Trana Mathews

The Mathews Family

Early American Historical Fiction

From their beginnings in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, their lives have been intertwined with American history. As a young child, Increase Mathews witnessed the birth of the United States. Along with his mother and siblings, he remains on the farm while their older male relatives join the ranks of the Continental Army. After the Revolutionary War ends, social and political unrest continues throughout central Massachusetts during the period known as Shays’s Rebellion and a battle takes place inside New Braintree. The brother of Increase’s brother-in-law has been termed the brains behind the Regulators and an instigator of this rebellion.

Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam (Increase’s uncle) submitted the Newburgh Petition to the Confederated Congress asking that military land warrants be issued to veterans of the war. He organized and sold shares in the Ohio Company of Associates to veterans to settle land in the Northwest Territory.

Increase’s uncle, brother-in-law Captain Jonathan Stone, and older brother John Mathews are among the “First 48” settlers to Ohio in 1788. The peace of their settlement is soon shattered. Trying to divest the land of these new Americans, Indians attack and massacre many pioneers. The British also prove problematic. Conflict continues in the Ohio Country for almost ten years.

More facts about this 18th century family are listed on The Mathews Family page. My early American historical novel includes transcripts of actual letters written between family members and Mathews/Matthews genealogical records.

This 18th century American historical fiction is available on Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook.

Dr. Increase

18th Century American Historical Fiction

Based upon a diary transcript and known facts, Dr. Increase is the sequel to The Mathews Family and the second novel in the Mathews Family Saga.

When Increase finished his medical apprenticeship, two physicians had already established practices in New Braintree, Massachusetts. Increase has always dreamt of owning land but now can’t save money for a future purchase. He wants to marry but doesn’t have the means to support a family. Some of his relatives have settled in the Ohio frontier, so he decides to travel to the Northwest Territory in 1798 to visit them and to view its opportunities.

Dr. Increase Mathews recorded his thoughts in a journal, noting mileage and expenses along with people, places, and complications encountered. It was not an easy trip. Traveling hundreds of miles by horseback took weeks to accomplish, and a companion’s mare is injured traversing a difficult mountain trail. This 18th century man’s actual words provide a remarkable insight on this period of history.

This 18th century American historical fiction is available on Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook.

Life With Nabby

19th Century American Historical Fiction

These early Americans were fundamental to the expansion of the United States after the Revolutionary War. Based upon personal documents and known facts, Life with Nabby is the sequel to Dr. Increase and the third novel in the Mathews Family Saga.

William Henry Harrison’s recommendations to the land laws are made in April 1800. This is what Dr. Increase Mathews has been anxiously awaiting. Ink moves his young wife and infant daughter to the Ohio frontier. After weeks of arduous travel, they arrive at Marietta, Ohio in October.

During the first public land auction in March 1801, Ink purchases over 1,000 acres in a joint acquisition with Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam and Levi Whipple. Their land is at the confluence of the Licking and Muskingum Rivers. It also abuts the settlement at Zanesville.

Ink has always wanted to own acreage in order to provide shelter and security for his family, but his dream shatters when tragedy strikes.

This early American historical fiction is available on Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook.