John Matheson was born in the town of LaFayette, Walworth county, Wisconsin, on the 17th day of September, 1844. and died at Elkhorn, in Walworth county, on the 17th day of November, 1890, his death being due to a complication of diseases. At intervals after the Civil war he had chronic diarrhea. In the winter of 1899 and 1890 he was exhausted physically and mentally, due to years of hard labor and the carrying of heavy and varied responsibilities, he contracted a cold as a result of exposure, which settled into pulmonary trouble of a permanent form. He grew constantly) worse, and all efforts to restore him to health were unavailing. He left a widow, Mary A., who died at Elkhorn, June 26, 1907; a son, Alexander E., and a daughter, Lulu M. Both son and daughter are now living, , the former in Janesville, Wisconsin, and the latter at the old home in Elkhorn.
Mr. Matheson was of Scotch ancestry and was most proud of the fact. He had many traits of character which suggested that ancestry. His father and mother were both born in the Highlands of Scotland. They came to this country in early days and settled in the town of LaFayette, where they reared their family and hewed out life’s success, a portion of the time in the midst of the trying conditions of pioneer days. He responded to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers and went to the front in 1862, enlisting August 21st. He was a member of Company I, Twenty-eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He served during the war and was mustered out August 23. 1865.
He engaged in business at Vernon and Eagle in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, and at Mayhew, East Troy and Elkhorn, in Walworth county. He was a man of large executive capacity, and was successful in business. At the time of his death he had his business well organized and was preparing to take more time for rest and travel. He appeared to realize that his mam- duties were exhausting his strength and that he must find a way to get relief from his numerous activities. Ever since the war he had worked so hard and had given his time so unstintingly to the interests of society that he early exhausted the strength which, if it had been conserved, would doubtless have carried him to a ripe old age.
Mr. Matheson was busy in many departments of life. He took a constant and active interest in public affairs, in the Grand Army of the Republic, in Masonry, in the church—in short, his generous disposition and his capacity to accomplish results led him to have a part in most all of the activities that related to the welfare of Ins fellowmen. He was a member of the county board of Walworth county a number of years, a portion of the time as chairman of the town of Troy, and later as a representative of the board from .the village of Elkhorn. lie was prominent in the councils of the Grand Army of the Republic and held many positions of trust and responsibility in the Masonic fraternity. His striking characteristics were his great industry; his executive and business ability; his warm-hearted generosity; his sincerity and frankness, with a hatred of insincerity, pretense, and shams; his genial, joyous disposition and democratic spirit, which made him hosts of friends; his wide interest in the affairs of life; and his rugged integrity and truthfulness.
Withal, he possessed great will power. So strong was it that no task seemed too much for him. lie was not easily daunted with difficulties. He had a rare faculty of pursuing the even tenor of his way with outward calm when confronted with difficulties that seemed nigh insuperable. He was possessed of a temper that was by nature easily aroused, but his mature Strength and the discipline of life gave to him an almost perfect control over it. Another trait which was striking, and mention of which must not be omitted, was his loyalty to his friends and Ins disposition to trust a friend to the utmost until his confidence in the friend was betrayed.
The writer of this memorial sketch feels not only a sense of filial duty, but has great pleasure in taking from the golden casket of memory a few treasures. He presents this memorial in a spirit of gratitude and affection, that we may set down these facts relative to his father. He recalls with satisfaction and thankfulness the trust reposed in him in his boyhood, youth and early manhood, and hears witness that his father always treated him with the utmost generosity, favored him with all the responsibility he was capable of hearing, and ever extended to him the fullest measure of confidence. To the writer his father gave the largest freedom and placed very little restriction upon his movements, requiring only that he should he truthful, clean and manly.
The writer ventures to mention a few incidents bearing upon his relations with his father, and they are cited for the purpose of giving a clearer insight into the father’s character. In 1876, while the father and mother were attending the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, the boy, with too many fire crackers, was the cause of the destruction by fire of a barn and its contents. The boy did not know just what would he the attitude of the father upon the latter’s return. When he did return, instead of complaint or accusation, he simply said. “Well, my boy, you had bad luck. You must be more careful next tune.” Such treatment made a profound impression on the boy and left effects that will never he erased; whereas a word of complaint or some form of punishment soon would have been forgotten.
Again, when the young man was in the early part of his course, he wished to accept the invitation to join a fraternity. The father objected, or at least professed to object. In this the son acquiesced, and abandoned his cherished hope of joining the fraternity of his choice. After a few weeks the father wrote that he had changed his mind, having made some investigations, and was perfectly willing that the son should join. Later in the college course the son made up his mind to take the important step of joining the church. The father objected, or here again professed to object, claiming that the son was not sufficiently matured in his thought and judgment to do such a vital thing. The son wrote to his father in a spirit of deference that, while he was sorry to disagree with him, he had made up mind to take the step, and was bound to do it. In both instance the father was testing the son. In the first there was no question of the principle involved; it simply related to the pleasure and convenience of belonging of young men. In the latter, in the mind of the young man. at least, there was a question of principle which involved the most significant things in life and character. In the one case he willingly conceded to his father’s wishes and in the other he insisted on the right to follow his own judgment and conscience; and in both cases, in the light of subsequent knowledge, he is cheered with the assurance that the father was pleased with the outcome.
There have been many regrets in the intervening twenty-one years since November 17, 1890. Many mistakes would have been avoided if the father’s experience and counsel had been available. The writer cannot but think how many joyous days he would have had in his father’s company and how they together might have visited foreign lands, particularly the land of his Highland forebears. But these things were not to be and were otherwise ordained by the all-wise Providence, whose judgments are altogether just and right.
There remain precious recollections and the consciousness of a companionship that mere bodily absence does not destroy. We can recall the confidences and experiences of the past; we can reflect upon the characteristics of those who have passed beyond, and enjoy the blessed communions and sacred memories.
During the last days of his life the father talked much of his parents and the humble home on the farm in LaFayette. Thus he had hallowed remembrances of by-gone, days. Likewise do we now recall the events and experiences of the past in a spirit of joy and thanksgiving. And so one generation is united with the other, and the fathers and mothers pass along to the coming generations those memories and experiences out of which are sublimated our Christian civilization.
From: Beckwith, A.C. (1912). History of Walworth County Wisconsin