Loderick Matthews –
The Name That Binds
William A. Matthews, Jr. Compiler
Email: [email protected]
Fourth EDITION
Copyright ã 1963, 1994,1999 By William A. Matthews, Jr. Published in the United States of America
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this book may reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, except for brief passages included in a review appearing in a newspaper or magazine.
Dedication
I can never repay the legacy provided by my English 329 class taken in the
spring of 1963 and taught by Professor John Q. Anderson. Because of this class, I had to learn more about my family history and my grandfather in particular. One story lead to another and within a very short time I met three cousins who provided a wealth of information. Thus, this work is dedicated to these individuals:Professor John Q. Anderson
My Aunts, Mildred Steele and Mamie Lambert
Mrs. T.J. (Enid) Bolling, of Edna, Jackson Co. Texas, who introduced me to Loderick's picture, Mary's Bible and opened the way to:
Mrs. Carl Moore of Baytown, Texas, who opened her home, shared her information and introduced me to Mrs. Maynard H. Simmons of El Dorado, Arkansas, a descendent of Loderick Matthews and who did the major part of the research.
In particular, I was pleased to find that Mrs. Moore still remembered a young Texas Aggie, almost 30 years after the fact. It is also with sadness, that these are no longer here to share stories about this man with the unique name.
William Allen Matthews, Jr.
December 30, 1992
The information for this book was gathered from many sources, including:
The children of John Garrett Matthews and his autobiography
Plus the following cousins:
Publications and books as listed
Several "cousins" who are also researching the descendants of Hugh and Martha Matthews.
This collection of information began as a result of a class assignment in the spring of 1963. I was taking a course in Folk Music and Literature at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. We had to do a research paper that spring on some topic related to the course. At some time previous I had read a copy of my Grandfather's life story.
Since he had been a cowboy in his younger days, I was given permission to do a report on him. The professor required that additional materials be added to the existing record by interviewing my Aunts and Uncles. It was during one of these interviews that I heard about a distant cousin that had some family materials, including a painting that would be of interest. During the spring break of 1963, I went to Edna Texas and then to Baytown. By the end of three days, almost all of the information used in this document was given to me.
Additional material and information has been added as a result of newer books, additional research and finding more cousins via the Internet.
The best way to see the story of Loderick unfold, is to read the first part of a letter from Mrs. M. H. Simmons to Mrs. Carl Moore, written on Sunday night, March 18th, 1962 as well as additional letters furnished by Mrs. Carl Moore.
"Your interesting letter came the first of the week - and when I looked at your name on the envelope and the Baytown postmark I couldn't imagine who you could be. Of course I was delighted to hear from you. My father, who died in 1945, had told me of meeting a number of people in his hardware store business, who at different times had told him of some of our relations in Jackson Co., Texas. I had hoped through the years that I would have the privilege of knowing some of my Texas family at some time or other.
I have spent a good deal of time, effort and money on this puzzle. I started in the early 30's, or even earlier, to work out the family record. I've visited the Georgia Archives in Atlanta twice and spent several days each time trying to get all the information I could. Since so many records were burned during the War Between the States it is difficult. I visited cousin Mattie Brooks in Thomaston in Upson County last year (the same day I also drove to Dalton to visit cousin Emmie M. Higgins) and Cousin Mattie allowed me to bring home her old Upson Co. History, which was most interesting. It gave me a lot of dates and bits of history of the family but the family did not live in that county very many years. They had formerly lived in Twiggs Co."
The letter continued with some information about Benjamin and Mary Matthews plus some more personal information.
Before the letter from Mrs. Simmons, initial information came to Mrs. Moore from other sources, sometimes in a round about way. One letter begins by stating that there was not a Loderick in their direct line, but that there was a half-brother with that name. That writer also provided another contact. The second contact, while providing quite a bit of information, would also tie one side of the family to a "half-brother named Loderick" and prompted Mrs. Moore to write to Mrs. Simmons.
As of 1999, there are more than ten generations of Matthews represented in this story, starting in the late 1600s. The name Loderick appears in at least five of these generations.
While Mrs. Simmons believed that the family might be related to Samuel Matthews, the last governor of Virginia prior to the American Revolution, other researchers have shown the lineage of Governor Matthews that removes this possibility.
This story of this part of the Matthews family begins in Virginia and follows the generations as the family migrates through North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and ends up in Texana (Jackson County), Texas. Different members remained behind in various locations. As additional information is gathered about the children of Loderick and Mary, it is evident that their descendants are scattered across the United States. For many years, based on copies of correspondence between researchers in the early 1960s, it was believed that the first generation was John and Ann of Culpepper Co., VA. However, access to "old" information has changed that belief. Thus the start of the story has changed. With this change in historical perspective, a change also is made in the number of wives had by the 3rd generation Benjamin from three to two.
The First Generation in the New World
The story of Hugh Matthews, his son Benjamin and grandson Benjamin is told in the "Hugh to Benjamins" document.
Loderick and Mary Sauls
The story on Loderick and Mary is told in the "Loderick Matthews" document. It also covers the older children.
Erastus Allen and Emily Ophelia Matthews
The story on Erastus Allen is told in the "EA Matthews" document.
John Garrett Matthews, an Autobiography
This is the story of John Garrett Matthews as recorded by his wife Mary. It is described in the "John Garrett Matthews" document.
The Garrett Family
This section was provided by Bob McBride, of Corpus Christi, TX and is the story of the Garretts. E.A.’s wife was a Garrett.