Joseph (Joe) MATTHEWS was the tenth child in a family of twelve children. He was born in April of 1890.

Joe attended the Shiloh school. Then in 1917 he went to the army and served in WW I. He was 27 years of age. When he came home he farmed on his father's home place on [the] Platte River. He also worked out as a hired man.

He and Margaret Ann JEANES had both been employed by Wilber and Mrs. Wilber LYNCH. These two young people were married on April 6, 1938. They lived with the LYNCHES a short while afterward. Then they began farming brother Alfred MATTHEW'S farm north of Maloy. He farmed with a team of horses, "Dick and Pat." When his children Joan and Bill took Joe a fresh drink of water in the field, many times they stayed to ride on Pat's back. But never on Dick's; he was too spirited!

Joe retired in 1955 and they moved to the POORE place 1/2 mile south of LYNCHES' where they lived until Joe passed away March, 1964. After Joe's death, Margaret moved to Mount Ayr and worked as an aide at the Clearview home there. Upon her retirement she moved to Huxley, Iowa to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She is active in volunteer groups in Story County. She makes caps for newborn babies at the hospital in Ames, knits mittens and scarfs for the Story County Social Services and also helps with projects for pre-school children at the Huxley library.

NOTE: Joseph "Joe" MATTHEWS, the son of William Andrews and Louisa Ann (MARSHALL) MATTHEWS, was born April 15, 1890, and died March 3, 1964. Margaret Ann (JEANES) MATTHEWS was born near Maloy August 16, 1914, the daughter of James E. and Mary E. (BYE) JEANES. She died at the age of 73 years on September 5, 1987. They were interred at Clearfield Cemetery. Their son William and daughter-in-law Alice resided in Des Moines.

PVT Joseph MATTHEWS served in the U.S. Army during World War I from August 18, 1917 until his discharge on August 18, 1919. PVT MATTHEWS served with the 4th Division, 59th Infantry Company. He fought honorably in the decisive battles at Aisne Marne, Saint Miheil and Meuse Argonne.

JoAnn MATTHEWS [daughter of Joseph "Joe" and Margaret Ann (JEANES)] continued her education at NWMSU [Northwest Missouri State University] at Maryville. Her first teaching assignment was at Greenfield.

JoAnn and Carl BARNES were married in August, 1960. Two daughters have been born to them, Karla Ann in 1962, and Kristine Kay in 1967. JoAnn has continued teaching through the years except a few years when the girls were small. Carl is also a schoolteacher. Their home is north of Des Moines at Alleman.

The daughter Karla was married June of 1985 to Robert Craig ALBAUGH. They farm near Elkhart.

Joe and Margaret MATTHEWS' son William Alfred (Billy Jo or Bill) worked with Lee KEENAN on J. D. WARIN'S farm west of town after graduation. In 1963 he joined the Army. Upon being discharged from the service, he again secured employement at [the] Firestone Plant in Des Moines where he continues to work in [a] custodial supervisory position.

Bill married a Mount Ayr girl, Alice PAIST, on May 30, 1967. Their two sons were named Joseph William, born 1973, and Raymond Edward, born in April of 1977. They come to Mount Ayr often to visit Alice's widowed mother, Mrs. Howard PAIST.

NOTE: William A. MATTHEWS served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War from September of 1963 until 1965. He served as an E/5 in Company B of the 1st Battalion of the 27th Infantry stationed in Hawaii.

  SOURCE: Maloy, Iowa Centennial History: 1887 - 1987 Pp. 148-49.

Courtesy of Mount Ayr Public Library

Transcription and Notes by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2011