Identifying Data

• Name(s): George Bain Mathews, "Bunt" Mathews
• Birth: 25 JAN 1849 in Palmyra, Marion Co., Missouri
• Death: 31 DEC 1933 in Ripon, San Joaquin Co, California
• Burial: Atlanta Cemetery, Atlanta, CA.
• Spouse(s): Ida Elizabeth Glenn
• Additional Details: Rootsweb

George Mathews, quite the character

From various accounts, it would appear that George's motto may have been, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story".

Family lore was that he had migrated to California in his youth so as to stay out of trouble during the Civil War, but no record could be found of him there during this period, although two census records in 1860 and 1870 show him still living with his parents back in Missouri, ages 11 and 21, respectively. Hank told a story of how his wagon party was encircled by Indians on their journey west and how they shot flaming marshmallows at them. Unfortunately, my skeptical laughter prevented Hank from finishing the story, and she steadfastly refused thereafter. Evidently, George's grandchildren found his stories so convincing that they never doubted them, even after they grew up. Note however that George's length of residence in California was reported as 70 years, which would have meant he had come in 1863 when he was 14 years old. So perhaps his victims weren't limited to his gullible grandchildren.

Another story recounted by his grandson, Alvar P., concerns the origin of George's nickname:

• I thought Grandpas middle initial was B, but I didn't know what it stood for. I did hear where the nick name came from. He was cared for by a Negro nannie that had a child around his age and she used to nurse grandpa and her child. The story went that grandpa would finish first and then "Bunt" the other baby away and so the nick name.

Alvar's nephew, Ron, shared a similar account:

• One thing that I find curious is that my father, Leland W., always referred to his grandfather as George "Bunt" Mathews. He claimed that he was given this name by a negro wetnurse because he would try to "bunt" her baby away from her breast when they were nursing. My father was quite a storyteller but maybe this was a nickname that stuck.

Another anecdote shared by Ron concerns George's skill as a checker's player:

• (My father) always talked about George being a great checker player. "When George and a local judge used to play, a lot of the shopkeepers would close their stores to watch. After the judge would make his first move, Granddad would say, "That move is going to cost you the game."

Again, courtesy of Ron, another story if true would be completely consistent with George having inherited the "Mathews Wise-Ass Gene" concerns his application of logic by way of a hammer:

• One (story) you might be interested in about George B. His wife Ida, my grandmother, had arthritis very bad. They were both sitting in the back yard cracking walnuts. Grandpa was cracking them and Grandma was separating them. A Christian Scientist came to visit and sat down next to Grandpa and was telling them how Grandma's pain was all in her mind. After listening to so much Grandpa took the hammer he was using to crack the walnuts and hit the visitor a good lick on the hand. The visitor got up screaming in pain, and Grandpa told him what he had been telling Grandma, that it was all in his mind. He was quite a character.

One last implausible story by way of Ron concerns George's alternative travel accommodations:

• Another thing he and Grandma did, they rented a boxcar and furnished it and had it taken back to Missouri and put on a siding, and they stayed in it while they visited all their friends.

A last story for which I have lost the source concerns George's sense of humor. Apparently, he thought there was nothing funnier than crashing Ida's temperance meeting after a few drinks, which of course would be completely consistent with the aforementioned wise-ass gene. It probably also explains why Ida would choose to join the Temperance Movement.

Vital Records