Matthew Cleghorn, a farmer of San Bernardino County, was born in Knox County, Kentucky, in 1829, a son of Rev. Lorenzo D. Cleghorn, who was a native of Virginia and a minister of the Christian Church. His mother, Mary (McLain) Cleghorn, was of Scotch parentage. They had five children, of whom our subject was the second. He left home at the age of twelve years and subsequently entered the Mexican War. He enlisted in the Sixteenth Kentucky Volunteers, but was afterward attached to the Eleventh. He carried the express for eight months from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico and thence to Lulusa. On account of sickness he was sent to the Marine Hospital in New York in 1848. After the close of the war he traveled over parts of Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, Iowa and Oregon, and while in the “Hoosier” State he met and married a lady who has since been the companion of his life, Miss Serena Hendry, a native of that State and a daughter of Isaac Hendry.
After his marriage be moved to Iowa and thence to Oregon, where he remained until 1860. He came then to California, first settling at Watsonville in Monterey County, where he remained three years. In 1863 he came to San Bernardino County and located on the farm where he now resides. He arrived here December 25, 1864, and homesteaded 160 acres of land, which cost $16. For several years he was engaged successfully in the livery business. He is now one of the leading stock-raisers in the valley, owning some thoroughbred stock, the Glencoe, of Kentucky, being the principal. He has a magnificent residence four miles east of San Bernardino on Base Line, which commands an imposing view of the fertile valley and the surrounding mountains. He owns valuable property in various parts of the county and is a man of considerable wealth and influence.