John Laughlin Mathews

In 1850 he was a 22 year old schoolmaster living with his widowed mother and 4 siblings in Cumberland, NC but in 1860, then 32, was a farmer with a modest place near Seward in Montgomery County, GA. He enlisted in Whitesville, GA on 13 September 1861 and mustered as First Sergeant of Company E, 61st Georgia Infantry. He was elected Junior 2nd Lieutenant on 18 February 1862 and promoted to Senior 2nd Lieutenant on 4 April.

He was wounded in action on 17 September 1862 at Sharpsburg.

He was on wounded furlough into February 1863 but was elected First Lieutenant on 29 November 1862. He was was wounded again, on the left side of his chest, in the Wilderness, VA on 5 May 1864. He was declared disabled by a medical board on 18 November and sent home to Mt Vernon in Montgomery County, GA. He was formally retired to the Invalid Corps on 7 December 1864 and assigned to the reserves in Georgia.

By 1870 and to at least 1880 he was again a farmer in Montgomery County, GA.

His service from Henderson1 and his Compiled Service Records,2 online from fold3. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1880. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a c. 1861 photograph of him wearing Sergeant's stripes contributed to the FamilySearch database by Paul Mathews in 2020. Thanks to Greyson Beardsley for sending a copy.

He married Flora Morrison (1831-1856) in September 1854 in Montgomery County, GA and they had a son, Neil (1855-1932). He married again, Elizabeth Ann "Betsy" Couey (1834-1903) in June 1859 and they had 6 more.

03/27/1828; Fayette, NC

08/15/1895; Montgomery County, GA; burial in Galbreath Cemetery, Alston, GA