b. 26 August 1753, d. 6 March 1818
Baptism | 26 Aug 1753 | Mathew Ryburn was baptized on 26 Aug 1753 in the parish church at Campbeltown, Scotland, and was probably born earlier the same month.1,2,3 |
Anecdote | | The following information was recorded in a journal kept by Mary Jane Beaty Davis Moffett with the assistance of her mother Sarah Davis, who was Mathew Ryburn's daughter:
"Mathew Ryburn came from Scotland when he was 17 yeare old[.] he had but one sister, Ann, 15 yeare old, she would not stay behind him in Scotland, they were so attached to each other, there own mother being dead, (haveing a stepmother) they landed in Penn, where they had an Uncle by the name of Gilbreth and remained there for several years. Mathew married in Penn. and his wife did not live more than a yeare, they had no child. And he and his sister Ann then moved to Washington Co. Va and there he married a second time, a widow lady by the name of Jane Buchanon, her maiden name being Jane Beaty and they had 6 daughters and two sons.... Ann Ryburn grandfather's only sister married one John Buchanon and they lived about 8 [2?] miles apart the remainder of their days."4 |
| | Mathew and Ann arrived in Washington County in late 1779 or early 1780. Years later Mathew stated that he arrived during the "Hard Winter", a phrase used historically for the winter of 1779-1780.5 |
Marriage | between 1779 and 1781 | He married Jane Beattie, daughter of John Beattie and Elinor Gilmore, between 1779 and 1781.6 |
Land-Buy | 18 Apr 1784 | On 18 Apr 1784 John Beattie, Mathew's father-in-law sold Mathew 350 acres of land for the token amount of 5 shillings.7 |
Residence | | The land was part of a much larger tract that John Beattie purchased from James Wood some years earlier. John "gifted" large parcels of it to his children as they married and started their own families. Portions of Mathew and Jane's parcel remained in the Ryburn family for several generations. The land generally sat to the west of the current community of Glade Spring, Virginia. |
Religion | | Mathew and Jane raised their family in the Presbyterian faith.8 |
Tax | | Washington County tax records exist from 1782 and Mathew is listed every year through 1817 (with the exception of a few years where the records are missing for the entire county). From 1782 through 1806 he was charged for 1 tithable (himself) but in 1807 when his son Beattie passed the age of 16, the number of tithables rose to 2. In 1814 Beattie appeared on the tax list on his own for the first time but Mathew's tithable count remained at 2 since his younger son, Mathew Jr., passed the age of 16 that year and was hence added to his father's tithable count.9 |
Will | 22 Feb 1818 | Mathew wrote his will on February 22, 1818 and remembered in it his sons Beatie and Mathew, as well as his daughters Jane, Ann, Sarah Davis, Nancy Buchanan (wife of James), Elenor Nichol and Mary McNeille. Sons Beatie and Mathew were named executors and also inherited the family land.10 |
Death | 6 Mar 1818 | Mathew died on 6 Mar 1818 at age 64.11,12,13 |
Burial | | He was probably buried in Ebbing Spring Cemetery, Washington County, Virginia.14 |
Will-Recd | 17 Mar 1818 | Mathew's will was recorded in Washington County court on 17 March 1818. His sons Mathew and Beatie took the oath required of executors and posted bond in the amount of $5,000 with Thomas Edmiston and Peter Clark as their security.15 |
Probate Recd | 19 May 1818 | On March 28th Mathew's estate was appraised by John Porterfield, James Beattie and William Byars. The inventory list included such household items as 14 chairs, several tables, 7 beds and bedsteads, pewter dishes, a set of silver tea spoons, bake ovens, kettles, a looking glass, 3 coffee pots, a book case and books and a pot rack and hooks. As the appraisal continued in the other buildings on the property, it listed "sundry old vessels in the smoke house", a pickling tub and surplus bacon. Then the farming tools were inventoried to include a handsaw drawing knife, augers, plough shears, axes, a wagon hay forks, several ploughs and other items. The farm animals were also listed as were the crops on hand: corn, rye, oats and wheat. Mathew also owned a rifle and powder horn. The most valuable items on the appraisal were seven Negroes: Frank, Biddey, Bill, Sam, Henderson, Major and Blake.16 |
Probate Recd | 22 Jan 1823 | The settlement account of Mathew's estate, dated June 2, 1820, listed $1,574 from cash on hand, notes and the proceeds of the sale of his personal property. Disbursements included $100 each to Eleanor Nichols and Mary McNeel, as well as $342.95 each to William Davis, James Buchanan and James Clark.17 |