Steel engraving by Alexander Dick after Vincent Payson, 1838, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

MATHEWS, Vincent, a Representative from New York; born at “Matthew’s Field,” near Newburgh, Orange County, N.Y., June 29, 1766; pursued an academic course in Noah Webster’s School, Goshen, N.Y., and at the academy at Hackensack, N.J.; studied law in New York City; was admitted to the bar in 1790 and commenced practice in Elmira, N.Y.; member of the State assembly in 1794; served in the State senate in 1796, 1797, and 1809; bounty land claims commissioner in 1798; served as Cavalry commander and brigadier general in the State militia; elected as a Federalist to the Eleventh Congress (March 4, 1809-March 3, 1811); district attorney for the seventh district of New York 1813-1815; moved to Bath and thence to Rochester in 1821; again a member of the State assembly in 1826; district attorney of Monroe County in 1831; resumed the practice of law in Rochester, N.Y., where he died August 23, 1846; interment in Mount Hope Cemetery.