Amanda Tata Allen	John Makemie Wilson Matthews

    Amanda Tate Allen was the youngest child of John Allen and his wife Ann (Nancy) Caroline Morton. She was born 3 December 1846 at the family's plantation home outside Whiteville, Hardeman County, TN.
    Amanda was about four years old when her mother died and 14 when her stepmother died and would have been the only mother that Amanda remembered.
    The war was over in the Spring of 1865. Ethel Condon recorded this story about Amanda; "Although Grandma was seventeen years old when the war ended, she was inexperienced in the kitchen. I have heard her laugh about her father asking her to cook some beans one day after the Negro slaves had all left. She built a fire in the cook stove; put some dry beans in the iron pot- without any water and cooked them! She had a lot to learn about household chores when taking over the housework for her father."
    Amanda Tate Allen married John Makemie Wilson Matthews 25 Feb 1873 at the bride's home by Rev. William M. Norment, pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. John was 40 and Amanda was 26. The couple moved in with Amanda's father according to family tradition.
The following history is of John and his family before his marriage to Amanda.
    John Makemie Wilson Matthews was born 11 Sep 1832 on his father's plantation near Statesville, Iredell County, NC. He was the youngest child of Alexander Sloan Matthews and his wife, Elizabeth Hall. John was only four when the family moved to West Tennessee in 1836.

After John & Amanda Matthews marriage

    We are fortunate that many stories have been handed down about John and Amanda. Their son Sloan wrote extensively of his childhood, and their granddaughter, Ethel Barnett Condon, wrote down many of the stories she heard growing up as well as many of her memories of her grandmother, Amanda. This is one of them:
    "Grandpa (John) operated a mercantile store in Whiteville, riding to and from the store on horseback each day. For ordinary daily travel to town or to visit friends Grandma rode horseback (sidesaddle, of course) I have.heard Grandma tell of how dangerous it was for a girl or woman to travel alone for several years after the War Between the States was over because of roving freed men throughout the South, so she built a pocket into the seam of her voluminous skirts in which she carried a small six shooter for self protection. She laughingly told of being in Whiteville one day and left for home quite late, but before Grandpa was ready to leave his store. When he realized how late it was, he hastily closed the store and rode after her but was unable to catch up with her for when she heard the sound of hoof beats behind her and being unable to identify the rider in the semi-darkness of twilight, she put her heels to her horse and outran him. I can visualize that race!"
    In the December after the wedding, John bought a 174.8-acre tract from the minister who married them. It joined John Allen's land on the southeast. The price was $1800; John paid $900 down, and the other $900 was due by December 25, 1881.
    A little over two years later, he bought an additional 135. acres which joined John Allen's land on the northwest. The price was $2720; John paid $300 cash, gave $1500 in "cash notes upon other parties", and the other $920 was due by 20 Feb 1876.
    The money owed to him from "other parties" could have been from operating the store. Ethel Condon wrote:
    "Times were hard after the War and running a store was not a profitable business. Grandpa Matthews could not say "no" to a friend and neighbor whose family needed groceries and clothing when asked to give credit."
    On the 1880 U. S. Census, John Matthews listed his occupation as a farmer rather than a merchant; however, in John's obituary his wife said he ran the store until they moved to Texas in 1881.
    While times were hard in the South, the cattle business was booming in Texas, and many Southerners were making new lives for themselves as cattle ranchers. There was a strong market in the East for beef, land was cheap, cattle and horses were free for the catching, and the railroads were pushing through Texas and making travel and shipping easier.
    John and Amanda decided to move to Texas. In addition to the reasons enumerated above, the precipitating factor may have been that their daughter, Tate, had a sinus condition that was affecting her eyesight and her doctor said she needed to live in a dryer climate.
    While thumbing through some old magazines in the Fayette County, TN, Library, I ran across the comment, "We continue to hear from many of our families who moved to Coleman County, Texas ..."
    Family tradition says that John went alone to Texas to have a look. We know that in 1880 John put his Tennessee land up for sale in preparation for the move.
    The 1880 Census showed that Amanda's father, John Allen, was living in a separate house next door with an 18-year-old black man also named John. Since John Allen was in his eighties, this young man must have been caring for him.
    In December 1880 and January 1881, John Matthews and John Allen both sold land in preparation for the move.
    John Matthews sold all of his Tennessee land before leaving the state. On December 25, 1880, he sold a 144.8 acre-tract adjoining John Allen's plantation for $1200 ($800 in notes due within two years). In January of 1881, he sold 62 acres in Fayette County from his father's estate plus the 135.7 tract next to John Allen. He received a total of $914.75 for the land and accepted $1600 in notes due within three years. Several years before, in November, 1877, he had received $3000 from selling 30 acres off one corner of the William Normen, tract.
    John Allen sold off 290 acres for a total of $4100 in January, 1881. He died at the age of 86 sometime between 12 Jan when he signed a deed and 7 February 1881 when his will was recorded.
    When John and Amanda moved to Texas, they had been married a little over eight years and four children had been born in Tennessee:
1. Mary Tate Matthews had been born on March 31, 1874.
2. Joe Allen Matthews was born March 2, 1876.
3. Knox Matthews was believed to be the third child,born about 1878, and died before the family moved to Texas.
4. Sloan Alexander Matthews was born May 31, 1880.
    Three young male relatives came to Texas with the Matthews; Euclid Morton Bond (called Uke) was the 21-year-old son of John's sister Malvena, J. Walter Allen, age 23, and his brother Orion Allen, age 21, were the sons of Amanda's deceased brother John.
    "Orion Allen stayed with the Matthews family for a few years but finally settled near San Angelo where he married and reared a family . Walter did not stay in Texas very long but soon returned to Tennessee. (This is the J. Walter Allen who is mentioned in the Introduction.)"
    Coleman was on the western frontier of settlements when John and Amanda arrived in May, 1881. The last Comanche Indian raid of any consequence was in September, 1976. The first land purchased in the county had been bought by Colonel William Day in 1879. He was considered very foolish to purchase land when it could be grazed for free.
    The Matthews were busy during their first months in Texas. They moved into Coleman City, joined the Presbyterian church, bought land for both speculation and for their ranch, registered their brand, and began work on their ranch house.
    Amanda bought the first land that the Matthews owned in Coleman Co. On 11 July, 188l, she bought Block 30 on the west side of Commercial Avenue (250 feet square), plus two 25-acre "farm lots." She sold all this property 22 months later and almost doubled her investment.
    In August and September, 1881, John bought four pieces of land which totaled 1552.3 acres, then in December he bought another 160-acre tract. That brought his ranch land up to 1712.3 contiguous acres by the end of the year.
    The brand that he registered on 5 September 1881 was the initials JMM* branded on the left hip, with both ear tips clipped off and a notch under each ear.
    The last three children are; Claude Vincent was born in 1884, Morton Hugh, in 1886, and Walter Len in 1889.
    Each of her children were given the surname of some earlier family member, with the exception of Walter, as far as we know.
    Schooling was a problem on the frontier and John and Amanda were both from families who obviously had strong beliefs about the value of education for their children.  Tate was the only child who was school age when they arrived in Texas. There were schools at Coleman City and at Buffalo Gap, 40 miles northwest of Coleman, and the Matthews decided Tate should attend the school at Buffalo Gap.
    John had suffered terribly during the Civil War and was said to have never fully recovered. He was not expected to live to an advanced age, and by January, 1890, he may have been failing. That's when he decided it was time to write his will. John died 21 September, 1890, at the age of 58.

Amanda Tate Allen Matthews wrote the following lovely obituary for her husband which was printed in the Coleman paper.

Died near Vale, Coleman County Texas, Sunday, September 21, 1890.
    Aged 58 years and 11 days. Deceased was born near Statesville, North Carolina, September 11, 1832. He was of old Revolutionary stock. His grandfather, Messendine Matthews was a Presbyterian minister and fled from the persecution of England in the early days of the colonies. In North Carolina he directed his energies and eloquence in the cause of civil and religious liberty, and served as Major during the war of the Revolution, and when peace was established he served his people in the State Legislature fourteen years.
    The parents of deceased moved to West Tennessee when he was a child of four years. In due course of time he was sent back to his native state and received a college education at Davidson College. Returning to Tennessee, he entered the Lebanon Law School and after a full course of study, dropped the practice of his profession as uncongenial and adopted that of teaching, which occupation he followed until the beginning of the Civil War.
    He espoused the cause of the South and was elected Lieutenant of Company D, 9th Tennessee Infantry. In the Battle of Perryville he was severely wounded and taken prisoner and remained in the hands of the Federal Army for several months until exchanged, at which time, though weak and sufferings and leaning on a crutch, he reported for duty. As soon as he was able he took command of his company for although but a Lieutenant by rank, so conspicuous was he for gallantry that his men called him Captain and always wanted him to lead them.
    When the war closed his health was broken from wounds and suffering. He essayed to follow his chosen profession of teaching, but being too enfeebled, he was obliged to relinquish it for mercentile purposes which he continued until his removal to Coleman County, Texas, where he settled in 1881 and lived the quiet life of farmer and stock raiser until his death.
    Deceased was of the highest type of a christian gentleman. He was chaste and intelligent in conversation, modest and courtly in the social circle, hospitable to strangers, faithful to friends, forgiving to enemies and strictly truthful and honest in all his dealings. A devoted husband, a firm but loving father and a kind neighbor. He is sadly missed from the family circle and the community at large.
    As a christian, he was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, which office he held with consistency for several years. He united himself to the church at Old Bethany, Tennessee soon after his return from college, and when he came to Texas he placed his membership in the church at Coleman.
    It will be gratifying to all Christians, and especially to his friends to learn that our dear brother in Christ passed away with perfect resignation to the Will of God and in full assurance of entering those mansions prepared for his people.
    Deceased married Miss Amanda Tate Allen at her old home in Tennessee, February 26, 1873, who with six children survive to mourn the sad affliction. One little boy has gone before, and will welcome his father in the heavenly Kingdom.
    Amanda was the Executrix and sole heir of her husband's estate. He left her over 1700 acres of land, 50 horses, 160 cattle, and "about $8000 worth of notes (receivable) now out of date." He also left her six minor children.

Amanda was 43 when John died in September, 1890. Their children were the following ages:

Mary Tate (16), Allen (14), Sloan (10), Claude (6), Morton (4), Walter (1).

Soon after John died, Tate was sent to a girl's finishing school at Lebanon, Tennessee, to complete her schooling.

Allen was the second oldest child and the oldest son. At the age of 14 he became the "man" of the family. Allen had apparently become a skilled cowboy, and Sloan looked up to him.

Tate returned home from Tennessee, and married Rial Barnett, Jr. "one Sunday morning after church services on December 18, 1892, in the Spring Creek schoolhouse..." His father was Judge Rial Barnett, and Rial Jr. was later elected to a judgeship at Fort Davis.

Tate's first child was a boy named Rial Allen. Her second child and first daughter was Ethel Tate, whom we have quoted extensively in this book. She was born in early 1896, and knew her grandmother Amanda Matthews for the first 10 years of her life. The following paragraphs are from her:

"Young ladies were expected to be proficient in at least some of the accomplishments such as music, art, and fancy needlework. Grandma Matthews had been well trained in all three and Mama had the benefit of her teaching. I well remember the many beautiful oil paintings that hung on the walls of her home, both landscapes and portraits of members of her family. was a life- sized portrait of Mama at seven years of age--her golden curls framing her,face and her litt skirt reaching about halfway between her knees and ankles with the pantalettes with embroidered ruffles showing below ...

"During the years, Grandma made an effort to improve her herd of cattle by buying better bulls; some of which she sent to Missouri for. I remember one roan colored Durham cow that was turned over to Papa and Mama for a milch cow because she was a better milker than the Hereford cows, to furnish milk and butter for their family of children."

"Seeing that we had plenty of milk and butter was not the only thing for which we were indebted to Grandma, for it was she who saw to it that pictures of the children were taken a few months after the birth of each child -- or after the second child, so in later years, we had a pictorial story of the growing family."

"Although we lived about an equal distance from both grandmothers ... it was to Grandma Matthews' house that we most enjoyed going. We lumped Mama's four brothers into one endearing term--that of "Uncle Boys" rather than go to the trouble of naming each one individually, for we always thought of them collectively. Grandma had been in rather poor health since the birth of her youngest son, Walter, so the boys did all the housekeeping, cooking, etc. No trouble was too great to go to for "Tate's children." They could see us coming for a half mile; the two youngest in our little red wagon with Mama and the "middle group" bringing up the rear. By the time we got there "uncle boys" had a fire going in the cook stove, a cake stirred up in a dish pan and spoons ready for each of us to "clean up the pan," which we soon did. In the Fall and Winter there were always lots of pecans for us to crack on the large stone hearth in front of the fireplace in Grandma's room, with Grandma looking on lovingly from her bed or a comfortable rocking chair. I remember her as a very sedate, kind and dignified person with never a severe expression on her face or in her tone of voice. On a Saturday afternoon in Summer Papa would often bring a large piece of ice home from Talpa and freezer after freezer of ice cream would be made in the yard west of the house ..."

"The "English" in Grandma came out in her love for her cup of hot tea. She did not believe that tea was good for children, however, and when we begged for a cup she would mix a cup of hot water with milk and color it with a little tea; put in a little sugar and call it 'teakettle tea." Later, after we started to school, we never left home on a cold morning without our cup of teakettle tea."

"Although Grandma's main source of income was from cattle, her favorite meat was mutton contrary to the taste of most ranchmen. I remember hearing her tell of men who would travel through the country, kill a beef regardless of to whom it belonged, cut a large chunk out of a hindquarter and leave the balance on the ground for the wolves.

"We kids loved to be at Grandma's in the evening... and have (Uncle Boys) chase and catch lightning bugs with us, although, being the teenager boys they were, their favorite sport was to rope us as we ran by them. Their fun came to an abrupt end one afternoon when Uncle Sloan's rope settled on my shoulders and I failed to stop as he expected me to and consequently, got a bad rope burn on my neck. This was the only time I remember seeing her show anger. She gave him a good lecture on how to play with little girls."

"We older children gathered buffalo horns out in Grandma's pasture, especially near the "buffalo wallows" which in times past had been the bedding grounds of great herds of buffalo. The large depressions formed by them afterwards became watering places; sometimes being deepened to form surface tanks, holding water for the rancher's cattle"

When John and Amanda arrived in Coleman County in 1881 and began ranching, everyone ran longhorn cattle and the native grasses grew "as high as the belly of a horse." The land eventually became overgrazed, and where it used to support one cow per three acres, it now requires 15-25 acres to support a cow.

Once the range was fenced and the railroad provided an easy way to get cattle to market, short horn beef cattle were imported to improve the stock. Amanda was one of the ranchers who imported bulls from back East.

"(After 1900) the county went into a colonization period in which the large ranches were gradually broken up and sold out in small farm homesteads. During this period train loads of emigrants came into Coleman County to purchase farm homes and grow cotton."

I know from Sloan's writing and from listening to my granddaddy, Walter Matthews, that both of these Matthews boys loved ranching and had no interest at all in becoming farmers. Claude and Morton probably felt the same way.

Ethel told a wonderful story which illustrates their feelings: "After Papa and Mama were married, he tried to help the boys farm, but gave it up a impossible when he caught them trying to pick cotton from horseback!"

By the early 1900's, Sloan was in his twenties and had left home. His memoirs tell about a lot of cattle drives he was on and about breaking broncs for different ranchers. By going farther West, Sloan had found ranching country again.

The Matthews brothers wanted to move farther west in Texas, and their mother agreed to make the change. On June 27, 1905, Amanda wrote her will. Amanda Matthews subdivided the bulk of her ranch into 19 parcels and advertised them in newspapers back East. The plat of the "Mrs. A. T. Matthews Subdivision" was recorded 14 February 1906. By April, she had sold 5 of the 19 parcels.

In the Spring of 1906, Claude, Morton and Walter Matthews were at home, and Sloan was in Garden City, Texas, where his mother owned some cattle. He received word that she was seriously ill with pneumonia and rushed home.

Amanda Tate Allen Matthews died on 7 April 1906 at the age of 56 and is buried next to her husband in the Talpa Cemetery.

In Amanda's will, she specified that the children's inheritance not be divided up until Walter had reached age 21. So the heirs 11eased most of the land that they were to receive, and the boys went West.

Walter later said that he and his brothers left Talpa en route west in the Spring of 1906. They stopped and worked for a year in the Garden City area where his mother had owned some livestock before going on into the Glass Mountains in Pecos and Brewster counties where they worked as cowhands.

A man named George Andrew Yaeger had contracted for Blocks 19 2, and 3 of Amanda's 19-block subdivision several months before she died but the sale was not yet final. The Matthews house was on this land, and Mr. Yaeger moved his wife Emily, his 10 minor children, and his married son John and his wife into the Matthews house. They lived there from 1906 to 1909 then moved to Oklahoma. (John Yaeger returned to Dalton, GA.) This passage is important to our family history because Claude Matthews married Fannie Yaeger and Walter Matthews married Flora Yaeger.

In 1907, when Walter was 18, the estate was settled. Amanda's will instructed that each of her five children was to receive 1/5 of the land and cattle, and each one of the four boys was to receive "one fourth of my horses, mules, machinery, farming tools, one bed stead, one feather bed with bedding, and one fourth of my pictures." Amanda specified that Walter was to receive "all household goods not given to the other children."

Tate's inheritance was separated from the other property, and she bought another piece of land from her brothers. The boys owned the remainder of the land jointly and sold the blocks off one by one over the years. In October 1911, the boys mortgaged the unsold 9 blocks of Amanda's subdivision; Walter bought his first ranch with his share of the proceeds of the loan. The last piece was sold off about 1913.

(By the way, the first oil man arrived in Coleman County in 1912, and the Matthews ranch now has pumping wells on it.)
 
 

Sloan was an eyewitness, and wrote:

"When I was 10 years old my Father died and one September morning, one year later, my brother Allen took three of us south and commenced driving cattle up Spring Creek. He had the drive stopped three miles from the corral and was busy cutting some out. An unbranded yearling heifer tried to come out near me, and I was circling it around the roundup holding my own by riding full speed when I heard Allen say, "Turn it in, Sloan." His tones were kindly and I knew he realized I would need help. They were his last words. Looking back, I saw him following me. The yearling went behind my horse and the knees of Allen's horse hit it in the side. I saw it all. His horse tried to jump it but it caught him with all four of his feet off the ground. I have never seen such a fall except when a horse jumps a strong fence and falls. The horse's head never touched the ground. Allen stayed in the saddle. I remember it as well as though it were yesterday; In fact there has never been a day since then when I have not thought of it. I saw them both off the ground. Allen in the saddle, and the horse's legs sticking straight up in the air. They came to the ground and rolled over once. The horse got one half way up before Allen left the saddle on the right side. His neck was broken and his back crushed ...

"The shock to my widowed Mother was pitiful and I sitting beside her grieving for our loved Allen, I wondered what had become of that happy carefree life I had been living a short time before." Joe Allen is buried next to his father in the Talpa Cemetery.

Tate was in school in Tennessee when she received word of the death of her fifteen-year-old brother Allen. Ethel wrote, "Grandma decided that because of the great distance, Mama should not return home for the funeral but remain in school until the end of the term."

It was a "double blow when Allen was killed, because he had been raised to take over from his father. John was not expected to live to an old age due to his physical suffering in the Civil War. Now both Allen and his father were gone; but,Tate and the other four brothers lived to maturity and ranching lives in Texas.

Histories of their other children follow.