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| Anderson & Amanda Melvina Pursley Matthews |
| From all accounts Amanda and Anderson were both good old souls. Anderson was the son of John Nelson Matthews, who like most of the rest of the family, came here from Amherst Co., Va. He was originally married to Nancy Peden in 1837, from which he had 6 children. Sadly, with the birth of the last 2, twin boys came the death of both them and Nancy. The first infant died at birth. Nancy died 8 days later, and John Jordan died eight months later. Nothing is known about the cause. 5 years after the death of his wife, Anderson married Amanda who raised the 4 children left, but as far as we know, never had any of her own. This may have been intentional on Anderson's part, after having lost his first wife and twins. You see, Anderson had the reputation of being the most curious man in the neighborhood. At any rate her step children seemed to like her as a mother. Both William Levy and Elizabeth Jane named daughters after her. But getting back to Anderson... He certainly did have a reputation for being curious. When electricity came around, he hated it, and chose to use oil lamps. The neighborhood boys (such as Josh Pursley) would slip and pour water in the Maple syrup he was boiling, where he got sap from the trees, and then hide some distance away to watch his reaction. Two Pursley brothers had boobey-trapped some stove wood with gun powder and placed it in White's Chapel Church, and of course who but old uncle Anderson as he was known, decided to stoke the stove. He was not injured, but the stove blew up and through the back door of the church. Needless to say, the conspirators left town fast (especially since their dad was a Baptist Preacher).. Though Anderson was way before my time, I can still remember my grandmother telling her eldest son, my uncle Bud: "You're as curious as uncle Anderson Matthews!" |
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