Mathews County was named for Thomas Mathews, of Norfolk, the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1790 when the county was formed from Gloucester County.

Sally Tompkins was born in Poplar Grove, Mathews County, Va., 9 Nov. 1833. Tompkins moved to Richmond following the death of her father and used her inheritance to open a private hospital in the home of Judge John Robertson at 3rd Street and Main Street in Richmond soon after the first battle of Manassas on 21 July 1861. The popular story is that when orders were given to the effect that all military hospitals must be run only by military personnel, Jefferson Davis appointed Tompkins a captain of cavalry to ensure that she continued to run the hospital. She received her commission in 9 September 1861, before the Confederate government began an innovative hospital reorganization program and closed most private hospitals in Richmond to relieve overcrowding in the city. Tompkins was the only commissioned woman in the Confederate Army. Sally Tompkins died on 25 July 1916 in Richmond, Virginia. She was buried with full military honors.

Robertson Hospital treated 1,333 Confederate soldiers from its opening until the last patients were discharged 13 June 1865. Only 73 deaths were recorded at Robertson Hospital during its existence.

During the Grand Confederate Reunion held in Richmond from 30 June to 2 July 1896, Sally Tompkins rented a house and provided food and drink for former patients of Robertson Hospital and their families.

Most records were burned in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War.