Key Facts

Parents:	unknown
Born:	circa 1780 location unknown
Last known record:	16 January 1855 (However, this record is slightly questionable; see explanation below.) Cherokee County, North Carolina
Buried:	unknown

250Louis Mathis was born circa 1780.1

The 1840 census shows his family in Cherokee County, North Carolina.2

1840: 250Louis' family in Cherokee County, North Carolina. Full page.2

His family was still in Cherokee County in 1850, and that year's census names some of his family members: Sarah, presumably his wife; children Susan, 125Drewsy, and Berton; and also 62Isaac, whom we know from other records to be 125Drewsy's son and therefore 250Louis' grandson.1

1850: 250Louis' household, still in Cherokee County. Full page.1

The two records described above are the only two for which I have total confidence that they pertain to our 250Louis. Sadly, a paranoid, sociopathic federal officer burned down Cherokee County's courthouse in May 1865, destroying many pre-1865 records. No doubt records pertaining to 250Louis were lost. Furthermore, another man named Lewis Mathis ("Jr."—likely 250Louis' son) lived in the area around the same time,3 as did a younger, married woman named Sarah Mathis4 (of no known relation to our 250Louis). As a result, although I found a few deeds that mention a Lewis Mathis or Sarah Mathis, I have little confidence that they pertain to our 250Louis or his wife Sarah.

Despite these frustrations, however, I'm somewhat confident that our 250Louis did witness a deed on 16 January 1855, by which his son Berton sold some land5 that he (i.e., Berton) had been granted two years earlier.6 Although this might be Louis Jr., Berton's closeness to 250Louis (Sr.) as apparent in the 1850 census1 and Louis Jr.'s absence from Cherokee County in the same census make our 250Louis (Sr.) the more likely candidate here.

250Louis probably witnessed this deed on 13 January 1855. This is the last known record of him for which I have adequate confidence. Full pages: 1, 2.5

Sources Cited:

1: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Cherokee County, North Carolina. Page 46 (stamped), dwelling 596, family 596, Louis Mathis household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 625. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6PQZ-FWN>, accessed 3 February 2026.

2: 1840 U.S. Federal Census. Cherokee County, North Carolina. Page 245, Lewis Mathis household. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/details/populationsc18400357unit/page/n225/mode/1up> accessed 5 March 2026.

3: Cherokee County, North Carolina. Deeds book A (1839-1842), page 453. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998M-J9DX>, accessed 5 March 2026.

4: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Cherokee County, North Carolina. Page 140 (handwritten) or 70b (stamped on the preceding page), dwelling 922, family 922, Davis Mathis household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 625. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6PQZ-NK5?lang=en&i=135&cc=1401638>, accessed 5 March 2026.

5: Cherokee County, North Carolina. Deeds book G 7 (1854-1856), pages 481-482. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998M-CQBQ> and https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G98M-CQ5F, accessed 5 March 2026. There's a convenient transcription of the deed here.

6: North Carolina Secretary of State; Warrants, Surveys, and Related Documents (ca. 1735-1957), S.108.610 / a record labeled "Cherokee County No, 1228" for 500 acres to Benton Mathis, entered 1 June 1853. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89WK-SF41>, accessed 5 March 2026.