About Our Patriot, Matthew Bolton

Matthew Bolton was born June 9, 1763 in the colony of Virginia. At this point in history, Virginia was primarily a farming and ranching community where planters had slaves to tend to tobacco, grain, and cattle. Fur trapping was the main moneymaker and the lands were full of Indians. The political front in Virginia was very active and was advancing quickly. They were the ones to come up with the idea of a constitution and they established the first representative assembly. In May 1776, Virginia patriots asked the Continental Congress for a declaration of independence. The signing of the declaration led to a number of battles fought to give the colonists freedom from England. Matthew served in the Virginia Line during many of these skirmishes with the final battle fought at Yorktown, Virginia.

Matthew was a patriot in the combined forces of General Washington, General Rochambeau, Admiral DeGrosse, and General Lafayette. These forces converged in Yorktown, Virginia on the greatest concentration of British troops in America. This decisive battle was the climax of the Revolutionary War.

The Battle of Yorktown ended with the surrender of Cornwallis and thus the fighting for American independence ceased. The commitment and perseverance of Matthew and other fellow countrymen culminated in an American victory where the Treaty of Paris (1783) was signed by the British recognizing the United States as a unique and distinct country. Matthew was only 18 when the war ended.

At age 25, Matthew married Mary Perryman. Over the next 21 years, he fathered 10 children – 5 daughters and 5 sons. He moved to Georgia in 1795 and settled in Columbia County. He built a log cabin where he spent his remaining years. Matthew died at age 62. After his death, Matthew’s son, Robert and his wife Lydia, continued to occupy the log cabin. Robert’s wife Lydia Mappin Bolton was the granddaughter of Betsy Ross. She survived until 1867 at age 79. Lydia was the executor of Robert’s estate, which consisted of 600 acres of land worth $3000 and $560 of “other” property. This included the log cabin, which is till in existence today.

Today, the log cabin Matthew Bolton built is around 210 years old. It is a 14 x 20 foot cube, as solid as the day it was built. Near the cabin is a graveyard. These unmarked graves are where Matthew and his descendants are suspected to be buried. Kin to the Bolton’s, James Forster Young, Sr. (born 1856), whose family now owns the cabin, often told how as a shirttail boy he saw the last Bolton buried in that old cemetery.