| Notes |
- EMIGRATION: "Henry Matteson, the individual from which the Matteson Historical Congress of America established its identity, was the first of that name to come to America. He arrived in 1666/1667 at the settlement called Portsmouth located at the north end of an island in Narragansett Bay that the Native Americans called Aquidneck. Portsmouth had been founded in 1638 by a small group headed by Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, an outcast from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They renamed the island the "Isle of Rhodes" or Rhode Island". It was from that small island that the state we know today as the State of Rhode Island and Providence Platations took its name. Little is know of the background of Henry Matteson. He was believed to have been of Danish ancestry and that his ancestors first migrated to Scotland and then to England where Henry was born. He then moved to Tyrone County, Northern Island, from whence he came to America." [http://www.geo cities.com/SiliconValley/Horizon/7624/mtsn.html] :::: It is believed that the first Matteson to come to America was Henry Matteson from Ulster County, Ireland. Henry arrived at Portsmouth, on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, in 1666. The source of this information is from Porter Matteson, the former historian of the Matteson Historical Congress, which was founded by him in 1940. Porter Matteson also stated that Henry's forbears were from northern Scotland, and before that from Denmark. Porter Matteson's incomplete outline 'MATTESON'S IN AMERICA', and George Matteson of Coventry, RI (the late historian of the Matteson Historical Congress), say that Deacon Thomas Matteson, born 1742, lived in South Shaftsbury VT, and is buried near North Bennington in the Grandview Cemetery. On his tombstone it is inscribed that Thomas was a '4th generation from the Danish nation.' This tombstone ingraving would imply that Henry was originally from Denmark, but with most liklihood did board the ship to America in Ireland. Henry Matteson the emigrant, the first ancestor of nearly all Mattesons in America, lived on Prudence Island, RI at the beginning of his new life in America. While living on Prudence Island he was at peace with the Narragansett Indians. Henry was befriended by Roger Williams, then came to East Greenwich, RI after the King Phillips War. The town of East Greenwich was founded in 1667, so our Henry was there from the very beginning of the town. On June 12, 1678 Henry acquired 100 acres of land, then sold this land in 1682 to David Shippee. In October of 1684 he was recorded, with testimony, that his age was 38 - more or less. Henry married Hannah Parsons of England in 1670, and he died in 1690. After Henry's death, Hannah sold her land to George Vaughn, and married as her second husband, Charles Hazelton. [Written by Betty Matteson Rhodes: http://www .angelfire.com/pe/rcmatteson/matteson2.html]
BIOGRAPHY: Henry Matteson was born in Oct 1646 in Ulster Co, Ireland. He died in 1690 in West Greenwich, Kent RI. Born in Ulster County, Ireland of Danish Parents. Came to R.I. 1666/7 during the Kind Phillip's War and lived on Prudence Island, Narragansett Bay. After the war he moved to East Greenwich when the town was started in 1677. June 12, 1678 he took 100 acres that had been granted by John Pearce. He sold it on March 17, 1682 to David Shippee. [The Matteson Historical Congress of America]
OCCUPATION: 1685 Deputy
RESEARCH: The following is from an article written by Robert Matteson born 1914, son of Charles (1869-1936): 'Clayton Mathewson, former president of the Matteson Congress wrote me July 27, 1976, in response to my question about Henry's antecedents: "There appear to be no documents or reports among the records of Porter Matteson that have been catalogued up to this time that reflect any research in this particular field. In one of his publications he wrote: 'I learned the Norwegian language which is also understood in Denmark, and we have 3 proofs that Henry Matteson's people were Danes. I searched the ancestry for one whole year in England and Denmark, and find that Hendrix Matteson came from Denmark.' That is all that I have ever seen except that when Henry arrived in Rhode Island he was 26 years old and unmarried. It is assumed he was an adventurer seeking a new life. I have seen nothing to indicate his religious beliefs, although he has been described as a follower of Roger Williams." 'Another document from the Matteson Historical Congress given me at the reunion in Watkins Glen, NY in September, 1976, stated: 'Matteson, Mattison, Madison, Mathewson, are all surnames derived from Matheson. Matheson was a sub-clan of the Royal Clan of McAlpine. The seat of the Matteson clan is supposed to have been in the Highlands of Rosshire in Northern Scotland. 'After the Reformation (1534), the clan embraced the most strait-laced Presbyterianism. Under James I, about 1608, there was a great emigration of the Scots to Ulster in the Northern part of Ireland. Some of the Mathesons were among that number. One of the grandsons of these emigrants came to Rhode Island about 1666. This was Henry Matteson, born in Ireland on October 1646. In 1670 he married Hannah, daughter of Hugh Parsons and his wife Elizabeth, of East Greenwich, RI. Henry Matteson died in 1690. Henry and Hannah had a daughter, Hannah, and six sons: Henry, Thomas, Francis, Joseph, Josiah, and Hezekiah. "George Matteson of Coventry in 1976 showed Jane (wife of writer), and me Henry's gravestone in the old East Greenwich cemetery marked off in the middle of a fairgrounds. Nearby was Henry's house. There were no legible markings on the gravestone. Next to it was said by George, to be the gravestone of one of Henry's sons, Hezekiah - again with no legible markings. George also said a Hezekiah was buried on the Alton Jones Campus of the University of RI in the Old Matteson Cemetery. Hezekiah (1684-1752) is the branch of the Henry Matteson family from which my family comes.' 'It would seem from the above (though it has not been proven by any document) that if Henry were born in Northern Ireland in 1646, and was the grandson of the emigrant from Scotland, that his father was probably born around 1626 also in Ireland, and his grandfather was born around 1590 in Northern Scotland, emigrating to Ulster County around 1608 during the reign of James I.' 'When the Mathesons or Mathesens came to Scotland from Denmark is even more difficult to ascertain. It is well known that the Danes invaded England beginning in 787. Guthrun, the Dane, divided England with Alfred the Great. The Danelaw and Danegold predominated in Northern England and Scotland. Sven I (Forked Beard) was King of Denmark. He defeated the Norwegians, Swedes and England and became King of England from 1013 to 1016. His son, Cnut, or Canute the Great, became an emperor on the model of Charlemagne over a Northern empire which included Denmark, Norway, and England from 1016 to 1035. On his death, England came under Edward the Confessor. To this day there is evidence of Danish influence in England and Scotland. Danish people continued to migrate to Scotland and England to join their friends and families, but there is no record that I know of as to when the Mathesen family emigrated to Scotland.' Taken from an article written by Robert Matteson born 1914, son of Charles (1869-1936). This page submitted by Betty Matteson Rhodes b. 1941, 3rd great granddaughter of Asa Matteson b. 1775 & Elizabeth Richmond Matteson b. 1782.
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1646 - Abt 1690 (43 years)