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FAMILY OF JAMES MADISON MATNEY
Jim Matney returned to MO as he was scout for the 1852 wagon train his future bride Mary Frances Cooper was on. He guided wagon trains from Salt Lake City into southern Oregon & some over the Applegate Trail in the 1850s. Jim was in the Oregon Volunteer Army 1853; & in 1855-56 in the Indian Wars. Jim settled down on his DLC near Eagle Point, OR. He married Mary Frances Cooper 1859 at Polk Co, OR. Jim & Mary raised their 10 children on the farm on Dry Creek. Jim died 1906 at Central Point, OR. Matney Reasearcher and family Historian Carol (Matney) Sell |
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James Madison Matney was born 1823 Howard Co, MO, and died 1906 at Central Point, Jackson Co., OR, burial at family plot at Antelope Cemetery. He married Mary Frances Cooper 1859 at Polk Co, OR, daughter of James Lindsay and Hester Ann (Moxley) Cooper. Mary was born 1844 Keyesville, Chariton Co, MO, and died 1882 Eagle Point, Jackson Co, OR. They had 10 children: James Carrol died young, Sarah Ann married George W Rice, and married 2nd Hopkins, Lewis Broadwater married Eliza C Royce, Minerva Jane married Lyman Brackett Adams, Nancy Elizabeth married George William Gates, John Henry married Josephine Cecilia Galarneau, Charles William married Mabelle Edna Odell, Emma Susan married Henry Montague Hornby, Ida May married 1st Arthur Leon Creed, and married 2nd Dr. E.E, Emerson, and Austin Day died young. 1847 James M Matney bought land at Macon Co, MO. 1848 James, or Jim as he was called, was a teamster for the quartermaster wagon train in the Mexican War, along with his brother Elisha. He went to Saratoga Springs near San Francisco, CA to help settlers there, then mustered out of the army and went to Oregon to see his brother Walter. Family tradition is Jim and his brother with a pack train of mules went back to Missouri. 1850 census they were in the household of Broadwater and Sally Matney. 1850 Jim and brother Carrel went by wagon train back to OR arriving there October 1850. Jim's 320 acre Donation Land Claim was on Dry Creek near Eagle Point, OR. He and brother Carrel had a mule team freight line from Yreka, CA to Portland, OR. 1852 he was a scout for the wagon train that his future wife's family were with. 1853, 1855/6 James was a Lieutenant in the Oregon Indian Wars. He was given 160 acres land for his military service, and given a pension in later years. In Oregon Territorial papers it is stated 1857 he signed petitions for a road from Salem to Eagle Mills, and 1858 another to incorporate Monmouth, OR. He had gold mining claims with brothers in Jackson and Douglas Co, OR. 1860s Jim had a blacksmith shop on is ranch. He was noted in history as a road viewer, surveyor, road builder, and on jury duty. 1890 he gave 2+ acres to the Methodist Episcopal church. He sold his ranch 1894 and lived in Central Point, OR at time of his death in 1906