Asa Carrington Matthews (March 22, 1833 – June 14, 1908) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician.

Early life and education

Born in

Pike County, Illinois Pike County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 16,430. Its county seat is Pittsfield. History Pike County was formed in January 1821 out of Madison County. It was nam ...

, Matthews went to the public schools. He went to

McKendree College McKendree University (McK) is a private university in Lebanon, Illinois. Founded in 1828 as the Lebanon Seminary, it is the oldest college or university in Illinois. McKendree enrolls approximately 2,300 undergraduates and nearly 700 graduate ...

and

Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois, but the first to grant a degree ( ...

Career

In 1857, Matthew was admitted to the Illinois bar. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, Matthew served in the

99th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 99th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 99th Illinois Infantry was organized at Florence, Illinois and mustered into Federal service on Aug ...

. On June 23, 1865, in Doaksville, OK Matthews accepted the surrender of Brigadier General Stand Waite, the last Confederate General to surrender in the Civil War. He then practiced law in

Pittsfield, Illinois Pittsfield is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,576 at the 2010 census, an increase from 4,211 in 2000. History Pittsfield was initially settled by settlers from New England. These s ...

. Matthews was elected to the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

and served as the speaker. Matthews was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

. He also was appointed Illinois Circuit Court judge in 1885. Matthews also served as collector of the United States Internal Revenue. In 1889, President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

appointed Matthews comptroller of the United States Treasury. In 1893, Matthews wrote a vignette for the World's Fair predicting what life in the U.S. would be like 100 years in the future. His predictions were grandiose, predicting the U.S. having 60 states and controlling all of North America.

Later life and education

Matthews died suddenly at his home in Pittsfield, Illinois.'Courts and Lawyers of Illinois,' Volume II, Frederic Crossley-editor, American Historical Society. Chicago, Illinois 1914, Biographical Sketch of Asa C. Matthews, pg. 671-673

References

External links

* 1833 births 1908 deaths People from Pittsfield, Illinois People of Illinois in the American Civil War Illinois College alumni McKendree University alumni Illinois lawyers Comptrollers of the United States Treasury Illinois state court judges Speakers of the Illinois House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 19th-century American judges 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-stub