Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

eral crops on a very considerable scale.
About the year 1870, Mr. Matthews removed
from Mount Pleasant to North
Castle, New York, and about five years
later went to White Plains. His next
move was to East Chester, New York,
where he continued to reside until 1898,
when he came to Springdale, Connecticut.
Here he acquired possession of a fine farm
of some ninety-six acres and continued
to make his home on this property until
the time of his death, gradually turning
over its cultivation more and more to his
sons as he grew older.
Mr. Matthews married Hannah M. An-
gevine, a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth
(Matthews) Angevine, of Mount Pleas-
ant, where the former carried on a thriv-
ing trade as blacksmith. Isaiah Solis,
Jr., and Hannah M. (Angevine) Matthews
were the parents of five children,
as follows : Sidney A., of further mention ;
Ella J., who became the wife of William
Ackerson, of Rockland Lake, New York,
to whom she has borne one son, Gifford
H., who married Tillie Lemkan, and resides
in New Haven ; Gifford J., who re-
sides on the family homestead at Springdale,
Connecticut, where he carries on
agricultural operations; Seymour S., of
Scarsdale, New York, married Ida Coxon,
by whom he has had two children, Ralph
and Lida ; Lida, who became the wife of
Charles Kingsbury, of Yonkers, New
York. The elder Mr. Matthews and his
wife were members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, although in childhood
they had both been reared in the Quaker
belief. He was active in church affairs,
holding many offices, especially in the
matter of missionary work, and was a life
member of the Foreign Missionary Soci-
ety. As a young man, in his early forties,
he was a member of the New York
Militia.
Sidney A. Matthews, eldest child of
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
224
Isaiah Solis, Jr., and Hannah M. (Ange-
vine) Matthews, was born June 24, 1854,
at Mount Pleasant, Westchester county,
New York, and as a child attended the
public schools of his native town. He
early began to assist his father with the
work on the latter's farm, and in that
manner learned agricultural methods,
thoroughly advancing as time went on to
such work as was appropriate to his age.
He remained as his father's assistant until
about 1894, when, deciding to make his
own career in the world, he engaged in
the real estate and insurance business on
his own account. He located at East
Chester, New York, and there opened his
office, after which his success came rap-
idly. He also did considerable surveying
in that region, and made it his specialty
to develop sub-divisions. Mr. Matthews
remained in this business until 1915, when
he retired from it in order to devote his
entire attention to his farming interests,
which he had always continued to some
degree. Since then he has made his home
uninterruptedly on the farm at Spring-
dale, where his brother, Gifford J., also
makes his home, and is actively engaged
in agricultural occupations of various
kinds. For a number of years Mr. Matthews
conducted a cider mill with his fa-
ther and brother, and since the former's
death, has continued it with the latter.
The business of this enterprise has been
largely custom milling, but they also turn
out large quantities of cider vinegar,
which is disposed of principally at
wholesale. Mr. Matthews is a Methodist
in his religious belief. He is a member
of the National Geographic Society.
(The Miller Line).
(I) The ancestor of the Miller family,
from which Mr. Matthews is descended
through his paternal grandmother, was
James Miller, in whose person the name