Family/Spouse: Edward Morrison. Edward was born in 1874 in Iowa, USA; died in 1938 in Iowa, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Forrest Wade Morrison was born on 24 Apr 1905 in Creston, Adair, Iowa, USA; died on 25 Jun 1949 in Sigourney, Keokuk, Iowa, USA.

Avesta married Mary Jane Gilchrist. Mary (daughter of Peter Gilchrist and Mary Johnstone) was born on 19 Apr 1857 in Kirkpatrick Fleming, Dumfriesshire, Scotland; died on 20 Jan 1919 in North English, Iowa, Iowa, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elisha married Ruth Matthews. Ruth (daughter of Tunstal Quarles Matthews and Jane Chlo Morgan) was born on 21 Oct 1831 in Fayette, Indiana, USA; died on 21 Dec 1917 in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Peter married Mary Johnstone. Mary was born on 1 Sep 1843 in Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland; died on 17 Sep 1866 in Wicketthorn, Kirkpatrick Fleming, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: minister, shoemaker, farmer, blacksmith and postmaster
• Will: 6 Jun 1875, Sterling, Johnson, Nebraska, USA
• Probate: 23 Dec 1878, Sterling, Johnson, Nebraska, USA

Notes:

(from Dennis Nicklaus)



Tunstal Quarles (or TQ) Matthews is probably the most interesting person I have encountered in assembling my family history. We have been fortunate to piece together much of his life through various writings. The starting point for a lot of what we know about the Matthews family is a letter that TQ Matthews wrote to his daughter Ruth listing several of his aunts, uncles, places of residence, how his first wife died, and other details. This letter was handed down through Ruth's granddaughter Ida Scott (daughter of Avesta).



TQ was apparently named after Tunstal Quarles, a leading citizen of early Pulaski County, Kentucky. Quarles was an officer in the war of 1812, founded the first bank, etc.



TQ Matthews moved with his family from Pulaski County to Ross County, Ohio, in about 1815 and then on to Fayette County, Indiana, where Jane Chlo's family already lived. About three years after marriage, TQ and Jane Chlo moved to Shelby County where they assisted in organizing the Church of Christ Brandywine and TQ was chosen one of the Deacons.



Records of the Little Flat Rock Church in Fayette Co. confirm TQ's recollections in his letter. The church records show TQ joined the church on May 22, 1830 and that he left that parish September 24, 1832 (which would be when they moved to Shelby Co.) The same records show John P. Thompson was the founder of that church April 16, 1830.



After Jane Chlo's death, TQ remarried and then moved to South English, Iowa in about 1853 and finally to Sterling, Nebraska in 1871.



We know even more about TQ from the book



A Ram in the Thicket'' which was written by TQ's grandson, Frank Robertson, who never met TQ and would have only known him through stories from TQ's daughter Mary.



According to a photo described (but not shown) in



A Ram in the Thicket'', TQ was tall and thin with a kindly benevolent face. He had a long flowing white beard and a clean-shaven upper lip. This book further describes him as a man of peace, but with the courage of his convictions. He belonged to the sons of temperance.



For many years, he had helped slaves escape to Canada over the underground railroad, because of his hatred of slavery.



On one occasion during the Civil War a large body of Southern sympathizers called



copperheads,'' led by a man named Tally, invaded South English. As they paraded up the street three wagons abreast, Tally, a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, shouted,



Cowards! Cowards!'' The Union men rushed to a blacksmith shop where their guns were stored and a battle seemed imminent. Grandfather Matthews walked out unarmed between the two factions urging them to avoid trouble. As he turned his back on the copperheads to address his own people he heard a shot fired by Tally, then another fired by a disabled Union soldier, and Tally fell dead. The copperheads fled and the battle was over, but Grandfather had risked his life trying to prevent bloodshed.



There are more details about this Copperheads incident in the South English Bicentennial history, but it doesn't mention TQ's role.



South English wasn't yet a town when TQ moved to Iowa. It was just the name of a post office located in a farm house west of the present village. The town was platted in 1855. At the time, there were only buildings there: a general store run by a man name Post, and a tavern run by Hugh Rodman. A school house was built in South English in 1855. T.Q. preached there once a month, the Baptists, Methodists and Dunkards using the house the other Sundays. A union Sunday School was started in which he was prominent as leader and teacher, and where he made his influence felt to such an extent that a Christian church was established. T.Q. Matthews had a great influence on the community and helped transform it into a very moral and christian neighborhood.



This town history and some further description of T.Q. Matthews comes from H. H. Seerley, who grew up around South English and later became president of Iowa State Teachers' College (now UNI). T.Q. had a large influence on Mr. Seerley and encourraged him to go to college. Mr. Seerley remembers, "One half-mile east of the new village of South English there was a large farm house built of logs, with an old-fashioned brick fireplace at each end, large enough to burn cordwood. This dwelling consisted of two large rooms and on this account became the center of all activities of this pioneer community. The proprietor was a man past middle age whose name was Moses Hall. He was a generous, Christian man and welcomed the people who asassembled there each week for mid-week prayer meetings, Sunday School and preaching services. It was here that I first learned to know T.Q. Matthews, who was the volunteer pastor of this flock of Christians, made up of all kinds of denominations. He was active in the service and was the central figure in organized Christianity in that community. He was a man a little past middle age, was independent in his thinking, liberal in his views and decided in his standards. The men and women he met from Sunday to Sunday were all God-fearing people and they cooperated with him in a very cordial manner. There was an organization of those who were members of the Christian church, but all others were accorded a consideration that made them recognize the effort and organization as a community affair."



"T.Q. Matthews has a pleasing personality; he was a didactic, inspirational preacher of the Gospel and felt his true responsibility as a servant of his master. He was of medium stature, very spare in flesh, nervous in temperment and methodical in management. His sermons were simple enough for as a child to understand, yet they were of a progressive kind and character that appealed to the conscience and the intelligence of the conscience of the congregation."



"So far as I know, T.Q. Matthews received no remuneration as a pastor of this early congregation, as the people were all beginners in occupation and had very little incomes. He farmed on a small scale, followed the trade of a shoemaker and made boots for the men and boys of the community, having quite a fine patronage for that early day. He was justice of the peace, post-master and general legal adviser and servant of all the people, drafting their legal papers, such as deeds, mortgages and contracts as the business needs of the community required. He was trusted, appreciated and honored by everybody, because he believed in doing nobly and ably every duty that came as an opportunity."



The above article was written after its author was inspired to find out more about TQ from a speech Seerley gave Dec 5. 1920 at the dedication of the Christian Church in Cedar Falls. The speech was described in the "Christian Standard".



Here are some other passages from the speech description: "...Mathews was not only a good preacher, but that he was a man deeply interested in humanity, and greatly encouraged the youth publicly and privately to noble and lofty ideals. He was greatly beloved by the people, and, without financial compensation, he constantly and faithfully served the community. Seerley said he, could not speak too highly of the great and good influence this man of God had upon the life of the people, andthough long ago dead, he yet lives in the lives of others."



This same Homer (H.H.) Seerley wrote a letter which was published in a South English Bicentennial book in 1976. It contained much the same sentiments about TQ.



TQ was appointed as the seventh postmaster of South English on Sept. 23, 1863.



In 1861



T. Q. Mathes, South English'' was recorded as one of the preachers at the state convention of the Disciples of Christ church.



Trudy (Morrison) Heiman said that Ida (Scott) Medlin could remember her dad (Avesta Scott) having a picture of TQ's blacksmith shop which doubled as a church on Sunday.



As a minister in the Christian Church, there are a few mentions of TQ in early Church publications. These include



- A January, 1839 letter to the "Millennial Harbinger signed by T.Q. Matthews, Wm. Slaughter, Adonijah Morgan, and others, dated Nov. 22, 1838 from Brandywine, Shelby County, Indiana. This letter is a notification that one Dr. Spencer K. Milton has left town owing several hundred dollars and a horse, and abandoned his wife. The letter says,



we believe him to be a common liar, hypocrite, and impostor,'' and that they want his real character to be known to the public. In a letter published in the August, 1839 (p. 283) issue of the same publication, TQ writes again about this Spencer Milton to give a physical description of Milton since he has suppposedly changed his name. The reply by editor Alexander Campbell states that Spencer Milton is a



disguised Universalist'' who started some



Universalian controversy.''



- The Sept. 1839 "Millennial Harbinger" (p. 431) contains a



Query from T. J. Matthews'' (who I'm sure is T.Q. Matthews) as follows:



Should a brother be retained in the church who keeps a tippling house, or deals in ardent spirits?''



- In the "Christian Record" of June 1845 in an article titled Notes on a tour to Eastern Indiana the author mentions meeting



T.Q. Mathews of

Pleasant View''' at a Church meeting where the author lectured, on



Blue River, five miles southwest of Shelbyville'' March 26, 1845.



- The "Christian Record" of May 1855 which mentions TQ and the S. English congregation:

Keokuck Co., Iowa, March 19, 1855:

"Brother Mathes:/footnote{All the letters in the publication were addressed to Brother Mathes} We wish to inform you and the brotherhood, that we have a small congregation here, (South English,) numbering 24 members. We meet as often as we can to break the loaf, and are trying to live as becometh Christ's children. We organized about 11 months ago, with ten members, and under rather unfavorable circumstances. We have the labors of brother T.Q. Matthews, and would be glad if our brethren moving to Iowa would look at our Prairie, and if pleased, settle among us. We have good soil, and other advantages. J. Cain."



- The "Christian Record" of June 1855 has a letter from TQ talking about their new congregation as follows:

"South English, Iowa, May 10, 1855.

Brother Mathes:

The Church of Christ here numbers 23 and was organized Feb. 1854. Thirteen of the number formerly belonged to the Christian Church eight to the Free-Will Baptists, and we have immersed five. Brethren John Cain, and W. Harding, are our Deacons, and T. Q. Matthews, Elder. We are living in peace and love. It may be truly said here,



The harvest is great, and the laborers are few.''

Yours truly,

T. Q. Matthews"



- The "Christian Record" of March 1856 contains a letter from TQ dated South English, Iowa, March 4, 1856 telling of the death of a parish member Sarah E. Harding, wife of Wm. Harding.



- A history of early Christian Churches has a paragraph about the "Sterling, NE parish: Sterling, NE -- The first to preach the plea of the disciples of Christ for the restoration of the Apostolic church, in doctrine, life and fruits, at Sterling in Johnson County was T. Q. Matthews, who came from Iowa in 1871 and settled in that community. The next year in June, Mr. Barrows held a meeting and organized a church with T. Q. Matthews as elder and T. C. Lee as deacon. Mr. Matthews continued to preach every two weeks thereafter for some time."



The above correspondence firmly establishes the date when the S. English Christian Church was organized. The 1880 Keokuk Co. history said it was organized in 1856, with T.Q. Matthews as pastor and that the church building was erected in 1875.



In his will, T.Q. Matthews left half of his estate to his wife and half to his daughter Mary, who still lived with him at the time. According to his Johnson County estate papers, he still had his shoemakers tools, which were sold for $7.00 as part of his estate.



In 1996, Shirley (Anderson) Reed looked through the Fayette and Shelby county land records and found the following entries for TQ Matthews and his wives. (The following abbreviations are used here: S=Section, T=Township, R=Range, Q = Quarter.)



-Tunstal Matthews E. half SE Q. S 34, T 14, R 6E, 80 acres, 12-12-1831. This is in the very SE corner of Moral Twp.

- TQ Matthews recorded a mortgage to school comm. 12-29-1834. part of E. half of SE Q, S 10, T 13N, R6E Book E, pp 173-174 Brandywine Twp.

- TQ Matthews bought for $300 on 9-20-1836, Book F, page 620. 80 acres: W half NW Q, S 26, T 14, R 6E in Van Buren Twp. 40 acres: NE Q of NE Q, S 27, T 14, R 6E in Moral Twp. 40 acres: SE Q of NE Q, S 27, T 14, R 6E in Moral Twp.

- Harriet Stone bought 40 acres on 2-23-1836 in Hanover Twp., SE Q of SE Q, S 9, T 14, R 8, page 80.

- TQ and Jane Chloe Matthews sold for $237.50 on 10-13-1836 E. half NE Q, S 27, T 14, R6E. Book G, p. 401, Moral Twp.

- TQ Matthews bought from Adonijah Morgan for $250 on 10-13-1836 South Half of W. half of SW Q, S 9, T 13, R 6E, 40 acres Brandywine Twp. Book F, p. 619

- TQ Matthews sold for $237.50 on 1-19-1838 Book H, pages 386-7 W. half NW Q, S 26, T 14, R 6e, 80 acres, Van Buren Twp.

- TQ and Harriet Matthews recorded a mortgage to the school comm. on 9-6-1839. SE Q of SW Q, S 17, T 14, R 8 E 40 acres. Book I, p. 90, Hanover Twp.

- TQ Matthews sold for $262.50 on 11-21-1839, Book I, page 590 S half of W half of SW Q, S 9, T 13, R 6E, 40 acres, Brandywine Twp

- Adonijah Morgan bought from TQ Matthews for $150 on 1-19-1838 20 acres, part of E half SE Q, S 10, T 13, R 6 E in Brandywine Twp. Book H, p. 28.

- TQ Matthews sold for $350 on 2-6-1856, Book AA, p. 475, NE Q of SE Q, S 2, T 14 N, R 5E, 40 acres in Moral Twp.



TQ was issued a patent from the US Land Office in Indianapolis on 2 Sept. 1833 for the E. half of SE Q, Sect. 34, T 14N, R6E, 80 acres, in Shelby Co., Indiana You can find an image of this land patent on the WWW at % http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/IN/0610/379.tif. % That matches the 1831 land record found for TQ also.



Harriet Stone's family mostly lived in Hanover Township, so it looks like TQ may have moved to that part of the county when he married her.



From these transactions, we can see that TQ must have been primarily a farmer for his living in Indiana. This is in contrast to Keokuk County, Iowa, where he only owned 8 acres of land, as far as we know. So he may have depended more on his other trades such as shoemaking and blacksmithing in Iowa. Of course, he may have rented other farm land in Iowa, too. TQ's land in Keokuk County was in English River Township as follows:



"commencing at the S W corner of the S W 1/4 of the N E 1/4 quarter of Section Twenty three (23) in Township Seventy Seven, 77, North of Range Eleven (11) West and run North thirty five (35) rods and nine (9) links, then East thirty six (36) and five links, then South thirty (35) Rods and five links thence West thirty Six (36) rods and five links containing eight acres "



The courthouse record is sort of unclear, but apparently TQ acquired this land August 8, 1862, after he had already been living in Iowa for several years.



According to a newspaper index in Johnson Co., Nebraska, TQ bought the W one-half of the NW quarter of Section 36 and the NE quarter of the NE quarter of Section 36, Sterling township, in Johnson Co. That makes 120 acres.



The



Footprints'' family history WWW site is also maintaining an online research center on TQ Matthews % to act as a central gathering point for family researchers, documentation, etc.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

Census: 1830, Fayette Co.,Indiana

Census: 1840, Hanover Twp,Shelby Co.,Indiana

Census: 1850, Moral Twp, Shelby Co., Indiana

Census: 1860, English River Twp, Keokuk Co.,Iowa

Tunstal married Jane Chlo Morgan on 25 Dec 1828 in Fayette, Indiana, USA. Jane (daughter of Living and Living) was born on 10 May 1807 in Pulaski, Kentucky, USA; died on 7 Apr 1837 in Shelby, Indiana, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Jane Chlo was described as "a cultured woman who wrote poetry".

Jane Chlo belonged to the Baptist church as a young woman, but after a Reformation of the church, she went with the branch which became the Church of Christ (Disciples), then known as Campbellites. She was well informed in the Scriptures, zealous and a good talker, pleasant but firm.

TQ's letter gives several details about Jane Chlo's death. She wasn't as healthy as some girls, but had generally good health for a number of years. Before Nancy Jane was born, Jane Chlo's health started going worse, starting with scrofula beinnng shown by swelling of the glands on the neck. These were removed, but she did not recover her usual health, and before Nancy Jane was born she was scarcely able to be about. After she was born she appeared quite smart. But a fatal accident took away all hope for recovery. She was given an opium overdose by mistaking a strong medicine for a much weaker one. Between the effects of this and the scrofula, she suffered greatly for nearly a year, and her only constant desire was for her husband by her side.

«u»Notes from a defunct web site«/u» - unverified, might be some good clues here for follow-up

Adonijah {The name comes from the Bible (1st Kings 1 and 2) -- Adonijah was a son of King David and elder brother of Solomon who tried to make himself king while King David was on his death bed. He was forgiven by King Solomon but later killed at King Solomon's command because of suspicion.} came with his parents and brother Thomas to what was then western North Carolina, but later became Greene County, Tennessee. Adonijah is in Greene Co., Tennessee (then North Carolina) on its 1783 census (when Greene Co. was created). He bought 200 acres of land there in 1793, and sold the same amount in 1798.
Adonijah served in the Revolutionary War while in western North Carolina. No pension or details of his service record have been found, but the places he served would likely be similar to that of his brother. On June 12, 1783, Adonijah was paid 5 pounds, 1 shilling and 6 pence for his service by the auditors responsible for paying claims in western North Carolina. Adonijah's pay was a relatively small amount compared to others. They were paid in specie which could be exchanged for western frontier North Carolina land.

Adonijah left Greene Co. for Pulaski Co., Kentucky about the beginning of 1800. (He is on a jury in Greene Co. as late as Nov 1799.) Maybe he left because he kept getting stuck with jury duty in Tennessee. He's on Greene Co. juries in Feb., MayAug., and Nov. of 1797, and Jan., Apr., July, and Oct. of 1799. He moved to Pulaski Co., Kentucky along with his father. Adonijah first appears on the Pulaski Co. Tax lists in 1800. He is last listed on them in 1817.

While in Pulaski Co., Adonijah was a court commissioner in 1805, at least.

Appleton Morgan said Adonijah was a member of the State Legislature of Kentucky, but proof has not been found.

According to the 1880 biography of his son William F., Adonijah and some of his children moved to Indiana in 1818.

One biography of Adonijah's son Lewis says that Lewis came to Shelby Co. in 1816.

Some of Adonijah's other children moved to Ross Co., Ohio. I don't know if Adonijah ever settled there or not. It appears that he never did, though, since he's in the Fayette Co., Indiana census by 1820. The NGSQ article notes that while some of his sons stayed in Ross Co., he continued on to Indiana with his wife and son Amaziah.

Adonijah was appointed county assessor for Fayette Co., Indiana in February, 1819 when Fayette Co. was organized. He is also named as a ``lister'' (responsible for property valuation) in 1819.

The first record of land purchased by this Adonijah in Indiana that we have located so far was in 1823. On August 28, 1823, Adonijah Morgan, Sr. bought for $186, 57 acres in Fayette Co., part of E. side of NW Quarter of Section 10, Twp 13, Range 12E.

This land is two miles south of Connersville and one mile west of the White Water River, on Fall Creek in Columbia Twp. The above parcel passed around Adonijah's children. On March 31, 1827, Adonijah Morgan sold the above property to William F. Morgan for $60?.

Adonijah (Jr.) and Betsy Morgan sold the above property for $400 on Nov. 26, 1831. It finally passed out of the family since they sold it to a James Lawson.

Shirley (Anderson) Reed researched all these land records in 1996.