{{short description|American attorney and politician from South Dakota}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = George A. Mathews |image = George A. Mathews (Dakota Territory Congressman).jpg |alt = |caption = ''The Saint Paul Globe'' (Saint Paul Globe, MN), April 7, 1888 |office1 = Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from Dakota Territory |term_start1 = March 4, 1889 |term_end1 = November 2, 1889 |predecessor1 = Oscar S. Gifford |successor1 = None (statehood achieved) |office2 = President of the Dakota Territorial Council |term_start2 = 1887 |term_end2 = 1888 |predecessor2 = J. H. Westover |successor2 = Smith Stimmel |office3 = Member of the Dakota Territorial Council from the 7th District |term_start3 = 1883 |term_end3 = 1888 |predecessor3 = Elias McAuley |successor3 = Ireneus Atkinson |office4 = Mayor of Brookings, South Dakota |term_start4 = 1897 |term_end4 = 1903 |predecessor4 = Alfred W. Hyde |successor4 = John C. Jenkins |term_start5 = 1887 |term_end5 = 1889 |predecessor5 = Herman H. Natwick |successor5 = William H. Roddle |term_start6 = 1883 |term_end6 = 1884 |predecessor6 = Asher A. Aiken |successor6 = Herman H. Natwick |birth_date = {{Birth date|1852|6|4}} |birth_place = Potsdam, New York, U.S. |death_date = {{Death date and age|1941|4|19|1852|6|4}} |death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. |resting_place = Greenwood Cemetery, Brookings, South Dakota, U.S. |party = Republican |spouse = Cora M. Thomas (1881–1889)<br/>Bertha Harriet Van Dusen (m. 1892–1929) |children = 3 |education = Upper Iowa University (B.S., 1874)<br/>University of Iowa (LL.B., 1878) |profession = Attorney }} '''George Arthur Mathews''' (June 4, 1852 – April 19, 1941) was an American lawyer of Brookings, South Dakota. He was active in the government of the Dakota Territory, and was a territorial delegate to the United States House of Representatives.
==Early life== George A. Mathews was born in Potsdam, New York on June 4, 1852, the son of Amos Mathews and Silence A. (Folsom) Mathews.<ref name="Directory1928">{{cite book |author=Joint Committee On Printing, U.S. Congress |date=1928 |title=Biographical Directory of the American Congress. 1774-1927 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8lAs_QeKkkC&pg=PA1298 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=1298 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=September 16, 1892 |title=Weekly Registerings: Hon. G. A. Mathews |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brookings-register-registerings/133138883/ |work=The Brookings Register |location=Brookings, SD |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Van Deusen |first=Albert Harrison |date= |title=Van Deursen Family |volume=II |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89066127903&seq=124 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Frank Allaben Genealogical Company |page=478 |via=HathiTrust}}</ref> He was raised and educated in Potsdam until he was 13, when his family moved to Fayette, Iowa.<ref>{{cite book |author=State Historical Society of South Dakota |date=1902 |title=South Dakota Historical Collections |volume= 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mnUCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA162 |location=Aberdeen, SD |publisher=News Printing Co. |page=162 |via=Google Books}}</ref> After completing his early education in Fayette, Mathews studied at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, from which he graduated in 1874.<ref name="Alumnus">{{cite book |author=State University of Iowa |date=October 15, 1910 |title=The Iowa Alumnus |volume=VIII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToUmAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA139 |location=Iowa City, IA |publisher=The Old Capitol |page= |via=Google Books}}</ref> He then studied law at the University of Iowa, from which he graduated in 1878.<ref name="Alumnus"/> He was admitted to the bar in 1878 and commenced practice in Corning, Iowa.<ref name="Directory1928"/>
==Career== Mathews moved to Brookings, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota) in 1879.<ref name="Directory1928"/> In 1881, he was elected to Brookings' first city council.<ref>{{cite book |last=Poindexter |first=Colleen Zwieg |date=2010 |title=Images of America: Brookings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJ4V-7onz7AC&pg=PA7 |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |page=7 |isbn=978-0-7385-7776-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref> He served as mayor of Brookings from 1883 to 1884.<ref name="CityDirectory">{{cite book |author=Brookings City Clerk |date=2023 |title=City of Brookings Directory: Elected Officials, Appointed Volunteer Boards, Committees, & Commissions |url=https://www.cityofbrookings-sd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/262/Directory-of-Boards?bidId= |location=Brookings, SD |publisher=City of Brookings |page=38}}</ref> In 1883, Mathews served on the commission that considered relocation of the territorial from Yankton.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 29, 1886 |title=George A. Mathews, Esq. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-mitchell-capital-mathews/133154779/ |work=The Mitchell Capital and Weekly Republican |location=Mitchell, SD |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He proposed Huron as the most suitable site, but the majority voted for Bismarck. In 1884 he became prosecuting attorney of the fifth judicial circuit for the Territory of Dakota.<ref name="Directory1928"/> In 1884, he was also elected to the Territorial council, and he was the council's president in 1887 and 1888.<ref name="Directory1928"/> He was mayor of Brookings again from 1887 to 1889.<ref name="CityDirectory"/>
In 1888, Mathews was elected as a Republican to be the Territorial delegate to the U.S. House.<ref name="Directory1928"/> He served from March 4, 1889, until November 2, 1889, when North and South Dakota were admitted into the Union.<ref name="Directory1928"/> Because terms started in March, but congressional sessions began in November or December, Mathews did not travel to Washington, D.C.<ref name="Remarks">{{cite magazine |last=Case |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Case |date=April 28, 1941 |title=Remarks of Hon. Francis Case of South Dakota in the House of Representatives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vPlDyVMtnIQC&pg=SL1-PA1971 |magazine=Congressional Record, 77th Congress, First Session |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=A1971 |via=Google Books}}</ref> According to Francis Case, who eulogized Mathews in the U.S. House, because a change in presidential administrations occurred while Mathews was Dakota's delegate, he was flooded with applications for the territory's numerous federal patronage positions, including U.S. Marshal.<ref name="Remarks"/> Mathews and his law firm staff processed these applications and made hiring recommendations at Mathews' personal expense.<ref name="Remarks"/>
==Retirement and death== In 1890, Mathews' political supporters proposed him as a candidate for one of the new state's U.S. Senate seats, but he declined to run.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 26, 1890 |title=Mathews Declines the Honor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-mitchell-capital-declines/133194092/ |work=The Mitchell Capital |location=Mitchell, SD |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Mathews resumed practicing law, and served again as mayor of Brookings from 1897 to 1903.<ref name="Directory1928"/> In 1910 he retired and moved to Los Angeles, California.<ref name="Directory1928"/> He died in Los Angeles on April 19, 1941, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Brookings.<ref name="Directory1928"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{CongBio|M000235}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{Succession box | title = Delegate to the United States House of Representatives<br/>from Dakota Territory | before=Oscar S. Gifford | after=statehood achieved | years=March 4, 1889 – November 2, 1889 }} {{s-end}}
{{Dakota Territory Delegates}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, George A.}} Category:1852 births Category:1941 deaths Category:People from Potsdam, New York Category:Mayors of places in South Dakota Category:Members of the Dakota Territorial Legislature Category:Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Dakota Territory Category:University of Iowa alumni Category:South Dakota lawyers Category:North Dakota lawyers Category:People from Brookings, South Dakota Category:19th-century United States representatives