DUDLEY MATTHIS STORY - Part 3

MATTHIS, JOHNSON, GEARY, WEEKS, MASK, WOOLEY, MCDANIEL, MATTHEWS

Posted By: Nancee Seifert (email)
Date: 6/28/2014 at 17:47:52

DUDLEY MATTHIS STORY - Part 3

susannah, my grandmother several times removed, had a relationship with
Lewis Johnson when the
family was freed in North Carolina. She had several children with him.
When her family moved she moved too, but he did not go all the way to Oregon
with her. Susannah changed her name to Johnson when she finally arrived in
Oregon.
Susannah's daughter, Maranda married Lewis Geary; (they are my grandparents)

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"SETTING THE ROGUE VALLEY: THE TOUGH TIMES - THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE" 1995 by
Barbara (Morehouse) Hegne; Oregon:
While living in Tennessee...Susannah, now age 16, began keeping house for a
well-to-do widower named LEWIS JOHNSON. During the next two years she had
two girls by him, JANE DELANEY (named after Delaney Mask, Dudley's son), and
MARANDA ANN. They moved to Missouri. Lewis Johnson bought 80 acres in
Mercer Co., MO and settled down with Susannah. They had three more children
MARY MISSOURI ANA, 1845, WILLIAM RUBE, 1849 and FRANCIS LEGERE, 1850.
Susannah Mask (Matthis) took the last name of Johnson.
Susannah Mask (Matthis) Johnson, sometimes called "Suckey", with her
children and sister Amanda, decided to stay at One Horse Town (1 mile East
of Jacksonville, Jackson Co., OR where they were welcome. They were caught
up in the excitement of the gold mining and the attention they received from
the men. With the money flowing, and a big demand for women, this was the
place to make money regardless of our color.
Susannah had high cheek bones, thin lips, soft brown skin, dark eyes and
hair. Susannah had a spit-fire personality. Susannah and Amanda saved
their money and only spent enough to keep themselves looking glamorous and
well-kept. Susannah's life of gaity came to a crashing standstill when she
became pregnant. She hid her condition as long as she could. Nine months
after she arrived in Oregon Territory, on July 24, 1854, she gave birth to
PRISCILLA. Susannah claimed the father of this big-eyed girl was a miner
named French.
AMANDA had wide-apart brown eyes, full bottom lip, and a broad nose. She
parted her hair in the center and it fell in uneven ridges down the side.
She kept it tied snug at the nape of her neck. Amanda was quiet, soft
spoken, and genuinely concerned of others. Amanda had the knack of being
able to comfort the sick and disheartened.
SUSANNAH's older girls helped with the care of their siblings, but the girls
were now of a marriageable age. Maranda was as beautiful as her mother,
with long auburn hair, soft round face, light skin and a petite figure.
Young Maranda fell in love with Lewis Geary and on May 5, 1858, Maranda, age
15, and her sister, Jane, age 18, had a double wedding in Jacksonville.
Maranda and Lewis Geary moved to Logtown a couple miles south of Kanaka
Flats. Lewis continued to work for Jacob Huffman.
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SUSANNAH MASK (MATTHIS) JOHNSON later married George Washington Weeks in
1863; Oregon
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To reiterate (repeat) the information about SUSANNAH's siblings:
Maranda's* great grandmother was a slave on the Mask plantation. When she
was a young girl she gave birth to a child she named PENELOPE (NELLY)
ELLENDER MASK. When Nelly was old enough, she became a domestic slave in
the Mask household. As happened in many slave plantations, Nelly had
several children by the master, (half-brother) Colonel DUDLEY BYRON MASK.
All her children were named after Mask descendants: JOHN D., born 1816,
DUDLEY born 1821, SUSANNAH born 1823, DRURY born 1824, and MARY AMANDA born
1828.
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JOHN D. was a favorite. Although it wasn't the norm to educate slaves,
because of the MASK's strong belief in education, John was allowed to learn.
The rest of the children were not allowed the same favor. John D. worked
as a stable boy and gained skills in handling horses. John's family changed
their names from Mask to Matthis. It was against the law for a Negro or
mulatto to marry a white person in Tennessee. Still, in 1837, on a sunlit
morning, Michael Wooley's 13-year-old daughter, ELIZABETH, and 20-year-old
JOHN MATTHIS, were married by the laws of God. John with his dark skin and
red tinted hair, was in deep contrast with the fair skin of Elizabeth. In
1840, the WOOLEY's, JOHNSON's and MATTHIS' migrated to Missouri near the
Iowa border. John was a high-spirited man who wanted the best for his
family, a farm, a home, and a place he could work for himself. After
struggling for years in Iowa and Missouri, John's family and several
neighbors decided to venture to Oregon Territory. They arrived in
Jacksonville on October 3, 1853. John's family eventually changed their
name to Mathews.
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{MY NOTES: JOHN MCDANIEL my gggg grandfather, went to Oregon with these
families in 1853 - after he had freed his slave, George. More about his
family later.} His son, JOHN ANDREW married PRISCILLA JOHNSON.
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Although bound together by a common bond of color and family, there came a
parting of ways. John's sisters wanted to stay in Jacksonville, OR. John's
party continued north a good day's ride from Jacksonville to the banks of
Little Butte Creek. John, because of his nationality, could not own land.
Woodson Tucker applied for a Donation Land claim and he let the Matthews'
family squat on his land. Later, John would purchase this land from Woodson
s widow.
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BIOGRAPHY FROM "A HISTORY OF EAGLE POINT AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES" by
Gaynell Krambeal, 1979:
The man credited with naming Eagle Point is JOHN MATTHEWS. He chose the
name due to the birds that nested on the rocky ledge above the Scout
Community Building. John came to Oregon (sic from North Carolina - should
be Iowa) with his wife, nee ELIZABETH WOOLEY, in 1851 by covered wagon.
They settled adjacent to the town site of Eagle Point in 1853. With them
came their large family of children: William, Drucilla, Milla, Dudley K.
Polk, America H., Ruth and Hezekiah. After arriving in Oregon they had
Julia Rachel, Mary Ellen, Elizabeth Jane, Green Banks, Martha and Grant.
Just prior to 1870, John's mother, Penelope Ellender (Nellie) Matthews came
west to live with them. John died August 12, 1885 and is buried in the
Matthews Cemetery.