Matthew Gardner was born December 5, 1790 in Stephentown, Renssselaer county, New York to Benjamin Gardner and Lucy (Hawks) Gardner. He was the fourth of ten children. When he was 8 years old, he was hired out, but then 2 years later, his family moved to Ohio. His father traded 2 horses for 100 acres of land in Brown county, Ohio. They then built a cabin where they lived. In 1809, Matthew left home and went to Cincinnati, where he hired on a flatboat to New Orleans. While in New Orleans he came down with a fever, and during that time was converted and became a devout Christian. He made it home in October 1809, and started studying to enter the ministry. He was baptized about a year later in October 1810. Rev. Gardner was the first pastors at one of the early Christian churches in southern Ohio. He was also a carpenter at this time.
On May 20, 1813 he married Miss Sally Beasley. In July 1813 he enlisted as a soldier for a short time. In 1813 Rev. Gardner purchased 100 acres of land from his father-in-law and moved in January 1814. He lived there for 60 years. There he operated his farm and was a Christian minister. He was a pleasing speaker and singer, "robust" at 6 feet 1 inch and about 200 pounds.
In March 1818 Rev. Gardner was ordained, and he organized several churches. Later at his own expense he started his own Christian paper, called "The Christian Union". It was a monthly publication similar to a magazine; the first issue was May 1841. He preached the gospel for 63 years.
During this time, Rev Gardner and his wife Sally became the parents of 11 children: (1) Barton Beasley (born 1814), (2) Sallie Ann (born 1815), (3)George Washington (born 1818), (4) Jeptha Monroe (born 1820), (5) Lucinda Elisa (born 1823), (6) Louisa Maria (born 1825), (7) Julia E. (1828), (8) James A. (1830), (9) Mary Jane (born 1833), (10) John W. (1836) and (11) Elnathan Matthew (born 1839). They were married a little over 56 years, until Sally's death in 1869. Rev. Gardner passed away about 4 years later, on October 10, 1873 at the age of 82 years and about 10 months. He is buried in Shinkle Ridge Cemetery, in Higginsport, Brown county, Ohio.
I have found Rev. Gardner in the following censuses, 1820, 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870. There is a gravestone photo on Findagrave taken by a volunteer. Much is written about him and one of his sons in a book on Google books "History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio". There is a photo of him in one book, which I found on Ancestry.
