Josiah was married 21 Aug 1863 in Greenville, Outagamie, WI to:


Children of Josiah and Fanny Matteson:

The Civil War pension records obtained at the National Archives provided us with: Josiah’s service as a Union soldier from 21 Oct 64 to 2 Jun 65, his assignment to Co. K, 17th Wisconsin Infantry, and death certificate. Josiah and Fanny were divorced 25 Oct 1869.

Although his last name is consistently spelled Mattison in his military records and headstone, his siblings and descendants used Matteson for the most part.

We got the day and month of birth from his death certificate. His year of birth, however, was reported inconsistently over the years. We inferred his year of birth from the ages of his siblings and order of appearance in his father’s will. The inferred year, 1832, is consistent with the 1850 census. His place of birth is inferred from his parents’ location at the time of his birth.

Another not-too-distant cousin, Sherry (Matteson) Martin, is the great-great-granddaughter of Josiah Mattison and Fanny Bemis. Sherry provided names and most of the pictures of the descendants of Josiah and Fanny. She also obtained a copy of their marriage record.

Josiah was married 20 Oct 1878 in Stephensville, Outagamie, WI to:


Children of Josiah and Rhoda Matteson:

The pension records also provided us with: Josiah and Rhoda’s marriage record; the names and birth dates of their four daughters; Josiah’s burial date and place; Rhoda’s parents’ names; and that her first husband, William Woodworth, was dead when she married Josiah.

Photo from the collection of Bonnie (Rettig) Street, granddaughter of Cora