HomeMy WebLinkAbout552"Series of article copied from The Bay News, June 1992.
The Story of Peter Matthews (Part 1)
By Richard Matthews
We will start our story in the year 1775 and the beginning of the ""American Revolutionary
War"", and the first call for troops. Some of the Ruttan family were United Empire Loyalists,
and some were on the other side. Our branch of the family were Loyalists. Among them was
Peter Ruttan, who was a captain commanding a body of men corresponding to that of a
colonel today. He was the father of Mary Ruttan Matthews. Captain Ruttan had a large estate
in what is now New York City. He also had a tract of 400 acres in Dutchess County,
New York, which just before his death at the great age of 96 he gave to his daughter Mary;
but of course, it was outlawed when looked into years later in 1844. He joined General
Howe's army in the year 1776.
Peter Ruttan served as a captain in the fourth battalion, and in the third battalion of the
New Jersey volunteers later in the war. He was considered formidable enough as an
enemy to the continentals that they offered a $3,000 reward for his head, dead or alive.
During that terrible time of war, Mary's mother held the plow, drove the oxen, planted and
reaped. The continental army encamped there, set fire and robbed the family of all they
possessed. This was common to ""Loyalist families"" during and shortly following the war.
The continental army was disbanded in 1783, the final treaty of Paris was signed on
September 3, 1783, and ratified by the continental congress on January 14, 1784.
This left Captain Peter Ruttan, the Loyalist, among the defeated. He and his family were
loyal to the heart's core to Great Britain. He was a natural aristocrat.
He believed in stability of government and thought no better example of it was known to
enlightened man than that furnished by the limited monarchy of Great Britain. Captain Ruttan
could not fuse with the new American government and be loyal to himself.
The Loyalists were sad, and felt exiled although living in their own homes.
The crucial test came, to swear allegiance to the new government and become a citizen,
or to forfeit all and become an exile. England offered all Loyalists a home in British North
America, in the beautiful wilderness land beyond the St. Lawrence River,
and the Great Lakes. Captain Ruttan had been detailed by the British
(when they still held New York) to go with Joseph Brant, chief of the Mohawk Indians,
on a tour of observation to ""Western Canada"".
How they traveled from New York is not known. They, with their companions started inland,
following old Indian trails and making their own marks on trees as they went along.
Peter somehow became separated from the party of men he was with and became
lost for several days. He was found and rescued by Chief Brant. When found he was
faint from a lack of food, his compass was gone, and his gun damaged and unable to
be used. After a brief period of rest they continued onward. Later, Chief Brant peeled from
a birch tree a bit of bark and on it wrote ""A certificate of service rendered by Captain
Ruttan"".
He later presented this to the government and received a grant of several hundred acres of
land in Adolphustown, which terminates at ""Ruttan's Point"", and which has been retained
continuously in the family from those early times. Captain Ruttan and his family settled in
Adolphustown in 1784. He never forgot Chief Brant saving his life and named his fourth
son Joseph Brant Ruttan, in honor of him. Peter Ruttan and Colonel Simcoe,
afterwards governor of Canada, were friends. They consulted with each other often.
Lady Simcoe was an artist in water colors and was an inspiration to young Mary (Maria)
Ruttan.
In the year 1786 while out hunting for game, Captain Ruttan came upon Captain Thomas
Elmes Matthews. He had been lost in the woods for several days without food or water,
and was suffering with a fever and from starvation. He was a United Empire Loyalist and
had come from New York to settle in Upper Canada. Captain Matthews was nursed
through the fever and back to health at Captain Ruttan's home. This was when Mary and
Thomas fell in love. This enraged her father who threatened to shoot Matthews,
for he had planned to wed Mary to a fine English officer, a friend of Colonel Simcoe.
Mary was just seventeen at this time.
To be continued next week
"
"The story of Peter Matthews (Part 2)
by Robert Matthews
When she was just passed eighteen, she and Captain Matthews eloped.
Her father disowned her. They were married by a justice of the peace.
Mary suffered great hardships after her marriage ceremony. Thomas' health was poor,
he suffered from ""fever and ague"". They settled for a short time in New Brunswick.
Mary raised the vegetables and with great perseverance succeeded in raising some corn,
caught trout, and shot small game to keep hunger at bay. Thomas was not content there so
they returned to the Bay of Quinte region, near Belleville, shortly before the birth of their first
child, a son, Peter Matthews. Thomas received land grants in the townships of Marysburg
and Sidney before finally settling in Pickering Township, some twenty-four miles from Toronto,
or York, as it was called then. They had 600 acres of woods, a good part valuable pine.
As the daughter of a United Empire Loyalist, Mary received 200 acres. Captain Thomas
Elmes Matthews received 350 acres being a Loyalist and purchased the remaining 50 acres
of land.
Captain Matthews went to Pickering in the fall of 1796, cleared a spot and put up a large,
well-built log house with windows that were called large, and were much admired.
He went for his wife and children the following spring. During these years most of the other
children were born: Thomas, Daniel, David, Joseph, John, Asa and Jane.
The first years in Pickering were hard. Mary supervised most of the clearing of land and
farming, doing much of the labor herself. Thomas put up a sawmill in the pine forest,
cut lumber and hauled it to Toronto for sale. Mary taught reading
and geography to her children and the children of white and red neighbors,
many walking as far as three miles. All who knew her had a reverent love for her.
Thomas Matthews got his crown grant in 1799. So, on this beautiful,
high terrace of fertile black loam; the Matthews farm was built.
After a few years, the Matthews, Hubbards, Majors and Wilsons built a crude log
schoolhouse on the corner of the fifth concession and Brock Road, which they maintained
out of their own pockets for many years. This is where a young Peter Matthews met and fell
in love with his future wife, Hannah Major. In 1811 Captain Matthews was made a member of
the first Pickering Town council, and was for many years thereafter a Pathmaster.
He was responsible for a portion of Brock Road and helped change it from an Indian
trail to a path wide enough for a stage coach to travel up and down to Uxbridge.
Being intensely alive to all government interests, Mary was full of patriotism when the war
of 1812 to 1815 came. Her husband Thomas and her three oldest sons enlisted
immediately. Peter, Thomas and Daniel all went off to the Niagara region.
Peter and his brother Thomas fought with General Brock. Young Thomas was slain at
Lundy's Lane. Peter helped bury his brother near where he fell. Young Daniel died in
service in the Niagara region also. Their father served as a lieutenant in the 3rd regiment
of York militia. During the war Peter advanced to the rank of sergeant. For many years
following the war Mary kept a wreath of evergreen over the mantel in their memory.
Mary Ruttan Matthews loved the Methodist church. The Methodist Church of Canada
(or society then) was organized in her house by her daughter Jane's husband,
William Losie. Mary's brother William was made a class leader.
William was fond of the violin and owned a fine one. Losie, like all early Methodists,
thought the violin ""a snare of the devil"". He told Ruttan he must give it up!
After much debating the rare old fiddle was cremated. On August 30,1819,
at the age of 52 years, Captain Thomas Elmes Matthews died.
He was put to rest on the farm in the family graveyard.
Peter was now the head of the family. He and Hannah Major had wed while they were both
still in their teens. They were known by friends and neighbors as good Baptists.
The names of all of their children are not known, but three of the sons were Hiram,
Charles and Thomas. As the years went on, Hannah became ill and died young.
Part 3 — To be continued next week
"
"The story of Peter Matthews (Part 3)
By Richard Matthews
Peter later remarried for a second time on October 26, 1831,
in Pickering Township. His second wife was Hannah (Smith) Major,
the widow of his former brother-in-law Thomas Major. With the two marriages,
Peter was the father of eight children, and two step-children from Hannah Smith's first
marriage. Canada again was in great unrest. The Matthews were resident landowners
who spent many days at backbreaking toil making roads and paying taxes
while non-resident landowners escaped taxation as well as labor. Bitterness developed.
The discontent, while not universal, was widespread in the township cutting
across lines of United Empire Loyalists, English, Irish, Scottish and American settlers.
It was fashionable among English colonial officers and family compact anglophiles to
adopt a condescending attitude to both the Americans and the backwoods Canadians
who made up the greater part of the population. In 1836 the defeat of the more moderate
reformers brought the hotheads to the surface. They could not tolerate the fixed election.
This time, Sir Francis Head had gone too far! The reformers were determined that something
would be done. Meanwhile in the Township of Pickering, meetings of reformers were being
held in the taverns and training under the guise of turkey shoots were being held in various
parts of the township. William Lyon MacKenzie was the leader of the reformers.
Peter believed that MacKenzie was correct in his views and prior to the rebellion took an
active part in the political union movement. Being an affluent farmer, and a Baptist,
he was a man of considerable local influence.
MacKenzie knew this and chose Peter as his captain from the Pickering Township area.
He also chose the much respected Samuel Lount, the blacksmith from Holland Landing for
like reasons. Finally the reformers were ready to take up arms against ""the corrupt family
compact"", which included the Governor General and all leading officials.
The reformers were obliged to have wrongs righted, to satisfy their conscience in regard to
justice. They felt they did this because of their loyalty, to Canada and to the mother country.
Captain Peter Matthews led his family, neighbors and friends to Montgomery's tavern and
later to the Don River bridge. The party of men were about sixty strong. Among them were
Peter's brothers Joseph and David; also his oldest son Hiram. They were to set fire to the
bridge if government troops approached.
It was December 7, 1837 and the rebellion had failed. After receiving word that they were
outnumbered, Peter's men scattered and took to the woods and hid in the Rosedale
ravines. They were mostly farmers with no military experience. Peter and a small party of
men remained in the ravines for several days until they were forced by cold and hunger to
move their way to the farmhouse of the two bachelor Duncan brothers, John and William..
They were friends and fed the starved and exhausted men, but at midnight a troop of militia
led by a Tory neighbor, Thomas Johnson, banged on the door and overpowered the
patriots. It is said that Peter Matthews was aroused from a deep sleep, used his e
normous strength — he appeared merely to touch the breast of the man who would arrest
him, and the man crashed against the wall at the farther end of the room.
The militia manacled their captives and proceeded to march all of them through
the snow into Toronto.
The captors of Captain Matthews and his eleven fellow reformers collected their bounty of
five hundred pounds. Samuel Lount had reached Lake Erie, and after spending two days in
an open boat in mid-winter, was driven back to the Canadian shore and captured.
They were arraigned together and on March 26, 1838, the two men pleaded guilty.
With no real trial, they were sentenced to be hung. On March 29, 1838 they received the
sentence to be carried out on April 12,1838. Mr. Charles Durand, then under sentence of
death, gives the following account of the last days of this patriot: ""
Matthews always bore up in spirits well. He was, until death, firm in his opinion of the
justice of the cause he had espoused. He never recanted He was ironed and kept in the
darkest cell in the prison like a murderer. He slept sometimes in blankets that were wet
and frozen. He had nothing to cheer him but the approbation of his companions and his
conscience.""
MacKenzie had been more fortunate than his captains, and within a few days of the failed
rebellion had escaped safely to New York. Before they were executed,
Mary Ruttan Matthews went before Governor Arthur, and on her knees pleaded with heart
touching appeal for justice, and a month's extension of the dreaded sentence.
Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Lord Durham was sent from England to Canada to adjust
matters, but arrived six weeks after the executions. He visited Mary and spoke noble
words to her and to others about her rare integrity and heroism.
Part 4 conclusion next week
"
"The Peter Matthews story (conclusion)
By Peter Matthews
Years later, Mary said that Lord Durham looked remarkably young, ""with jet black curly hair,
dark eyes, and he was not very tall""
The very things demanded by the reformers were granted by England after Lord Durham's
famous report. But too late for poor Matthews and Lount. The government refused to give up
the bodies of Peter and Samuel after they were executed. They were buried in the old potter's
field, north of Bloor Street. Peter's brother Joseph, was captured, also his son Hiram,
but after a few months were pardoned. David Matthews had hidden for a few days and was
able to make his way home safely. He was never arrested. The government seized the family
property for the Crown, but in 1849, after pardons had been extended to most of the rebels,
Queen Victoria in the exercise of her royal clemency hitherto abstained from enforcing the
said forfeiture, and hath been graciously pleased to signify her royal pleasure that such
forfeiture should never be enforced.
MacKenzie was able to return to Canada under the February 1, 1849 general and free
pardon from Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. A reformer, and former friend, Thomas Anderson,
recalled years later: ""David Gibson and I dug up their bodies from the old potter's
field...William Lyon MacKenzie came up just as we were lifting the bodies into the wagon,
and the three of us rode in the wagon to the necropolis, where we buried these murdered
men, for I call it murder, in one grave."" MacKenzie lived in the house on Bond Street bought
for him by this friends until his death at the necropolis cemetery was November 28, 1859.
Years later, a monument by the people of Canada was erected and unveiled on
June 28, 1893, at 2 p.m. The ceremony and speech were by J.D. Edgar,
a member of parliament. His words represented the national sentiment — they were strong
and fine as one could wish. The Toronto Globe, an able paper, said,
""Patriots of thirty-seven."" The memorial shaft dedicated to Peter Matthews, the farmer,
and Samuel Lount, the blacksmith, was placed over their single, common grave.
The men whose participation in the uprising of 1837 had branded them as rebels and cost
them their lives, but whose memory history had enshrined and whose names today are
remembered as those patriots to whom the liberties of true citizenship were dearer than
life itself.
Mary Ruttan Matthews died at Brougham on the family farm on the 1st of December 1859,
at the age of 90. She was buried nest to her husband, Captain Thomas Elmes Matthews,
U.E., in the family graveyard on the farm. Mary's father, Captain Peter Ruttan, U.E.,
died on January 1, 1829 in Adolphustown. Before her father died they had made peace
with each other. Following the rebellion, Hannah, the widow of Peter Matthews,
left Canada and settled for a time in the state of Michigan. She later returned to Pickering
Township and quietly lived out her life there. Peter's oldest sons stayed with their father's
brother David in the village of Brougham. Following the young death of his older brother
Hiram, Thomas Matthews decided to leave.
'He left for Michigan in the spring of 1848 and settled his family in a little village in Worth
Township known as Amadore. A number of the former rebel families had settled in this
area following the uprising. Among these families were the Wixsons, formerly of Pickering
Township, and close friends of the Matthews family. The farmhouse that Thomas Matthews
built still stands today. It has been completely restored and is said to resemble the family
home that once stood in Pickering Township, at Brougham. Thomas Matthews never
returned to Canada and lived to the age of 71 years. He died May 19, 1893,
a month before the monument to his father and Samuel Lount was dedicated at the
Necropolis Cemetery in Toronto.
Thomas and his wife Margaret (Spencer) Matthews had one daughter and three sons,
the sons all being born in the state of Michigan. Their descendants live throughout the
mid-Michigan are of the thumb to this day. Thomas Matthews was buried at the Croswell
Cemetery in Sanilac County, Michigan. These stories have come from many different
sources; some have been passed down while others came out of history books...my family
and I believe this to be the most accurate family history that we can put together at this time.
As far as we are aware, our family is the last line to retain the family name of Matthews,
from Captain Peter Matthews.
* * * *
This is the conclusion of a 4-part story. If you wish a full copy of the story please call The
Bay News.
"