Martha Belle McNaughton

"Mattie" McNaughton is one of the most intriguing ancestors I have encountered. I

have her diary from the year 1873 when she was a young school teacher in Sherman,

Texas. At the time she appears to be suffering from a broken heart. She quotes the

poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, writes about many "gloomy" days, and has frequent

headaches. The diary gives vague references, uses only initials when refering to any

men in her life. a diary written in later years, after her marriage to William DeWitt

shows a very different person. She is happy, content and has a bright outlook on life.

Much of the mystery was solved when I found letters written by her niece, Mattie

Gattis Campbell, who spent much time with Mattie McNaughton. I have her gold

locket in which is a tin type picture of a man - is it Mr. Beardsley or William DeWitt?

My sister and I wore the locket in our weddings for "something old".

"Mattie"McNaughton.1859 Age 12

"If I could first talk to you, I could go away back-- and tell you more than I can write. But as to Aunt Mattie De Witt, I remember when she went to Texas to teach, I think in Denton and Farmersville, Texas. When she left Tennessee she was deeply in love with a Mr. Beardsley, a contractor, who went to Los Angeles, California, on a job. And he and aunt kept up correspondence and I had his picture and a lot of his love letters he wrote Aunt Mattie while in Los Angeles. So he wanted her to marry him and she wanted to teach a couple more years. So while Aunt Mattie was in Texas she met Uncle DeWitt, who also was a contactor and she became in love with him, and when her school was out, she came to "Owl Hollow", Tennessee, to visit mother and her sister, Mary, before leaving to meet Uncle DeWitt to get married and leave for Washington, D.C. I remember her showing me her watch that Uncle DeWitt had given her, and his picture was in the back of watch. I remember his picture, he was smiling and I said to Aunt Mattie, ' What pretty white teeth he has. ' Ha! I was six years old (1881) then. So Aunt left all her old letters and picture with Mother. So that's how I happen to have the letters and picture of Mr. Beardsley. So they say distance lends enchantment. Anyway, from letters, I think she really loved the man in Los Angeles, but became in love with the man she married. As for other things in her life, I know little. " -- letter from Mattie Gattis Campbell to Amy Stobaugh Cooper, June 30, 1965

"My mother's sister, Mattie, married a man named William DeWitt. Mattie and William DeWitt went to Washington City and lived until they died. Didn't have any children. He put the first electric lights that was in Washington. That was his business . He was a wonderful man. I sure liked him." -- Tom Gattis, February 1974.

"Aunt Quilla went to Washington, D.C. when Aunt Mattie died , soon her husband was taken. She remembered all of her namesakes, Mattie Campbell, and Mattie McCandless (she was a McCoy), also my brother, Robert, in her will. I don't know if all her estate was ever settled. She had some property that had to be sold."--Lela Dunn, 1972

More photographs of Mattie McNaughton

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