John Nicholas Mathesiee, Bedford County, Pennsylvania gunsmith

Introduction
John Nicholas Mathesiee is known as a Bedford County gunsmith from a census record, a tax list, a county directory listing, and surviving examples of his work. Links to photographs of items made by John Nicholas Mathesiee are included at the bottom of this web page.

L. Dietle
camouflage

Chronology
1805: The Whiskers' 1983 booklet "Gunsmiths and Gunmakers of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania 1770-1900" estimates that John Nicholas Matthesiee was born circa 1805 in Germany, and gives examples of other spellings of his name as Madasie, Medesie, and Mattesee.

1860: I did not find a listing for John Nicholas Matthesiee in the manuscript 1860 census records of Union Township, but I did find a listing for John M. Walter, who appears as a neighbor to Matthesiee on the 1861 map shown below.

1861-1880: The 2001 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford, Fulton, Huntingdon, & Somerset Counties" by Whisker & Yantz indicates that Mathesiee immigrated to the United States rather late in his life, and puts him at Lewisville in the 1861 to 1880 timeframe. The following image from the Union Township portion of the 1861 Walker map of Bedford County puts "Mattathius" in the second house west of the crossroads in Lewisville (which is now the village of Queen). The approximate location of his residence would be 40.2593771, -78.5080486.

The residence of the gunsmith N. Mathesiee is illustrated on this 1861 map of Bedford County, Pennsylvania.

1862: In an article about Mathesiee in the July, 2009 issue of the "Muzzle Blasts" magazine, James B. Whisker indicates that Mathesiee purchased the gun shop of Jacob Briggle (II) before August 7, 1862. On that date, according to the 2001 Whisker and Yantz book, Jacob Briggle joined the 138th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

1870: The following excerpt is from the 1870 census records of Union Township. The location of John M. Walter's store is identified on the 1861 map above.
JNM listed in the 1870 census as a gunsmith.

1876: The 1953 edition of "American Gun Makers" puts John Nicholas Matthesiee in Union Township of Bedford County in 1876, and mentions a fancy percussion rifle with inlays and relief carving that has the barrel marking "J. N. MATTHESIEE". The book also indicates that he used "Madesie" and "Medasia" as Anglicizations of his surname. Medasia is a surname that is still encountered in Bedford County. As I understand it, Union Township became Pavia Township in the 1990s. According to Kauffman's 1960 book "The Pennsylvania - Kentucky Rifle", John Nicholas Medasia is identified as a gunsmith on the 1876 tax list of Union Township, Bedford County and made very decorated rifles with excellent carving.

1877: The following image from the King Township portion of the 1877 book "County Atlas of Bedford Pennsylvania" shows the residence of Nicholas Mathesiee at Lewistown (which is now the village of Queen):

This 1877 map illustrates the residence of Nicholas Mathesiee at Lewistown, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.

1878: The following image is from the 1878-1879 edition of "Farquhar's Official Directory of Bedford County, Pennsylvania", which was "Printed at the Inquirer Office, Bedford, Pa." It identifies Nicholas Mathesiee as a gunsmith in King Township. The Sarah reference probably means that he had a Sarah postal address.

1880: The 1880 federal census records of King Township enumerates John N. Mathias as a 75-year-old Bavarian-born retired gunsmith living with his 42-year-old wife Catherine and an 11-year-old son named John.

1880: The 2001 Whisker & Yantz book indicates that Mathesiee died on October 30, 1880 and was interred in a private cemetery in what is now Kimmel Township that is located on Beaver Dam Road. Kimmel Township appears to have been formed from Union Township. The July, 2009 article indicates that Mathesiee's Bedford County will is filed under the number 81-0006.

The Whiskers' 1983 booklet indicates that Samuel Wysong/Whysong apprenticed with John Nicholas Matthesiee, and made Matthesiee's coffin, charging $5.00.

1893: The July, 2009 article indicates that the name of Mathesiee's wife is Catherine, and she died on December 2, 1893. The stated basis for the date of death is the death records of Bedford County.

Misc.

The 2001 Whisker & Yantz book indicates that some guns that look like they were made by Mathesiee have barrels with Jacob Briggle's signature.

Work product

Click here to see a fine side-by-side double barrel black powder rifle that was made by J. N. Matthesiee.

Click here to see an engraved muzzle loading rifle that was made by J. N. Matthesiee.

An inlaid & carved sliding lid wooden box by J. N. Matthesiee (Photo provided courtesy of the Auctioneer Amelia Jeffers https://www.ameliajeffers.com).

An inlaid & carved 1857-dated sliding lid wooden box by J. N. Matthesiee (Photo provided courtesy of the Auctioneer Amelia Jeffers https://www.ameliajeffers.com). `

Plate 140 in Calvin Hetrick's book "The Bedford County Rifle and its Makers" shows a 38 caliber rifle by John Nicholas Matthesiee that is 57-inches long, with a 43-inch long octagonal barrel, and weighs 10-1/2 pounds. Hetrick describes the rifle as having the most extensive engraving of any Bedford County rifle he was aware of, stating that every component is engraved, along with 14 silver inlays. The rifle has a rat tail lock plate and a patchbox with four perforations. Hetrick gives an alternate spelling of Matthesiee as Medasia.

The 1953 edition of the book "American Gun Makers" reports that John Nicholas Medasie used the initials "J. N. M." The 1953 book also describes a fancy relief carved percussion rifle that is marked "J. N. Matthesiee" on the barrel.

The July, 2009 article includes photographs of the percussion rifle that is shown on page 110 of the 2001 Whisker & Yantz book. The rifle is profusely decorated with engraved inlays, and the rat tail lock is engraved in the typical Mathesiee style. To my eye, the most attractive feature of the rifle is a set of seven inlays to the rearward of the cheekpiece that form a hex sign.

James B. Whisker's article about Matthesiee in the January, 1983 issue of the "Muzzle Blasts" magazine includes photographs of a percussion rifle with a thick wooden trigger guard, a checkered wrist, a 44-inch barrel, and a hand-made lock inscribed with the initials "J.N.M.". I suspect it is one of the guns that were stolen from the Old Bedford Village living history museum, based on the wooden trigger guard and a recent discussion with one of the museum employees.

This Gunsmithing Project Index provides links to descriptions of various early Somerset and Bedford county gunsmiths and the muzzleloading longrifles they created.

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