Matthes, Pauline Huder, 1855-1897

Born: Germany, 5 Nov. 1855

Died: 3 March 1897

Pauline and Carl Albert Matthes were German immigrants who came to the United States about 1882. It is not clear whether her maiden name was Huber or Huder. The only record of it comes from her son Albert’s death certificate. Let the reader decide:

The Mattheses had been married in Germany, and the first 2 of their 9 known children were born there. Their peaceful farm life northwest of Chandler was violently broken on October 19, 1898, when the youngest daughter, Allie, was killed by an accidental shotgun blast fired by her brother Otto. This happened during the parents’ absence. Pauline had died the year before and Carl was no doubt in the fields working. The children were being watched over by a woman who was deaf.

Chandler News, 21 Oct 1898 

Chandler News Publicist, 21 Oct. 1898

This event apparently caused the breakup of the family, as the 1910 census finds them scattered among their relatives. In 1901 Carl Matthes had married Mary C. Duffreys of Arkansas. This may not have been his smartest decision. He returned to Arkansas with her and in 1904 was murdered there under circumstances that have never been clarified.

The nine children of Pauline and Carl Matthes were: 

• Lena, born in Germany, 1873, no other data; 
• Mathilda, born in Germany, 1876, married William Spielberger, died Chandler, 1945; 
• John William, born 1885, married Louise, died Sapulpa, 1966; 
• Meta C., born 1885, married Harold Carson, no other data; 
• Ed: born 1888, died in Anderson TX, 1956;
• Otto Julius, born 1890, married Mildred, died Los Angeles, 1962; 
• Carl William, born 1892, married Pauline Stuewe, died Wabaunsee Co. KS, 1978;
• Alma, "Allie," born 1893, died 1898, in previous entry; 
• Albert Willis, born 1895, married Eva Dell Yarbrough, died in Clay Co. MO 1933. 

Of these children, the one most repaying attention is the second daughter, Mathilda, who stayed in Chandler. About 1897 she married William Spielberger of Chandler, and in 1908 was the legal guardian of her minor siblings in the sale of their McKinley Township property (lots 5 & SE 1/4 of NW 1/4 of Sect 6 in twp 14). William Spielberger, born in Germany in 1869, was a baker whose ads appeared often in the Chandler newspapers. 

He died in 1946, one year after his wife, and the two of them are buried in Chandler’s Oak Park Cemetery.