Arthur William Ackley (1819-1888) and Sophia Matteson (1830-1854) are the sixth generation in my Ackley line. Arthur’s was a more settled life than those of his ancestors—he lived in the same house throughout his life, the first in this Ackley family history to do so.

In about 1848, Arthur Ackley married Sophia Matteson. She was the eldest child of a new settler, Burton Matteson, who arrived in about 1846 from Shaftsbury, VT after a decade in Otsego County, NY. At their marriage, Arthur was 29 and Sophia was 18. In 1849, the first child arrived, daughter Alice (1849-1924), followed in 1851 by another daughter, Ida (1851-1932). A son Frank (1854-1934) was born on 31 December 1854, but this happy event was tinged with great sadness: the death of Sophia Matteson Ackley likely from childbirth. Arthur did not remarry. His sister Catherine, known as Kate, was about 30 at the time of Sophia’s death and unmarried. She moved in with Arthur and the children, where she remained.

What is unusual about the chapter on Arthur for me is that here my lineages cross. My Ackley mother’s 2^nd great grandfather was Burton Matteson, the father of Sophia. My Mattison father’s great grandfather was Burton’s nephew Albert Mattison, whose farm was sandwiched between the farms owned by Arthur Ackley and Burton Matteson.

This chapter includes full information on the Arthur Ackleys and children, and also on Burton Matteson and his family. Burton’s youngest son, Zachariah, hosted dozens of Ackley and Mattison relatives at five reunions in 1922–1926. The lengthy lists of those who attended and their towns of residence were published in the local newspaper each year, with reported family births, marriages or deaths. Those articles are available, transcribed, on the Miscellaneous Resources page on this website: here.