Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 1004 - 1005 

DR. RUDOLPH MATTHEWS, No. 128 North Main street, Wichita, is a prominent member of the dental profession. He was born in Henderson County, Ill., in 1845, and is of English descent. His paternal grandfather came from London, England, settled in Providence, R. I., and there married Miss Lucretia Bartlett, who was of an old New England family and a lineal descendant of one of the pilgrims who came over in the "Mayflower." Her father was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. She inherited to a marked degree the stern stuff of her ancestors, and was a woman of great energy and force of character; her life was prolonged to the unusual length of ninety-one years. 

            Cromwell B. Matthews, the father of our subject, was born on Nantucket Island. He early learned the business of watchmaker in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1840 left that city, proceeded to the State of Illinois, and there located on a farm. He was united in marriage to Miss Amanda, daughter of Israel Stockton, of Ripley County, Ind. Of their marriage seven children were born, namely: Aurelia, Rudolph, George, Cora, Jesse, Horace and Grant. In 1872 Mr. Matthews came to Kansas, and made his home in Wichita, and is thus numbered among the pioneers of this city, and here he established the firm of George G. Matthews & Co., dealers in drugs and jewelry. The remaining years of his life were passed in this place, and in his death at the age of sixty-three an honored and useful citizen was lost to this city. He was a man of undoubted integrity and correct moral habits. In politics he was a Republican, taking a lively interest in all public affairs, although moderate in all his views.

             Dr. Rudolph Matthews, of this sketch, received an education in the public schools of his native State, and at the age of twenty commenced to learn the profession of dental surgery at Kirkwood, Ill., and afterward attended the Missouri Dental College at St. Louis, from which he was graduated in 1870, having taken an excellent and most thorough course of instruction in his chosen profession. After graduation he established himself in Kirkwood, Ill., and also had a branch office at Pontiac, continuing actively engaged as a dentist in his native State for several years, and building up in the meantime an extensive practice. During the late Civil War Dr. Matthews won an honorable record for efficient service. He enlisted as a private in Company G, 84th Illinois Infantry, and was soon after detailed as Commissary Clerk. After holding that office a year he was appointed Clerk at the regimental headquarters; his service in the Union army covered a term of nearly three years, and at the expiration of that time he was honorably discharged.

             In 1881 our subject visited Wichita, and being very favorably impressed with the beautiful location of this metropolis and with its fine climate, he determined to make his home here, and, in accordance with that resolve, in the following year opened an office in this city. He has been very successful from the start, and, having a wide and valuable acquaintance, has built up a first-class business, and is now one of the most popular dental surgeons in the city, as he has adopted the most modern methods now pursued by the gentlemen of his profession, and has the custom of the best people in Wichita. The skill and thoroughness of his work are especially commended, and some of his patrons claim that in some of the newest inventions of crown teeth, etc., he far outrivals the inventors themselves in the superiority of his workmanship. His practice is so extensive as to keep himself and an able assistant constantly at work. He stands deservedly high in his profession, and has the reputation of being a strictly honorable and manly man. The pleasant household of our subject consists of his amiable wife, formerly Miss Ida Simpson, of Rock Island, Ill., and of their three children--Charles, Maude and Cora.

             Dr. Matthews is a Mason, and a member of the G. A. R.; in politics he is a Republican.

[ Home ]