James Mathews (American politician)

James Mathews (June 4, 1805 – March 30, 1887) was an American lawyer and politician who was a two-term member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio from 1841 to 1845.

James Mathews
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio
In office March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1845
Preceded by	Daniel Parkhurst Leadbetter
Succeeded by	John D. Cummins
Constituency	13th district (1841–1843) 16th district (1843–1845)
Member of the Ohio Senate
In office 1832–1837
Personal details
Born	(1805-06-04)June 4, 1805 Liberty, Ohio
Died	March 30, 1887(1887-03-30) (aged 81) Knoxville, Iowa
Resting place	Graceland Cemetery
Political party	Democratic

Early life and career

Matthews was born at Liberty, Trumbull County, Ohio. After studying law he was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1830. He then moved to Coshocton, Ohio, where he practiced law. From 1832 to 1837 Mathews was a member of the Ohio Senate.

Congress

In 1841 he was elected a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 13th congressional district which then covered Knox County, Ohio, Coshocton County, Ohio, Holmes County, Ohio and Tuscarawas County, Ohio.

In 1842 Mathews was re-elected from Ohio's 16th congressional district which only differed from the old 13th in that it did not include Knox County. In 1844 Mathews did not run for re-election.

Later life

In 1855 Mathews moved to Knoxville, Marion County, Iowa. From 1857 to 1859 he served as prosecuting attorney for this county. He also latter served as a professor of pomology at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) and Knoxville's postmaster.

Sources

• Congressional biography
• Parsons, Stanley B., William W. Beach and Dan Hermann. United States Congressional Districts, 1788-1841. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1978.
• Parsons, Stanley B., William W. Beach and Michael J. Dubin. United States Congressional Districts and Data, 1843-1883. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1986.