Lewis Matthews, one of the first and most enterprising settlers of the town was born in Green County, New York in 1827 and raised a farmer. He was married to Miss Elizabeth B. Hubbard, a very estimable lady, in 1849, and came to Wisconsin the same year and engaged in farming near Watertown in that State, from which place he came to LeRoy, Mower County, Minnesota in the spring of 1856 and pre-empted the southeast quarter of section 16. In 1856 Mr. Matthews bought of Martin L. Shook one-third interest in the mill company and became one of the firm of Palmer, Caswell, & Matthews, known as the Mill Company of the Village of LeRoy.

He built a commodious dwelling in the village in 1857, in which year the Mill Company divided their interest, Caswell taking all the company property west of the river, Palmer and Matthews all on the east side, including the mill and the power water. They laid out and platted Palmer’s and Matthews’ Addition to the village of LeRoy in 1857, and changed the saw mill into a grist mill which in 1861 was the first and only saw mill in the town.

Mr. Matthews lost his dwelling by fire in March 1864 and built a dwelling the same spring. He was one of the parties instrumental in procuring the first Presbyterian preaching in town and was first in every enterprise calculated to build up the settlement. But companies traveled too slow for him; he must be sole commander and controller of himself and capital. He sold to his partner A.J. Palmer in 1865, and now resides at Montour, Tama County, Iowa and is principal owner of the Montour Exchage Bank, and well-to-do in this world’s goods.

History of Mower County 1884

Submitted to MnGenWeb by Kathy Pike, Jan. 10, 2007