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MATTHEWS PLACE PLANTATION

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 Hollister, Halifax County, North Carolina

Isham Matthews (ca 1775-1847) was the son of James Matthews (ca 1745-1815) and Sarah Brinkley, whose families had been living in NC since at least the 1740s. James Matthews was the third of his line who had the that name "James", and sometime around 1808, he and all of his children moved to Morgan County, Georgia, with the exception of his son, Isham, who remained in Halifax County. A deed dated Nov. 24, 1806 Halifax County, where it was registered in February 1808, from James Matthews to Isham Matthews for 175 acres "Beginning at a beach on the South side of Little Fishing Creek marked J.M...", where some of the neighbors named were "Lorance Winfeald", Gid Matthews and Benjamin Kimbell, seems to be the time period where James left Halifax. It also mentions that  it was "...part of a tract of land surveyed by James Conner for James Matthews Senr. on the eleventh day of Feby 1757...". It's likely this was the land which Matthews Place was built upon.  Isham was married to Martha Flewellen, probably from the Flewellen family which lived near them in the same district in Halifax as seen in Tax Lists in the 1780s. He was active in politics, serving at various times in the State House of Representatives and the State Senate, among other things, as well as having been a Colonel in the Halifax militia. At the time of his death in 1847, his will named his heirs as his son, Thomas P. Matthews, his daughter Sarah B. Nicholson, and grandchildren Thomas, Sarah F., Mary E., and Caroline V. Ward.
Thomas married Sarah A. Wiggins in 1846, and he and his family lived in the home he had inherited from his father until January 1860, when he moved all of them to Matagorda County, Texas. He deeded the property to David W. Bullock of Edgecombe County in March 1862, where Bullock gave Bartholemew F. Moore, an attorney of Raleigh, North Carolina, as guaranty. Moore was to hold title until Bullock paid his debt. The debt was not paid as late as February 6, 1867 and Moore was in possession of the estate soon afterward, if indeed Bullock ever lived there at all. Bartholemew Moore gave the plantation to his daughter, Ellen Douglas Moore when she married John Pelopidas Leach in 1873. The Leaches lived on the plantation for a few years and then moved to Littleton, North Carolina. For many years the house and acreage was rented out. At the time of her death on May 24, 1923, Ellen Moore Leach left the plantation to her son, John P. Leach Jr. who later sold the estate in 1935 to Ivey Watson of Enfield, North Carolina. Mr. Watson was president of the Bank of Enfield, and used "Ivey Hill" as a country home, he may well have named the place. At his death he left the plantation to his two sons, George and Ivey Watson, Jr., who in turn sold the plantation and 400 acres to William Thorne of Halifax County in 1970. The Albemarle Paper Company, a division of the Hoenor-Waldorf Corporation, took an option on the property in 1972 and exercised it in May, 1973. Part of the plantation, but not the house has been transferred by the Hoenor-Waldorf Corporation to the State Parks System of North Carolina.

Isham Matthews had 62 Slaves in the 1840 Census.
Isham's son, Thomas P. Matthews, had 74 Slaves in 1850.
In 1860 Matagorda Co, Texas, he had 30 Slaves.

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Isham Matthews Inventory reported in Court on February 22, 1848, says he had 54 Slaves, but their names aren't listed.
 

Estate of ISHAM MATTHEWS-1850
Halifax County, North Carolina
Records of Estates, 1850-1856
Page 47
Halifax May Court 1850
 
Division of the Slaves of ISHAM MATTHEWS, deceased:
Lot No. 1 To MARY E. WARD:
JOHN - $725
ISAAC - 75
NANCY - 75
NEWEL - 400
sub-total: $1275
Recd for Keeping CARY & AGGY - 175
Recd from No. 5 - 8.33 1/3
Total: $1108.33 1/3

Lot No. 2 -THOMAS WARD:
HANDY - $750
DEACY - 300
VICTORIA - 150
sub-total: $1200
Recd for Keeping AGGY & DICK - 100
Total: $1108.33 1/3

Lot No. 3 SARAH F. WARD:
HALL - $700
ELIZA & Child - 575
sub-total: $1275
Recd for Keeping HARDY & BETSY - 175
-----------8.33 1/3
Total: $1108.33 1/3

Lot No. 4 -CAROLINE WARD:
HARRISON - $750
LAURA - 300
sub-total: $1050
Recd No. 5 - 16.66 2/3
Recd No. 6 - 41.66 2/3
Total: $1108.33 1/3

Lot No. 5 -THOMAS P. MATHEWS:
WILLIS - $600
CATHARINE - 550
sub-total: $1150
Pays No. 1 -8.33 1/3
Pays No. 2 -8.33 1/3
Pays No. 3 -8.33 1/3
pays No. 4 -16.66 2/3
Total: $1108.33 1/3

Lot No. 6 -J.C. NICHOLSON:
MARIA - $400
ALBERT - 400
NELSON - 150
ARAMINTA - 200
sub-total: $1150
---------- 41.66 2/3
Total: $1108.33 1/3
 

The surname was spelled several different ways in records, including Mathews, Matthews, and Mathis.
The Family of James Matthews(ca 1745-1815) and Sarah Brinkley (daughter of Abraham Brinkley of Halifax Co,NC)
Children:
1. John Matthews (1766-1822)
2. Timothy Matthews (1767-1846)
3. Jesse Matthews (1772-1819)
4. Isham Matthews (1775-1847)
5. Charles L. Matthews (1786-1820)
6. Hannah W. Matthews (1791-?)
7. Elizabeth Matthews (?-1817)
8. Margaret Matthews (?-1816)
9. Martha Matthews (?)
10. Clara Matthews (?-1842)
11. James Matthews (?-1814)