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mcc-jrr_373-006
Matkin Cemetery, 37-3 Summary Report, page 6
The inscription on Mary's tombstone can be interpreted two common ways. One way is that her name was Mary Patton Matkin. The other is that her name was Mary Matkin until she got married and became Mary Patton. The practice in this cemetery, by comparing to the wording on the adjacent marker for Margaret Matkin, would indicate the latter - Mary (Matkin) Patton, as a married name. However, since the birth and death dates clearly show that Mary died at the age of 4, there obviously would have been no marriage. The use of “Patton” as her middle name is not in keeping with the custom of using the mother's maiden name, since her mother was a McDonnell. However, there were a number of prominent Patton families living in the area during the period, so that suggests that some other connection existed - or that Mary's parents were highly impressed by the Patton families. The marriage of William Matkin to Margaret “McDonall” (McDonnell) was recorded in Madison County Marriage Record Book 4, page 184. The date of the license and the marriage is given as March 8, 1834, when Margaret would have been age 34 and William age 23 or 24 (if his age in the various census records is correct). Since her death occurred on March 8 also, she died on her 15th wedding anniversary. The Matkin family history relative to the arsenal area is given somewhat in an article that appeared in the Huntsville Times on July 7, 1997 (see scanned image below). However, the family data posted to the Ancestry Family Tree files at Ancestry.com on the internet show some confusion and conflicts among the researchers. The census records indicate that the early Matkin / Madkin families of the north Alabama area were headed by Thomas Crow and Durham Madkins, who both patented government lands in Morgan County in the 1830s and appeared in the 1830 federal census in that county. The 1840 census showed a T. W. and a D. Madkins in Morgan County. It is likely that T. W. should have been T. C. By the time of the 1850 census, only Durham Madkins appeared of these families in Morgan County. However, Madison County had both William Matkins and E. W. Matkins, living in adjacent households. William's birthplace was given in the 1850 census as South Carolina, as was Durham's in Morgan County. Durham was listed as age 43 in 1850, while William was given as age 39 and E. W. as 34, born in Alabama. Since all of these men are known to be of the same family from lengthy Madison County Chancery Court records, then their arrival in Alabama was between 1812 and 1816, according to the birthplaces and ages of William (39, SC) and E. W. Matkins (34, AL). It was William 6 - (1828)