Alexander F. Mathews

Alexander F. Mathews born on November 13, 1838, in Frankford, Greenbrier County, Virginia, to Eliza (née Reynolds) and Mason Mathews. He enrolled in the University of Virginia in 1854 at the age of fifteen, earning a Masters of Arts.[1] He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.[2][3] He returned to the University of Virginia School of Law in 1857, and in the same year was admitted to the bar.

Mathews volunteered for the Confederate States Army on the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. He was assigned to the 59th Virginia Infantry and received a commission of captain despite having no formal military training. Additionally, he served as aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Henry A. Wise during Wise's early campaigns. He was relieved from duty with the 59th Virginia Infantry on June 22, 1863, and was appointed Inspector of Conscription for the 8th Congressional District of Virginia for the remainder of the war.[1]

He was appointed to the West Virginia University Board of Regents during that institution's infancy, and served on the board from 1871-1881,[4] also establishing a law practice with brother Henry M. Mathews.[5][2]

In 1871, with Adam C. Snydor and Homer A. Holt, he founded the first bank in Greenbrier County, the Bank of Lewisburg, which was until 1888 the only bank between Staunton, Virginia and Charleston, West Virginia.[6] He later took part in the founding the First National Bank of Ronceverte, when it was chartered by the State of West Virginia in 1888.[7]

He died on December 16, 1906, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was buried at the Old Stone Church in Lewisburg, West Virginia.