Claude Matthews (December 14, 1845 – August 28, 1898) was an American politician who served as the 23rd governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1893 to 1897. A farmer, he was nominated to prevent the loss of voters to the Populist Party. The Panic of 1893 occurred just before he took office, leading to severe economic problems during his term. Republicans took the Indiana General Assembly in the 1894 mid-term election and repudiated many of the Democrats' laws, leading to violence in the assembly. A popular party figure when he left office, he was a nominee to run for president at the 1896 Democratic National Convention, but lost his bid for the nomination to William Jennings Bryan. Early life Family and background Matthews was born in Bethel, Kentucky, on December 14, 1845, the son of Thomas A. and Eliza Ann Fletcher Matthews. His mother died when he was four months old, and his father sent him to be raised by an aunt in Kentucky. His father remarried in 1858, and he returned to live with them near Danville, Kentucky. He worked on the family's farm and attended Centre College and graduated in 1867. The same year he moved to Clinton, Indiana, where he met Martha Whitcomb, the daughter of former state governor James Whitcomb. The couple married on January 1, 1868, and had three children. Early political career Matthews purchased a farm and began to raise livestock and produce grain. He became prominent in the area because of his breeding program and the qualify cattle and horses he produced. In 1872 he was one of the founding members of the National Association of Breeders of Short-Horn Cattle. In 1876 he was elected to a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives and served a single term. In 1882 he ran for the state senate, but was defeated. In 1890, Democratic party leaders approached Matthews and encouraged him to run for Indiana Secretary of State. He was one of several men the party was grooming as a potential candidate for governor in the upcoming election. Democrats at that time were losing members to the Populist Party, and were seeking farmers to lead the party and help win back farming voters. He campaigned against Republican John B. Stoll and won the election by 20,000 votes. He continued in that office for two years before resigning to run for governor. He