The first bearing the family name of Mattoon of whom there is record was Philip Mattoon, who came to Deerfield, Massachusetts, from the east with Captain Turner and was with him in the famed Falls fight of 1676, King Philip's war. In 1678 he leased for eleven years all the lands which Major Pynchon had at Pocuntuck. For part pay he agreed to build and leave a house 30 x 20 feet, and a barn to be 14 x 24 x 48 feet. He came with the permanent settlement and built on No. 23. At his death the lot and house were appraised at 3 pounds. He married Sarah, daughter of John Hawks, September 10, 1677, and died December 30, 1696. Children:
- Margaret, born November 4, 1678; married, May 28, 1705, Joseph Alexander.
- Philip, born April 4, 1680.
- John, October 12, 1682, (see forward).
- Isaac, December 10, 1684; married Mary Partridge.
- Sarah, April 25, 1687, married Zachariah Field, captured by the Indians during the Deerfield massacre and returned in 1704.
- Eleazer, March 10, 1689; married, July 20, 1715, Elizabeth Boltwood.
- Gershom, December 25, 1690.
- Nathaniel, August 29, 1693; married, September 17, 1727, Hannah Hubbard.
- Ebenezer, January 30, 1695; died April 30, 1716.
- Mary, July 25, 1697; married, September 5, 1713, John Miller.
(II) John, son of Philip and Sarah (Hawks) Mattoon, was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, October 12, 1682. He married, October 20, 1706, Jerusha, daughter of David Hall, of that place. Children:
- Eleazer, born December 13, 1707;
- Gershom, April 4, 1710;
- Ebenezer, April 4, 1713, died May 27, 1814;
- David, born 1715, (see forward);
- Isaac;
- Nathaniel, married, February 17, 1745, Mary Curtis;
- Sarah;
- Mary;
- John, born January, 1727, died January 6, 1808.
(III) David, son of John and Jerusha (Hall) Mattoon, was born in 1715, and died April 6, 1775. He married, in 1742, Phoebe Curtis, of Wallingford, Connecticut. He removed with his family to Watertown, Connecticut, between the years 1763 and 1767. Children:
- Esther, born November 21, 1743, died March 10, 1769.
- Charles, born December 12, 1745, died December 24, 1814; married, November 8, 1769, Frances Martindale.
- David, born January 30, 1747; died June 4, 1768.
- Phoebe, born January 15, 1749; died December 3, 1755.
- Eunice, born March 19, 1751; died July 18, 1777.
- Seth, born March 21, 1753.
- Amasa, born May 30, 1755; died December 8, 1756.
- Amasa, born January 2, 1758, (see forward).
- Phoebe, born April 1, 1760.
- John, born June 27, 1763; died December 7, 1826; married, August 2, 1784, Sarah Guernsey.
(IV) Amasa, son of David and Phoebe (Curtis) Mattoon, was born at Wallingford, Connecticut, January 2, 1758, and died May 11, 1829. He removed with his father's family between 1763 and 1768 from Wallingford to Watertown, Connecticut, where he afterwards resided. He was a revolutionary fighter, belonging to Colonel Hooker's regiment, Captain Curtis' company, stationed at Peekskill Barracks No. 3, New York state, service from April 5 to May 27, 1777. By occupation he was a farmer. May 25, 1780, he married Elizabeth Dayton, of Watertown, Connecticut. Children:
- William, born December 23, 1780 (see forward).
- Curtis, born March 9, 1782; died June 3, 1856; married Anna McBean.
- Betsy, born June 18, 1783; died December 6, 1824; married, March 9, 1803, ————.
- Bethel, born December 9, 1784; married, February 29, 1809, Hannah Williams.
- David, born May 22, 1787; died June 17, 1888.
- Electa, born October 9, 1792; died February 14, 1879; married, October, 1844, Nathan Clark.
- David, born September 2, 1794; died November 6, 1868; married, December 8, 1818, Nancy P. Hickox.
(V) William, son of Amasa and Elizabeth (Dayton) Mattoon, was born in Watertown, Connecticut, December 23, 1780, and died July 12, 1817. He removed to Vienna, New York, was drafted and served in the war of 1812. He married, August 29, 1805, Sarah Hungerford, of Watertown, Connecticut. Children:
- Elizabeth, born June 2, 1807; died September 13, 1867; married William Benedict.
- Plyment, born September 17, 1809.
- Dayton, born August 11, 1811; died October 15, 1888; married, February 14, 1831, Ruhannah Wakeman.
- William, born May 10, 1814; died January 12, 1879; married, May 2, 1843, Isabelle Dawson.
- David, born March 12, 1816, (see forward).
(VI) David (2), son of William and Sarah (Hungerford) Mattoon, was born in Vienna, Oneida county, New York, March 12, 1816, and died at Albany, April 22, 1890. He was reared upon his father's extensive farm, attending the schools of the locality, and completed his education at the academy in Vernon, Oneida county, New York. He engaged both in farming and teaching school in his native town until in 1843 he removed to Albany, where until 1847 he was employed in the lumber yard of Robert Whitlock. During that year the firm of Griswold, Mattoon & Co. was formed, consisting of Aaron Griswold, David Mattoon and a special partner. The firm opened a lumber yard at the foot of Orange street, Albany, and shortly established a large and increasing business. Three years later the special partner died and the style of the firm became Griswold & Mattoon. Mr. Griswold's health failing, Mr. Mattoon became sole owner of the extensive lumber business in 1857 and so continued until 1868, when the firm of Mattoon & Robinson was organized. In 1871 the business was removed to No. 105 Water street, where it was conducted until 1883, when offices were established at No. 112 Water street, and not only the new but likewise the old yards were necessary for the conduct of the growing business, the firm making a reputation known widely through the New England states and the Hudson valley. Mr. Mattoon was signally successful, bringing to bear upon the methods of his firm an unswerving integrity and an enlightened business intelligence. It is worthy of mention that throughout some forty years of active commercial life, in which a number of severe financial crises brought ruin to important monetary interests, his "paper" never went to protest, and not in a single instance had he ever asked for an extension of time or any sort of leniency. Formerly a Democrat, at the outbreak of the civil war he espoused the cause of the Republican party, and ever since was an ardent advocate of the principles actuating its founders and early leaders. His family were members of the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Albany, and Mr. Mattoon was a regular attendant upon the services. He married, at Vienna, New York, January 14, 1840, Sarah Ransom; born October 31, 1817, died at Albany, July 27, 1877, daughter of Dr. Whitman V. and ———— (Parker) Ransom. Her mother was a daughter of Eri Parker and Joanna Stoddard, the latter being a daughter of John Stoddard, son of Eliakim Stoddard, son of Anthony Stoddard, son of Solomon Stoddard, son of Anthony Stoddard, who emigrated from England and came to Boston about 1639. Children:
- Whitman Valentine Ransom, born August 27, 1842; early in the rebellion enlisted as private in Company F, 44th New York Volunteer Regiment, and July 1, 1862, was killed at Malvern Hill, in a charge on the rebel battery; no tidings of his burial were ever received at his home.
- Marion Aurelia, born at Albany, September 6, 1844; married James Charles Fitzpatrick, (q. v.).
- Theodore Parker, born at Albany, February 2, 1848; died there, July 21, 1848.
- Harriet Electa, born at Albany, August 11, 1855; married Charles A. Phelps, of Camden, Oneida County, New York; children: Howard Mattoon and Charles Rankin Phelps.
James Charles Fitzpatrick, son of John Fitzpatrick, a dry goods merchant of Eighth avenue, New York City, and his wife, Johanna Tracy, was born November 14, 1841, in New York City. He was educated in the public schools of that city, and in 1859 was graduated from the College of the City of New York, receiving the degree of A.B., attaining high honors and standing at the head of his class in both Latin and Greek. The following year he received the degree of A.M. from the same institution. He was a member of the Greek letter fraternity Theta Delta Chi, and was one of the most popular.
Mr. Fitzpatrick began his professional career as a writer of short stories, the major part of his earlier efforts being contributions which he sold to the New York Ledger. In 1861 he became one of the staff of the New York Herald, which was a line which suited his inclination since the time he received his earliest training, and in which he in time was well known as he advanced. Upon the breaking out of the civil war he was assigned to field duty as a war correspondent, and during most of that serious conflict was attached to the Ninth Army Corps. For a time he was aide-de-camp, with the rank of captain, to General Burnside, who commanded the Ninth Corps. He reported, among other campaigns, the sieges of Vicksburg and Knoxville, the battle of Fredericksburg, both attacks on Fort Fisher, and the engagements in the Wilderness. In the latter campaign he was for a short time a prisoner in the hands of the Confederates. During the war he also contributed drawings of incidents in the field to Leslie's Weekly, which made a specialty of illustrating the entire conflict as thoroughly as possible, and these drawings by him have recently been reproduced in a set of two large volumes because of their great historical value to students of the civil war. He was thus, it may easily be seen, one of the most versatile and useful of those who recorded the incidents of the war, and practically were making history.
In 1867 he was sent to Albany to report the proceedings of the constitutional convention of that year, held in the state capitol. He likewise represented The Herald in the legislatures of 1867-68. In 1870 he was made financial editor and subsequently city editor, manager of the newly founded New York Evening Telegram, and correspondent in charge of the Herald Bureau in the city of Washington. In 1881 ill health caused him to resign from the Herald staff, and although for two short periods he was financial editor of the New York Star and of the Brooklyn Citizen, the greater part of his writings in later life consisted of contributions of a miscellaneous nature to many periodicals and newspapers. In politics he was a Republican. He died in Brooklyn, New York, July 18, 1901.
Mr. Fitzpatrick married, at Albany, August 4, 1869, Marion Aurelia Mattoon. Children:
- Mary Ransom, born in Brooklyn, New York, May 1, 1870; graduated at Cornell University; in 1910, principal of public school No. 34, Brooklyn.
- David Mattoon, born at Brooklyn, New York, July 6, 1874; by act of legislature changed name to David Mattoon; married, at Albany, December 22, 1906, Jennie E. Beckford.
- John Tracy, born at Washington, D. C., January 6, 1878; graduated from Cornell University; admitted to bar of New York state, 1903; assistant legislative reference librarian at state capitol, Albany.
- James Stoddard, born at Washington, D. C., April 4, 1879; married, at Albany, June 25, 1900, Laura P. Hefferman; children:
- Paul Mattoon, born April 12, 1901;
- Laura Marion, July 14, 1904;
- Cornelius Stoddard, September 13, 1905.
- Jesse Arnette, born at Brooklyn, New York, August 5, 1881; married, January 1, 1901, Florence Broderick; civil engineer; child:
- Florence Marion, born February 1, 1902.
- Marion Aurelia, born at Brooklyn, New York, December 28, 1884; graduate of Cornell University, 1907; teacher in high school, Hornell, New York.
- Sarah Hungerford, born at Brooklyn, New York, September 7, 1887.