Receipt of payment from Michael Reed for a county tax in the amount of twelve dollars.

Henry Matthews (1799-18?) was a Methodist circuit rider, schoolteacher, and practicing physician from Ohio, who made his way from Ohio, through the Illinois Territory, to Texas. Primarily a circuit-riding preacher and schoolteacher in his early days in Ohio, Matthews practiced medicine more formally in the 1830s and 1840s in San Felipe, Texas, where Matthews and his wife Miranda eventually settled. The latter two-thirds are a private diary, but many of the entries are made over printed finance notes, for which the book was originally printed. The initial third have some edits made to the printed sections but do not appear to be used as intended. Entries range from weather reports to crop and garden reports to mentions of Matthews’ medical practice in San Felipe. There are some loose papers in this volume, including one signed, “Miranda Matthews,” regarding a girl named Mary.