On 3 December 1885, Mattie married (1) Josiah K. Garvin at Sidney, Iowa.  Josiah had been born in January 1857 in Franklin Township, Jackson County, Ohio, and was the son of Tipton Lewis Garvin and Almira Jane (Cherrington) Garvin.  By 1870, his family had moved to Decatur County, Iowa.  By 1880, the family had moved on to Phillips County, Kansas, but Josiah wasn’t with them then.  I have not found him in the 1880 census, but it’s a good guess that Josiah (age 23) had remained in Iowa, perhaps in Decatur County, or perhaps he had already moved on to Fremont County by then.  The Iowa State census of 1885 does show him in Fremont County, in Prairie Township, working as a farm laborer and living with a family named Newland.  That would have been 11 months before his marriage to Mattie.

The Iowa State census of 1895 showed Josiah and Mattie in their own household in Prairie Township with two children and Josiah’s 21-year-old brother Frank M. Garvin.  Josiah and Frank were both listed as farmers.  By 1900, Josiah and Mattie had moved to Ross Township (still in Fremont County), and were living then with all three of their children who are known to have survived to adulthood.  They were:

• Orval Elza Garvin, 1886–1930 (married Alma Rosetta Babb).
• Bertha Fern Garvin, 1896–1966 (married Dean Leslie Jones).
• Anna Clara Garvin, 1898–1979 (married Joseph G. Olvey).

The 1900 census also noted, however, that Mattie had had seven children altogether, and a total of eight was reported in the 1910 census.  Hence we know she had five other children who died.  Two of these, identified only from tombstones, are Edith Garvin (lived only 2 days in 1888) and Vearle Garvin (lived 2 months in 1903).  Another tombstone, for Effie Garvin, provides no dates, but she was shown as being 4 years old in the 1895 Iowa State census and was not listed in the 1900 U.S. census.

An additional, odd notation in the 1895 census was the name Eva V. Garvin, which was enclosed in parentheses and followed by a capital D.  According to the “Instructions to Assessors” for that census, that sort of notation was to be used for a person who died during the previous year, 1894.  However, no age was given for Eva and the entire entry was crossed out — probably because a closer reading of the instructions clarifies that this notation was to be used only for “Persons who have died in 1894 and having been born previous to January 1, 1894” (emphasis added).  So, in other words, children who were born in 1894 and died within that same year were not to be listed, which is probably why the census taker went back and crossed out the entry.  Thus, from these various sources, we know the names of four of the five children Mattie and Josiah lost:  Edith, Effie, Eva, and Vearle.

About 1904, Josiah and Mattie moved to Paonia, Delta County, Colorado, which was where Mattie’s mother had moved following the death of Mattie’s father in 1900.  The 1910 census shows them living at 338 North Fork Ave. in Paonia with their two daughters, Fern (13), and Anna (11).  (Orval, by this time, was married and living elsewhere in Paonia.)  Josiah’s occupation is poorly written and hard to interpret.  The notation appears to say “Keeper short order Wating House.”  From contemporaneous newspaper reports, however, we know that Josiah was helping oversee the Chinn Ranch, a large local fruit farm that apparently included a boarding house and a “plunge bath” swimming pool.  Mattie was working also, doing housework in private homes.

Mattie remarried in 1916, leading to the obvious question:  What became of Josiah?  I have found no record of his death or burial, nor have I seen any indication that he and Mattie divorced.  The lack of any listing for him in the 1920 census supports the idea that he had died.  The last record of Josiah I have found anywhere is a brief note in The Delta Independent newspaper of 16 August 1912 saying “J. K. Garvin spent Tuesday in Delta on business.”

Mattie married (2) George A. Willis in Delta County, Colorado, in September 1916 (Delta Independent, 8 Sept. 1916).  George had been born 29 May 1851 in Shenandoah County, Virginia, the son of Samuel and Mary (Walters) Willis.  By 1880, George had settled in Del Norte, Rio Grande County, Colorado.  Soon thereafter (exact date unknown), he married Matilda J. Newton, and he had three children with her before she died in 1891.  In 1897, he married Azilda (or Elmina) Smith, but divorced her in 1900 (and she subsequently died in 1903).  He then married Mrs. Rosetta (Gardner) Bowe in 1906.

George and his third wife, Rosetta, moved from Del Norte to Paonia in 1909, and the 1910 census shows them there along with two of Rosetta’s daughters and one granddaughter.  Although Rosetta survived until 1928, George obviously was free to marry again by 1916.  Hence, this marriage also must have ended in divorce, although I have not found any official record of that.

So Mattie became George’s fourth wife in 1916, and the 1920 census shows them living on a farm near Paonia, along with Mattie’s daughter Anna Garvin.  George had been a fairly successful rancher in Del Norte, but at Paonia, according to the census, he was a fruit farmer.

On 4 January 1924, The Delta Independent reported:  “George Willis, well-known fruit grower of Paonia, dropped dead December 21, as he was about to get into his buggy.  Death was due to heart failure.”  So now Mattie was a widow once again.  George’s body was returned to Del Norte for burial.

Sometime after George’s death, Mattie moved to Willows, Glenn County, California, to live with her daughter Anna (known, by then, as Clara).  The 1930 census shows her there with Clara, Clara’s husband Joseph Olvey, and two granddaughters.  Mattie died at Willows on 1 April 1931 and is buried at College City, Colusa County, California.

If you can suggest any corrections to the information above or provide any further details about the lives of Mattie, her two husbands, and their descendants, please contact me at the address shown in the image below:

Thanks,      
     —Pete Martin

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