Co., Oreg. Minnie A. Barker.
Frances Martha DeShazer was the ninth child of John DeShazer (1786-1854) and Sarah (Sally) Thornton. She was born 5 January 1825, Martin Co., Indiana, but no record found as to where her parents were living. Since her brother, John (1815-1889) was born in Indiana, there should have been an 1820 census listing John and Sally DeShazer but none was found. A Jonathan DeShazer was found who could have been John's (No. 1) twin. It is possible the parents of Frances were living in another state and later moved back to Indiana before Frances was born in 1825. Frances Deshazer died 9 November 1905 according to the 14 November Salem, Oregon, Daily statesman obituary and the tombstone; however her death certificate No. 1324 stated she died on 15 November 1905 of measles and the doctor lasted attended her on 12 November. She was visiting her son, Charles Mathews, in Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon, when she became ill; however, her home was in Salem, Marion County, Oregon.
She married on 15 November 1846, DeKalb county, Missouri, William Simpson Matthews, son of William Matthews born North Carolina and Mary Simpson born Tennessee. William Simpson Matthews was born 27 December 1827, Howard county, Missouri and died 18 August 1908, Oregon. Both Frances DeShazer and her husband are buried in Oak Creek Cemetery, Douglas County, Oregon, where so many of their relatives were buried.
It is amazing how unsettled the people living in the early and mid-nineteenth century were. They moved to various locations. Frances DeShazer was born in Indiana, was living in Edgar County, Illinois when 1830 census taken, then to Morgan county, Illinois, in 1835 and on to Clinton County, Missouri by 1840. Her marriage license stated: "I William C. Garrett a minister of the Gospel of the regular bab(p)tist church certify that on the 15th day of November 1846 I joined in marriage William Matthis & Francis DeShazor. Given under my hand this the 18th day of Nov 1846." (Bk. B, pg. 8, DeKalb co., MO) DeKalb County was formed in 1845 from Clinton County; so Frances may have been living in the same location where she was living when the 1840 census was taken in Clinton County. William Matthews was listed at Holton, Jefferson Township, Jackson County, Kansas, in the 1860 census as a farmer with his oldest daughter Mary 12, fourth child Sarah 6, William 3 and Parthena 6 months, but his wife, Frances, and oldest sons, John and James, were not listed.
The following land transactions show further movements of William s. Matthews and Frances DeShazer. On 6 June 1865, Joseph E. Hocker, Nemaha County, Kansas, sold to William s. Matthews "Lot No. 62 in the town of Lincoln in said County together with the Lincoln steam mill" which was secured by "seven pair of steers estimated at eight hundred and ninety dollars…" The mortgage was paid off at Seneca, Kansas, 27 February 1866 (Vol. C, pg 717).
On 19 October 1866, William S. Matthews and wife "Francis" sold 78 12/100 acres for $300 to Benjamin H. Clark. The land was described as "the north half of the Northwest Fractional quarter of Section five (5) Township Four (4) of Range thirteen (13)" lying in Nemaha County (Bk. E, pp 68 & 69).
On 5 April 1870, Robert and Parthenia DeShazer appointed "Wm S. Matthews our attorney for us in our stead to sell and convey the following lands in Nemaha County Kansas to wit: The North half of the North East quarter of Section twenty four Township two (2) Range twelve also to collect and see for all sums of money that is now or may become due to us…" Robert DeShazer was the nephew of Frances (DeShazer) Matthews, and they had gone by train to Oregon. (Bk. H, pg. 17)
There, undoubtedly, were other land transactions involving the William S. Matthews family but they were not researched.
The U.S. census taken 3 August 1870 showed the Wm. S. Matthews family living at Seneca, Valley Township, Nemaha County, Kansas, in house 86. The son, James Matthews had married at the age of eighteen and he and his sixteen-year-old wife were living with his parents. At that time, William S. Matthews said he owned $4000 in land and his personal items were valued at $1900.
The Matthews family, consisting of four sons and two daughters, moved to Oregon at different times. The first Oregon move in the spring of 1879 included the parents, their daughter, Sarah and husband A. W. Drager, and undoubtedly the two youngest children aged sixteen and twelve. It took them eleven days to go by rail from Council Bluff, Iowa, to Oakland, California. The two families filled an entire coach. They transferred to a boat in San Francisco, went to Portland, Oregon, via the Columbia and Willamette rivers, and then again traveled by rail to Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon, the terminus of the Oregon and California Railroad at that time. They lived at Oak Creek in the Mt. Scott Precinct, ten miles northeast of Roseburg. William S. Matthews was described by his nephew, Fred Drager, as "a Hard-Shell Baptist Preacher." He was an elder in the 24' X 40' church at the Primitive (or Old School)_ Baptist group which was organized at Oak Creek in 1871 (History of Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry & Coos Counties, Oregon, pg. 442, published in 1884 by A.G. Walling Publishers, Portland, Oregon).
The Matthews Family Historian, Mae (Matthews) Cochran, a niece, in 1843 said her grandparents moved from oak Creek to a farm near the Pringle District, then to a place in south Salem, Marion County, Oregon, between the Odd Fellows Cemetery and the Catholic Cemetery where they lived for a number of years before moving to a farm three miles below Lincoln, Polk County, Oregon, called the Stratton Place. They lived there about ten years and then moved to Oak Street,, Salem, where they spent the remainder of their lives. She recalled her grandfather driving his faithful horse, Pilot, to attend church every weekend. William S. Matthews was a Baptist Circuit Rider on weekends and always faithful in connection with church activities.
From her photograph, Frances DeShazer was a rather heavy, stern appearing woman with her hair parted down the middle as was the custom during that period. She must have been an understanding mother from commends made by children of their activities and remarks among the children about their siblings' character. Like most women in those days, she was a good seamstress and took in sewing after they moved to Salem. Her health must have been good as she lived to be over eighty.
The children (third generation) of Frances Martha DeShazer and William Simpson Matthews were:
1) Mary Jane Matthews b. ca 1848 & d. after 1860 when she was listed in the 1860 Holton, Jackson co., KS census as being twelve years old. No mention has been made concerning her by Matthews descendants other than that she died.
2) John Powell Matthews b. 22 July 1849, DeKalb Co., MO, d. 1936, El Reno, Canadian Co., OK & m. 1873 to Margaret Ann Points who d. May 1880 & in Oct. 1892 OK m. Mrs. Mary Ellen Ellison
3) James Matthews b. 5 Jan. 1852, DeKalb Co., MO, d. 5 Aug. 1944, North Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. 17 Apr. 1870 Rhoda Ann Simon
4) Sarah Ellen (Ella) Matthews b. 25 July 1854, St. Joseph, Buchanan co., MO, d. 22 July 1934, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. 9 Oct. 1870 Seneca, Nemaha Co, KS Adolphus William Drager.
5) William David Matthews b. 21 Dec. 1856, DeKalb Co., MO d. 19 Jan. 1952, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. L. Icedore (Icy) Miller.
6) Elizabeth Parthenia Matthews b. 1859, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. D. ca 1929 & m. Dan Collard.
7) Frances Emmaline (Fannie) Matthews b. 30 July 1863, Topeka, Shawnee Co., KS, d. 23 Oct. 1937, Douglas Co., Org. & m. 1 Feb 1880, Douglas Co., Oreg. Josiah J. Thornton.
8) Charles Stephen Matthews b. 14 Feb. 1867, Seneca, Nemaha Co., KS, d. 4 Aug. 1944, Portland, Multnomah Co., Oreg. & m. 1888, Roseburg, Douglas Co., Oreg. Minnie A. Barker.
She married on 15 November 1846, DeKalb county, Missouri, William Simpson Matthews, son of William Matthews born North Carolina and Mary Simpson born Tennessee. William Simpson Matthews was born 27 December 1827, Howard county, Missouri and died 18 August 1908, Oregon. Both Frances DeShazer and her husband are buried in Oak Creek Cemetery, Douglas County, Oregon, where so many of their relatives were buried.
It is amazing how unsettled the people living in the early and mid-nineteenth century were. They moved to various locations. Frances DeShazer was born in Indiana, was living in Edgar County, Illinois when 1830 census taken, then to Morgan county, Illinois, in 1835 and on to Clinton County, Missouri by 1840. Her marriage license stated: "I William C. Garrett a minister of the Gospel of the regular bab(p)tist church certify that on the 15th day of November 1846 I joined in marriage William Matthis & Francis DeShazor. Given under my hand this the 18th day of Nov 1846." (Bk. B, pg. 8, DeKalb co., MO) DeKalb County was formed in 1845 from Clinton County; so Frances may have been living in the same location where she was living when the 1840 census was taken in Clinton County. William Matthews was listed at Holton, Jefferson Township, Jackson County, Kansas, in the 1860 census as a farmer with his oldest daughter Mary 12, fourth child Sarah 6, William 3 and Parthena 6 months, but his wife, Frances, and oldest sons, John and James, were not listed.
The following land transactions show further movements of William s. Matthews and Frances DeShazer. On 6 June 1865, Joseph E. Hocker, Nemaha County, Kansas, sold to William s. Matthews "Lot No. 62 in the town of Lincoln in said County together with the Lincoln steam mill" which was secured by "seven pair of steers estimated at eight hundred and ninety dollars…" The mortgage was paid off at Seneca, Kansas, 27 February 1866 (Vol. C, pg 717).
On 19 October 1866, William S. Matthews and wife "Francis" sold 78 12/100 acres for $300 to Benjamin H. Clark. The land was described as "the north half of the Northwest Fractional quarter of Section five (5) Township Four (4) of Range thirteen (13)" lying in Nemaha County (Bk. E, pp 68 & 69).
On 5 April 1870, Robert and Parthenia DeShazer appointed "Wm S. Matthews our attorney for us in our stead to sell and convey the following lands in Nemaha County Kansas to wit: The North half of the North East quarter of Section twenty four Township two (2) Range twelve also to collect and see for all sums of money that is now or may become due to us…" Robert DeShazer was the nephew of Frances (DeShazer) Matthews, and they had gone by train to Oregon. (Bk. H, pg. 17)
There, undoubtedly, were other land transactions involving the William S. Matthews family but they were not researched.
The U.S. census taken 3 August 1870 showed the Wm. S. Matthews family living at Seneca, Valley Township, Nemaha County, Kansas, in house 86. The son, James Matthews had married at the age of eighteen and he and his sixteen-year-old wife were living with his parents. At that time, William S. Matthews said he owned $4000 in land and his personal items were valued at $1900.
The Matthews family, consisting of four sons and two daughters, moved to Oregon at different times. The first Oregon move in the spring of 1879 included the parents, their daughter, Sarah and husband A. W. Drager, and undoubtedly the two youngest children aged sixteen and twelve. It took them eleven days to go by rail from Council Bluff, Iowa, to Oakland, California. The two families filled an entire coach. They transferred to a boat in San Francisco, went to Portland, Oregon, via the Columbia and Willamette rivers, and then again traveled by rail to Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon, the terminus of the Oregon and California Railroad at that time. They lived at Oak Creek in the Mt. Scott Precinct, ten miles northeast of Roseburg. William S. Matthews was described by his nephew, Fred Drager, as "a Hard-Shell Baptist Preacher." He was an elder in the 24' X 40' church at the Primitive (or Old School)_ Baptist group which was organized at Oak Creek in 1871 (History of Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry & Coos Counties, Oregon, pg. 442, published in 1884 by A.G. Walling Publishers, Portland, Oregon).
The Matthews Family Historian, Mae (Matthews) Cochran, a niece, in 1843 said her grandparents moved from oak Creek to a farm near the Pringle District, then to a place in south Salem, Marion County, Oregon, between the Odd Fellows Cemetery and the Catholic Cemetery where they lived for a number of years before moving to a farm three miles below Lincoln, Polk County, Oregon, called the Stratton Place. They lived there about ten years and then moved to Oak Street,, Salem, where they spent the remainder of their lives. She recalled her grandfather driving his faithful horse, Pilot, to attend church every weekend. William S. Matthews was a Baptist Circuit Rider on weekends and always faithful in connection with church activities.
From her photograph, Frances DeShazer was a rather heavy, stern appearing woman with her hair parted down the middle as was the custom during that period. She must have been an understanding mother from commends made by children of their activities and remarks among the children about their siblings' character. Like most women in those days, she was a good seamstress and took in sewing after they moved to Salem. Her health must have been good as she lived to be over eighty.
The children (third generation) of Frances Martha DeShazer and William Simpson Matthews were:
1) Mary Jane Matthews b. ca 1848 & d. after 1860 when she was listed in the 1860 Holton, Jackson co., KS census as being twelve years old. No mention has been made concerning her by Matthews descendants other than that she died.
2) John Powell Matthews b. 22 July 1849, DeKalb Co., MO, d. 1936, El Reno, Canadian Co., OK & m. 1873 to Margaret Ann Points who d. May 1880 & in Oct. 1892 OK m. Mrs. Mary Ellen Ellison
3) James Matthews b. 5 Jan. 1852, DeKalb Co., MO, d. 5 Aug. 1944, North Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. 17 Apr. 1870 Rhoda Ann Simon
4) Sarah Ellen (Ella) Matthews b. 25 July 1854, St. Joseph, Buchanan co., MO, d. 22 July 1934, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. 9 Oct. 1870 Seneca, Nemaha Co, KS Adolphus William Drager.
5) William David Matthews b. 21 Dec. 1856, DeKalb Co., MO d. 19 Jan. 1952, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. & m. L. Icedore (Icy) Miller.
6) Elizabeth Parthenia Matthews b. 1859, Salem, Marion Co., Oreg. D. ca 1929 & m. Dan Collard.
7) Frances Emmaline (Fannie) Matthews b. 30 July 1863, Topeka, Shawnee Co., KS, d. 23 Oct. 1937, Douglas Co., Org. & m. 1 Feb 1880, Douglas Co., Oreg. Josiah J. Thornton.
8) Charles Stephen Matthews b. 14 Feb. 1867, Seneca, Nemaha Co., KS, d. 4 Aug. 1944, Portland, Multnomah Co., Oreg. & m. 1888, Roseburg, Douglas Co., Oreg. Minnie A. Barker.
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