John Matson

His child:		Individual in this page:		His parents:
Hannah Matson	{	John Matson	{	No parents conclusively identified

John Matson was of Merion in Philadelphia County (now Montgomery County), Pennsylvania, and he was the father of Hannah Matson ^{US11, DA9}. In 1712, a man named John Matson, who may have been Hannah’s father, purchased a large tract of land of approximately eight hundred acres on the Schuylkill River in Ammasland, which is now called Upper Merion, and this land was positioned next to Lower Merion Township ^BU1.

John Matson was probably the father John Matson, who was of Edgmond (Edgmont) Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and married Hannah Norbury, the daughter of Jacob Norbury, late of “Midletown”, deceased, on the 5^th day of the 9^th month, 1741, according to the Chester Monthly Meeting records ^US11. The witnesses to this marriage, who each signed below the marriage record, did not include anyone with the “Davies” surname, nor did it include a female member of the Matson family, but did include John Matson and Morris Matson ^US11. Because no female Matson witnessed the wedding, it seems reasonable to assume that if this young John Matson was the brother of Hannah (Matson) Davies, their mother had already died. This younger John Matson was probably the John Matson who received an application for a certificate to the Goshen Monthly Meeting on the 29^th day of the 1^st month, 1742, because this record stated that John’s wife was Hannah Matson ^US11. Perhaps he was Hannah (Matson) Davies’ brother, because on the 21^st day of the 11^th month, 1739, Hannah’s husband, Charles Davies, was received at Goshen ^US11; it was typical for family members to flock to the same area and church or meeting house. The Goshen Monthly Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania recorded that John and Hannah Matson were the parents of Richard, born on the 30^th day of the 5^th month, 1742, Jacob, born on the 8^th day of the 1^st month, 1744, Joseph, born on the 24^th day of the 4^th month, 1745, and Alice, born on the 13^th day of the 8^th month, 1747 ^US11. John Matson, who was perhaps the brother of Hannah (Matson) Davies, was buried on on the 3^rd day of the 3^rd month, 1748, and Alice, the daughter of John Matson, was buried ten days afterward ^US11. This John (who was probably the brother of Hannah (Matson) Davies) was described as a husbandman of Easttown in Chester County when the inventory of his estate was conducted on May 23, 1748 by Joseph Pratt and Edward Farr, and the administration of his estate was granted to Hannah Matson on July 16, 1748 ^PE7. His widow later remarried to George Smedley, Jr. on December 22, 1757 ^US11. It is unclear if the Jacob Matson who married Mary Roberts (as shown below) was related to or the same Jacob Matson who was the son of John and Hannah (Norbury) Matson. The Darby Monthly Meeting in Delaware County, Pennsylvania recorded that Jacob Matson married Mary Roberts on 9^th day of the 5^th month, 1771 ^US11. Jacob Matson of “Blockly” (Blockley Township), Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, was called the “son of John Matson and Catherine his wife Late of merion in the County and Province Aforesaid both Deceased” when he married Mary Roberts, the daughter of Jacob and Jane Roberts of Whitp… (this word is partially unintelligible because it was written into the edge of the page) in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania ^US11.

Returning to the father of Hannah (Matson) Davies, his sociocultural background and parentage are unknown, and there is a dearth of information regarding his life, but it might be reasonable to assert that he was probably a Quaker, because his daughter and his probable son were Quakers. John may have been related to Peter, John, or Nils Matson, who were each enumerated in 1693 ^BU1, but these individuals were Lutheran ^CR1. If John Matson or his parents were from the New Sweden settlement, his surname may actually have been fashioned from a patronymic, such as Mattsson. The 1693 census of the inhabitants of New Sweden along the Delaware River valley included the names of Petter Dalboe (“Peter Mattsson Dalbo”), John Matzson (“John Mattsson Dalbo”) and Niels Matzson (“Nils Mattsson”), who were members of the Swedish Lutheran church at Wicaco, a location which, if it existed now, would fall under the bounds of Philadelphia ^CR1. A few basic details about these individuals have been included, but it seems somewhat doubtful that John, the father of Hannah Matson, was a relation of these men.

Peter and John Mattsson were the sons of Matts Hansson and Elizabeth ^CR1. Matts Hansson was a gunner who sailed to New Sweden from Stockholm in 1641 on the Charitas with his brother, Anders Hansson, and his wife, Elizabeth ^CR1. After the death of Matts, Elizabeth remarried to Anders Larsson Dalbo and resided in Kingsessing, where she died at the age of seventy-eight in 1700 ^CR1.

Peter Mattsson, or Peter Dalbo, was born in 1647 in New Sweden, and married Catharine Rambo, the daughter of Peter Rambo, on February 16, 1674 ^CR1. They were the parents of Brigitta, Elisabeth, Catharine, Maria, Peter, Matthias, Margaret, John, and Jacob, and in 1684 he was granted two hundred acres of land on Little Mantua Creek, in Gloucester County, New Jersey ^CR1. Peter died in 1699 ^CR1.

Sometime before 1672, John Mattsson, also called John Dalbo, married Maria Lom, the daughter of Måns Svensson Lom, and they were the parents of Matthias, Måns, Anders, Anna, Gertrude, Maria, and perhaps other children ^CR1. He resided in Moyamensing ^CR1 or “Moyamensynck”, where he and Lasse Andrews, William Stille, and Andrew Bankson were granted a parcel of 588 acres of land, which was to be divided into four equal shares, on July 21, 1684 ^EG2. Later, this John Mattson (Dalbo) lived on Great Mantaes Creek (Mantua Creek) and died in 1701 ^CR1.

Nils Mattsson was born about 1614, as he died at the age of eighty-seven in March 1701 ^CR1. His son was named Anthony Nilsson or Anthony Long ^CR1, and it is likely that any additional sons of Nils also took the patronymic of Nilsson.