Mathews, John, 1835 or 1836-1905

Handwritten note in another hand on the back of the envelope: "Mem. Poor Mr. Matthews was one of the unfortunate people unjustly suspected of complicity in the Lincoln murder plot (being friends with John Wilkes Booth). He was seized and for a time imprisoned. The dreadful experience affected his mind and he was eccentric almost to derangment. I knew & often talked with him. L.[?]M."

From the description of Autograph letter signed from John Mathews to William Winter, New York [manuscript], 1900 March 16. (Folger Shakespeare Library). WorldCat record id: 416480688

John L. Mathews was born in Indiana in 1835. He moved to Newton, Iowa in 1854. He enlisted in Company B, Thirteenth Iowa Infantry as a third sergeant in the fall of 1861. He was trained in signalling and also served as a recruiting officer in Vinton, Iowa in 1862. In 1863 he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Louisiana Volunteers of African Descent 8th Regiment. He fought in Mississippi, including at Vicksburg, in Louisiana, and in Alabama. Mathews mustered out in January 1866.

From the description of Mathews, John L. letters, 1861-1889. (Iowa Sate Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 48840052