What we know about our origins

It is widely believed that the first Matteson to come to America was Henry Matteson who arrived at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1666.

Henry Matteson the emigrant, the first ancestor of nearly all Mattesons in America, lived on Prudence Island, RI at the beginning of his new life in America. While living on Prudence Island he was at peace with the Narragansett Indians.

Henry was befriended by Roger Williams, then moved to East Greenwich, RI after the King Phillips War. The town of East Greenwich was founded in 1667, so our Henry was there from the very beginning of the town. On June 12, 1678 Henry acquired 100 acres of land, then sold this land in 1682 to David Shippee. In October of 1684 he was recorded, with testimony, that his age was 38 - more or less. Henry married Hannah Parsons of England in 1670, and he died in 1690.

After Henry's death, Hannah sold her land to George Vaughn, and married as her second husband, Charles Hazelton.

Deacon Thomas Matteson, a descendant of Henry Matteson, b. 1742 d. 1809, who lived in South Shaftsbury, VT and is buried in Grandview Cemetery, North Bennington, VT. had his tombstone inscribed that he was a 'fourth generation from the Danish nation.' Adding support to the belief that Henry was originally from Denmark.

The following is from an article written by Robert Matteson born 1914, son of Charles (1869-1936).

'Clayton Mathewson, former president of the Matteson Congress wrote me July 27, 1976, in response to my question about Henry's antecedents: "There appear to be no documents or reports among the records of Porter Matteson that have been catalogued up to this time that reflect any research in this particular field. In one of his publications he wrote: 'I learned the Norwegian language which is also understood in Denmark, and we have 3 proofs that Henry Matteson's people were Danes. I searched the ancestry for one whole year in England and Denmark, and find that Hendrix Matteson came from Denmark.' That is all that I have ever seen except that when Henry arrived in Rhode Island he was 26 years old and unmarried. It is assumed he was an adventurer seeking a new life. I have seen nothing to indicate his religious beliefs, although he has been described as a follower of Roger Williams."

'Another document from the Matteson Historical Congress given me at the reunion in Watkins Glen, NY in September, 1976, stated: 'Matteson, Mattison, Madison, Mathewson, are all surnames derived from Matheson. Matheson was a sub-clan of the Royal Clan of McAlpine. The seat of the Matteson clan is supposed to have been in the Highlands of Rosshire in Northern Scotland.'

'After the Reformation (1534), the clan embraced the most strait-laced Presbyterianism. Under James I, about 1608, there was a great emigration of the Scots to Ulster in the Northern part of Ireland. Some of the Mathesons were among that number. One of the grandsons of these emigrants came to Rhode Island about 1666. This was Henry Matteson, born in Ireland on October 1646. In 1670 he married Hannah, daughter of Hugh Parsons and his wife Elizabeth, of East Greenwich, RI. Henry Matteson died in 1690. Henry and Hannah had a daughter, Hannah, and six sons: Henry, Thomas, Francis, Joseph, Josiah, and Hezekiah.'

'George Matteson of Coventry in 1976 showed Jane (wife of writer), and me Henry's gravestone in the old East Greenwich cemetery marked off in the middle of a fairgrounds. Nearby was Henry's house. There were no legible markings on the gravestone. Next to it was said by George, to be the gravestone of one of Henry's sons, Hezekiah - again with no legible markings. George also said a Hezekiah was buried on the Alton Jones Campus of the University of RI in the Old Matteson Cemetery. Hezekiah (1684-1752) is the branch of the Henry Matteson family from which my family comes.'

'It would seem from the above (though it has not been proven by any document) that if Henry were born in Northern Ireland in 1646, and was the grandson of the emigrant from Scotland, that his father was probably born around 1626 also in Ireland, and his grandfather was born around 1590 in Northern Scotland, emigrating to Ulster around 1608 during the reign of James I.'

'When the Mathesons or Mathesens came to Scotland from Denmark is even more difficult to ascertain. It is well known that the Danes invaded England beginning in 787. Guthrun, the Dane, divided England with Alfred the Great. The Danelaw and Danegold predominated in Northern England and Scotland. Sven I (Forked Beard) was King of Denmark. He defeated the Norwegians, Swedes and England and became King of England from 1013 to 1016. His son, Cnut, or Canute the Great, became an emperor on the model of Charlemagne over a Northern empire which included Denmark, Norway, and England from 1016 to 1035. On his death, England came under Edward the Confessor. To this day there is evidence of Danish influence in England and Scotland. Danish people continued to migrate to Scotland and England to join their friends and families, but there is no record that I know of as to when the Mathesen family emigrated to Scotland.'

Grave marker for Henry Matteson. Located in the Vaughn Lot - EG007, East Greenwich, RI. Believed by some to be the final resting place of Henry Matteson.

For all practical purposes, it is believed that Henry Matteson originated from Denmark. If and when Henry went to Ireland or Scotland, and for how long he lived there, it is not known. We are fairly certain, however, that Denmark is the country of origin for our Matteson ancestors. The following paragraphs tell about the state of conditions politically in Denmark during the time that Henry's parents may have been living in Denmark.

The state of Denmark during the 1600's

"For Denmark the period 1560-1720 was dominated by the intensified rivalry with neighbouring Sweden for the position as the leading Baltic power. Denmark had hitherto held this position, as was symbolically reflected in the charging of Sound Dues, which were not abandoned until 1857. The rivalry triggered six wars between the two nations (1563-1570, 1611-1613, 1643-1645, 1657-1660, 1675-1679 and 1709-1720). After Denmark had been weakened by Christian IV’s unsuccessful intervention in the Thirty Year War (1625-1629), the conflict developed into a struggle for survival on Denmark’s part, and for a while the country was on the point of becoming part of a large Swedish Baltic empire. This fate was only avoided because the Netherlands and England intervened, but the price was the ceding of all Scanian provinces east of the Oresund in 1658. The total area of the kingdom was thus reduced by almost a third and the population declined from 800,000 to 600,000.

The catastrophe caused a political crisis which in 1660-1661 brought about a new form of government. By coup-like means, the old elective monarchy dominated by the aristocracy was replaced by a hereditary monarchy. The new hereditary king, Frederik III, and his successors gained absolute power. The king’s unrestricted authority was subsequently codified in the Royal Law of 1665, which in general remained in force until the abolition of absolutism in 1848 and the adoption of a democratic constitution in 1849. In 1683, the Royal Law was supplemented with a Statute Book applying to the entire country, King Christian V’s Danish Law. Insofar as the means were available, Denmark was transformed into a well-organised bureaucratic state under the paternal leadership of the absolute monarch."