A Life Reconstructed from Records
Matthew McGarvey was born in Washington County, Maryland, with his birth year most often aligning to 1802 or 1803. His soldiers' home history sheet gives Washington County, Maryland, as his birthplace, the 1850 census places his age at 48, the 1870 census places his age at 66, and his grave registration card gives a birth year of 1802 Soldiers' Home Record 1850 Census 1870 Census Graves Registration Card.
A probable early Ohio appearance comes in the 1830 census of Oxford Township, Coshocton County, where a Mathew McGarvy, aged 20 to 29, appears living alone. That entry matches Matthew's likely age and life stage five years before his documented marriage 1830 Census.
By March 1, 1835, Matthew had settled in Lawrence County, Ohio, where he married Eunice Grimes before Justice of the Peace John W. Chaffin Marriage Record. In the 1850 census, the family appears in Elizabeth Township, Lawrence County, with Matthew, Eunice, daughter Mary, son Hamilton, and daughter Elizabeth all under one roof 1850 Census.
His life also carried a long military story. An army enlistment register shows that he enlisted in the regular U.S. Army on June 29, 1841, for a five year term and was discharged on June 29, 1846, at Jefferson Barracks on expiration of service Army Enlistment Register. During the Civil War, the strongest and most extensive record trail identifies him in Company A, 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Fold3-derived compiled military records, the pension index, and later reference envelopes all support that service, with rank progression from private to sergeant CMSR Index Pension Index WV Cavalry Envelope.
Some later burial documents also preserve an earlier infantry memory, naming Matthew as a private in the 18th Ohio Infantry in an April to August 1861 service window. Taken together, the surviving paperwork suggests that he likely had an early infantry enlistment before or alongside his later, better documented cavalry service Graves Registration Card Headstone Receipt.
In later life, the 1860 census places Eunice McGarvey and Hamilton McGarvey in the household of Barney Dirker in Lawrence County, Ohio, strongly suggesting that Matthew's daughter Mary had married into that household 1860 Census. By 1870, Matthew appears in Estill County, Kentucky, in the Smothers household, showing that he spent part of his later life away from Ohio 1870 Census.
In 1882, he filed invalid pension application no. 448,081 based on his Civil War service. A soldiers' home history sheet later recorded him as a widower, listed his son Hamilton McGarvey as nearest relative, and recorded his death on July 7, 1887. Burial records, a grave registration card, a headstone receipt, and his surviving government marker all place him in the Dayton military cemetery system, today Dayton National Cemetery Pension Index Soldiers' Home Record Burial Record Graves Registration Card Headstone Receipt Grave Photo.
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