|
a.
|
Note: My mother's father died within a year of the death of his wife, Eva Ellen McMullen. My mother, Dorothy Lou Mathis, was about 14 years of age at the time, and moved down to the Rio Grande Valley to live with an uncle, Ezra McMullen. My mother doesn't recall many details about her father, merely that he was a building contractor and travelled a great deal. One of the more interesting family relics is an invitation to the coronation of the British monarch Edward VII in 1902. The invitation was mailed from Kansas City, Missouri, so I suspect that it came addressed to Mr. J.W. Mathis in "Flanagan, Texas" as a result of his working as a contractor for the Missouri/Pacific Railroad. However, just how a building contractor living in northeast Texas would come by such a personally addressed invitation can become a source of great family discussions.
UPDATE ON THE ABOVE (August, 1999)
As I worked my way back in time in the Mathis family history, I discovered that Joseph Wiley Mathis' mother was a Thornton. Once I was able to trace those family roots back to England, the idea that the invitation being extended to descendants of a "proper" British family name became somewhat more plausible.
WORLD'S FAIR IN SAINT LOUIS
Joseph Mathis was in Saint Louis during the World's Fair exhibition in 1904. He would have been about 32 years of age at the time. He brought back several souvenirs, including a glass dish and a watch fob with the exhibition medallion. He also sent postcards to his family members from the exhibition. I have one envelope mailed to "Mrs. Sally Mathis" in Lyles, Tennessee dated December 20, 1904 mailed from the Saint Louis, Missouri annex station.
Later, on September 14, 1907 Joe mailed his mother in Aetna, Tennessee a short note from Sulphur, Oklahoma in which he wrote, "Dear Mother, will leave here Sunday for Texas and next Thursday will start to Tenn, But will come to Nashville and will be there 3 or 4 days will write you from there when I'll come down home. Hoping this will find you all well, etc. Your Son, Joe"
CAUSE OF DEATH:
Joseph Wiley Mathis’ death certificate issued on March 14, 1936 reveals the primary cause of death to be “Acute Cardiac Dilatation” with a contributing cause to be “Chronic Myocarditis.”
View a photograph of this individual by visiting the online family photo album at:
<a href="http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jpcfamily/">Childress/Mathi s Photo Album</a>
Photographs of many other related individuals also are in the above album.
|
