Matthew Miller McGee

KALE, MCGEE

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/14/2005 at 13:02:22

Matthew M. McGee, highly esteemed as one of the valued citizens of Madison county for many years, contributed in large measure to the material up-building of the community and, more than that, his influence was always on the side of progress and the right. When he passed away one of the local papers said of him: "It is difficult to point out a citizen of Madison county whose death would cause a greater break in the daily life and experience of so many people as that of M. M. McGee. His extensive operations as a builder, farmer, stock-raiser and .general trader, at first in Jackson township, then in Douglas and later in Winterset, his activity extending many miles in every direction, are fresh in the memory of the whole community." At the funeral service the following account of his life was given: "Matthew Miller McGee was born in the town of Mount Charles, county of Donegal, Ireland, August 25, 1829, and died in Winterset, Iowa, August 30, 1895, at a little after nine o'clock P. M. His father was a native of Ireland, his mother was a native of Scotland, and the son inherited and developed in his life, the vigor, activity, carefulness and strict integrity for which a blending of Scotch and Irish blood is so noted. When Matthew was about five years of age his parents came to America, and took up their residence in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After a short residence there, the family removed to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. On the 24th of February, 1853, he was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Kale. On the 28th of November, 1853, he removed to Eddyville, Iowa, where he stayed one year, removing- thence to Madison county, Iowa, where he continued to reside until God took him."

On the 24th of February, 1853, he wedded Caroline Kale, daughter of Reuben and Rebecca Kale, who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, June 11, 1835. In the year of her marriage she accompanied her husband to Iowa, and they came to Madison county in 1854. When sixteen years of age Mrs. McGee joined the Methodist church, but in the winter of 1855 she transferred her membership to the Christian church, of which she was a most loyal and devoted adherent throughout her remaining days. Her Christian faith and fortitude sustained her through the long period of her last illness. She was highly esteemed by her friends and neighbors because of a beautiful character that reached out in kindly sympathy and helpfulness to all who knew her. Commenting upon the belief of Mr. McGee, it was said in the funeral oration: “His parents being in close sympathy with the Protestant Episcopal church of England, according to the rules of that church he was baptized in infancy. While still a young man residing in his Ohio home, he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and for reasons known to himself, he did not remove his membership from the church of his early choice. His name is still retained in the records of that church. Although not connecting himself with any church in Madison county, yet few men had greater respect for the church: sustained friendly and sympathetic relations with their ministers, contributed to their support, and rejoiced in the prosperity of all good works. He was a close and attentive listener to the preaching of the word of God, and being a close student of the word itself, he knew when the truth was preached, and had a keen appreciation of it. While he loved the church of his early choice, yet no man could excel. Matthew McGee in the catholicity of his spirit and in the broad fraternity of his affection for all denominations of truly Christian people. A sham, whether in religion, in politics, or in business, he despised with all the intensity of his hearty Irish nature. But true men, by whatever name they were called, or at whatever shrine they worshiped, never failed to find a true and helpful friend in the deceased.
"It is not necessary for me to enlarge upon the noble qualities of this friend's character. Many of you, even outside the circle of his children and relative, have known him intimately for years, and the universal testimony of all who have spoken to me about him is, that but few men lived as closely to the tenets of the golden rule as did he. Honest and true in all his dealings; charitable almost to a fault, yet doing his deeds of charity so silently and unostentatiously that the recipients of his favors seldom knew from whence they came. In all my association with him, I have never heard him utter a word that would not be appropriate in any place, or in any company. As might be expected, a man of such intense energy, such industrious habits, such wise and careful planning, and such strict integrity, must be prosperous, and he was. But not a dollar, dishonestly procured, or gained at the expense of some one less fortunate, ever went into the pocket of Matthew McGee. Such a man, with such a long, unbroken record of honorable and successful life, cannot go out without the community from whence he has gone, being the poorer. Such men are much scarcer than they ought to be, and yet to have the record of such a man is a legacy whose value is beyond computation. His money was freely spent in building comfortable and handsome buildings, and by so much adding to the attractiveness of the town, and enhancing the valuation of all its property. He might have used his money in such a way that it would have brought him in dollars where it brought him only cents, but his large heartedness rebelled at the idea of taking advantage of those less fortunate than himself, or those upon whom unforeseen misfortune had fallen, to add to his own wealth at the expense of those. Instead of this, his hand was often outstretched with substantial help to the needy and ample time given for its refunding. More than one man will miss Matthew McGee when the pressure of misfortune falls upon him, because he is no longer able to extend the help he delighted to give.

"The great sorrow of his life, the shadow of which followed him to his latest hour, fell upon him, when, on the 7th day of February, 1889, his sainted, but deeply afflicted wife left his home to go to the home which Christ had prepared for her. During a long, lingering sickness he cared for her with all the tenderness of his great heart, and when at last death relieved her of her sufferings, and he had laid her away in the grave, that 'silent village' had a larger place in his mind and heart than did the living town where his interests and activities centered. How many hours of the days which make-up the six and one-half years of his great sorrow and loneliness were spent in silent communion at the grave of his beloved dead, no one knows."

Everyone who knew him bears testimony to his high character and his sterling worth. His influence was invariably on the side of right and justice and he deserves mention in the history of his county.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915,” by Herman Mueller.