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Continued: He signed as the informant on his mothers death certificate on March 18, 1918. In 1920 he was living on Possum Hollow Rd., Good Hope Twp., Hocking Co., Ohio. He owned property which had been part of a small village called "Pine Grove" . The land had been purchased from Captain John Arney. In 1921, George sold this seven acres of land, including the log house on it to his brother Harry and wife Lucy. The original structure was added to and sided over by Harry during the years that the family lived there. There were several other buildings; a barn, summer kitchen, utility building, smoke house, hen house and an outside privy. This was their home until the death of Lucy in Jan of 1982.
The land was sold to Franklin County Metro Parks later in 1982. The buildings were all removed by Metro Parks, as were most of the others in the valley. However, it was dedided that the original log portion would be saved then re-assembled later for use as a "public use area".
People attending the Mathias Reunion held in Labor Day, 1999 were given permission to tour the property and home before the actual dedication ceremony.
The first two reunions or "home comings" took place at the Charles Howard Mathias home just south of Clearcreek in 1929 and 1930. The second being held on the threshing floor of the barn because of rainy weather.
MATHIAS GROVE:
George Mathias had a park built in a small valley south of his brothers places which he called "Rockview Tourist Camp". It had two large shelter houses, outside restrooms with water from springs available, A small swimming pool and several foundations for cabins which were never built. A strong white fence lined the small stream in front of the shelters, with bridges in several places to cross over. This fence is now gone.
This was the site of the 1931 reunion and would continue to be used for the reunion until two years after the death of Harry F Mathias in 1967 when it was sold. the upper shelter was the site of the dinner with activities such as horse shoe and baseball games taking place on the grounds. The park was referred to as "Mathias Grove" after the 1934 reunion. It was also referred to as "Rockview Grove" a name possibly in reference to the beautiful sand rock formations at the back of the valley.
On the death of George Mathias in 1946, the park was willed to the war veterans of Goodhope township and was called "Veterans Park". George's will stated that if the veterans failed to maintain the park, it would return to the family. This happened after a few years and the land went to Harry F Mathias. The name went back to "Mathias Grove" and has remained that to the present. It was a very popular site for picnics, reunions, dances and was almost always booked up, sometimes five years in advance. (Harry F Mathias died in 1967). the current owner has no plan to change the name or any other aspect of this area. As you can see he loves this place and takes excellent care of it. A new "Mathias Grove" sign will soon replace the one that is rotting away.
The Sept 1999 reunion group was also permitted to tour the Mathias Grove area.
Above information was obtained at the Sept 1999 reunion, a handout sketch of the Harry and Lucy Mathias house and this history was prepared by their grandson Richard Lee Mathias.
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