Sims L. Matheny

Sims Lafayette Matheny, his personal and family background, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre

Sims L. Matheny

1833-1881

Biographical Sketch

'[There is uncertainty whether Sims Matheny participated in the Mountain Meadows Massacre or was on the ground when the Arkansas company was initially attacked or besieged.]

Sims Lafayette Matheny was a native of Tennessee with forebears in Virginia and South Carolina. Over his lifetime he moved from Tennessee to Arkansas and then Texas before settling in frontier Utah. He was an American frontiersman and pioneer in southern Utah.

Early Years in the American South

Matheny’s parents were in Monroe, Mississippi before moving to Tennessee where Matheny was born. In the late 1830s they moved to Green County, Arkansas and by the early 1840s they had moved to Montgomery County in Texas territory, later the Republic of Texas.

Migration to Utah

The exact year or company in which Sims Matheny came to Utah is not known. It is probable that he immigrated in 1853 or later as he is not listed in the 1852 bishops’ report.

The Mormon Trail

Yet whatever the year or company, he would have experienced the same trail experiences as others. They would have passed the usual milestones on the trail: Fort Kearney, the South Fork of the Platte River, Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater River, Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, Green River, Fort Bridger, Bear River, and Weber River. The typical pattern was to depart the Midwest in the summer. After suffering the usual hardships of overland trail they would have arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake sometime in the late summer or early fall.

Some of the Mathenys settled in Fillmore, Millard County in central Utah. In 1855, Matheny married Ellen Barton Ray, (1839-1920) a native of Mississippi.

Joining the Southerners in Washington County and the Cotton Mission

The Cotton Mill in Washington County

In spring 1857, Matheny and his wife had joined the colony of Southerners in the new settlement in Washington County in the southwestern corner of Utah. These southerners founded the new settlement of Washington and were instrumental in establishing the Cotton Mission and cotton culture in what came to be known as Utah's Dixie.

Washington appeared to have many advantages over other nearby locales. It was located near several fine springs and the Washington fields seemed to provide a lush expanse of farmland. However, appearances proved to be deceiving and soon "Dixie" was considered one of the most difficult areas to colonize. The broad fields were actually floodplains so if their dams washed out, as they did with discouraging frequency, their crops were jeopardized. Meanwhile the springs, so inviting in an arid, hot country, created marshes, the perfect habitat for mosquitos. Many of them suffered from bouts of malaria (the "fever and ague" or "chills") for many years.

Although the Cotton Mission eventually proved commercially unsuccessful, it did succeed in producing cotton goods for local use and export at an important stage in Utah Territory's economic development.

In the Iron Military District: Sergeant Sims Matheny, Company I, John D. Lee's 4th Battalion

In 1857, the Iron Military District consisted of four battalions led by regimental commander Col. William H. Dame. The platoons and companies in the first battalion drew on men in and around Parowan. (It had no involvement at Mountain Meadows.) Major Isaac Haight commanded the 2nd Battalion whose personnel in its many platoons and two companies came from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the north such as Fort Johnson. Major John Higbee headed the 3rd Battalion whose many platoons and two companies were drawn from Cedar City and outer-lying communities to the southwest such as Fort Hamilton. Major John D. Lee of Fort Harmony headed the 4th Battalion whose platoons and companies drew on its militia personnel from Fort Harmony, the Southerners at the newly-founded settlement in Washington, the Indian interpreters at Fort Clara, and the new settlers at Pinto.

In September 1857, 24-year-old Sims Matheny was a sergeant of the first Washington platoon in Company I of John D. Lee’s 4th Battalion. See A Basic Account for a full description of the massacre.

If Matheny was present at Mountain Meadows, he probably arrived with the "Southern contingent" at mid-day on Tuesday, September 8. What role, if any, Matheny played during the week or at the time of the massacre on Friday, September 11, will probably never been known with any certainty.

Sims Mathey was listed in the 1859 federal arrest warrant issued by Judge John Cradlebaugh but there is little other information about his role in the massacre. He was not identified in the trials of John D. Lee of 1875-76, nor in Lee's posthumously-published autobiography, Mormonism Unveiled, nor in William Bishop's "List of Assassins" appended to it. 

In their list of actual and alleged participants in Appendix C of Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Walker, Turley and Leonard do not include Sims Matheny for lack of corroborating evidence.

Map of Millard County, Utah.

Later Life

In 1859, Matheny married Ellen’s sister, Martha Jane Ray (1842-1890), also of Mississippi. Eventually they returned to Fillmore in central Utah. During the Black Hawk War, "Sims L. Mathens" was listed in the Millard County militia muster rolls and saw action in a ten-day campaign against Black Hawk’s raiders that included the engagement at Gravelly Ford in Sevier County, 1866.

The 1880 census lists, Matheny, age 46, in Fillmore with his wives Ellen (listed as suffering from a nervous debility) and Martha Jane and a servant. His wives were keeping house while Matheny and the servant were working on the railroad. Josiah Gibbs recollected that Sims and Martha raised an Indian boy named Manassa who reportedly assimilated into white society.

In 1881, Matheny died and was buried in Fillmore, survived by his two wives and children.

References

Aird, Bagley and Nichols, Playing With Shadows, 300; Alder and Brooks, The History of Washington County, 29 fn. 11; Bigler and Bagley, Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives, 235; Bradshaw, ed., Under Dixie Sun, 235; Day and Ekins, Milestones of Millard, 189; Gibbs, "Black Hawk’s Last Raid – 1866," Utah Historical Quarterly, 4/4 (October 1931), 106-107; New.familysearch.org; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, 393 fn 2.

For full bibliographic information see Bibliography.

External Links

For further information on Sim Matheny, see:

• http://mountainmeadowsmassacre.org/appendices/appendix-c-the-militiamen

Further information and confirmation needed. Please contact editor@1857ironcountymilitia.com.