J. T. Matchett, the subject of this sketch was born in Halifax, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1838. His father, George Matchett, was a native of Ireland, and his mother, Mary Matchett, was born in the Keystone State. At the age of twenty years our subject migrated to Ohio and settled in Muskingum county, where he lived until 1862. In September of that year he enlisted in Company A, Seventy-eighth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Capt. T. P. Wilson and Col. M. D. Leggett. After a three months’ stay in camp near Zanesville, the regiment reported ready for duty, and were ordered to the front, arriving in time to take part in the “wind-up” of the siege at Fort Donaldson, February 17, 1862. He participated in the battles of Bolivar, Tennessee, Raymond, Champion’s Hill, and the siege of Vicksburg, through all of which he passed unscathed. After the siege of Vicksburg he was on detail duty until the close of the war. Returning to Muskingum county, Ohio, he continued to reside there until September 6, 1871, when he removed to Missouri and settled in Grundy county. In March, 1876, he removed to Daviess county and settled on the farm where he now lives, consisting of eighty acres of rich, productive, land, in Jefferson township, three-quarters of a mile northeast of Winston.
Mr. Matchett and Miss Mary C. Hollingsworth were joined in marriage, by the Rev. J. Q. A. Miller, February 13, 1862. Mrs. Matchett was born near Duncan Falls, Muskingum county, Ohio, May 24, 1843. Her parents were Jacob K. and Nancy H. Hollingsworth. Mr. and Mrs. Matchett are the parents of four children; namely, Laura N., born March 28, 1866; Charles T., born March 14, 1868 Frank L., born March 11, 1870; and Cora R., born June 22, 1871.