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High Valley Cemetery

FOOTNOTES:

 
1.         MATSLER, David (1821 – 1884)   David Matsler was born in Ohio to John and Margaret Matsler.  His first marriage was to Sarah Jane Marrow in 1847.  They had one child, John Taylor.  After Sarah’s death in 1851, David married a second wife, Esther C. Franklin on August 24, 1851.  In 1852 the Matslers moved to Texas and, after a two year stay in Williamson County, they moved westward. On October 7, 1854, they settled on Cherokee Creek near present day Chappel.  The David Matslers were the first permanent white settlers in what was to become San Saba County.  Sarah Jane Matsler was born March 19, 1856 and is known to be the first white child born in San Saba County.

             After coming to Texas David Matsler was licensed as a lay preacher in the Methodist Church.  He played a leading role in the establishment of the Methodist camp meeting started in 1858 which observed its 152nd anniversary in 2010.  David Matsler died in 1884 at age 63.  He was buried in the High Valley Cemetery on land given by the Matsler family.

             David Matsler was the father of fifteen children.  Two died in infancy.  The other thirteen lived to raise large families.  (For more on this pioneer family see pp. 218-220 in San Saba County History, Vol. I, 1856-1983.)

 

2.         Alexander, James Newton (1878-1957) was the son of Napoleon and Mary Miles Alexander.  He was married first to Vesta Pearl McRorey on April 13, 1902 and second to Oceola Marley.  Vesta and James had two children: John Mac and Ruby Leah.  (For more on the Alexander families see pp. 6-7 of San Saba County History Vol. II, 1856-2001.)

 

3.         Blossman, Montie Luene (1935-2009) was the daughter of Temple H. West and Lena Mae Walton.  She married Jack Martin Blossman.  They had three children: Mary Ann, David Temple and Jack Houston.

 

4.         Cobern, James Rufus was the son of L. P. (Slim) Cobern and Lillian Gage.  He married Lee Ellen West.  They had two children, Vickie Lee and James Rufus II (Rusty).

 

5.         Dawson, Fielding (1820-1895) married Nancy Smelser (1827-1902) in 1848 on a wagon train on the way to Texas from Missouri. Children born to this union were Sarah E., Eliza Jane, Rebecca E., Mary, William A. and Jackson Hillary.

 

6.         Gage, William Henry (1856-1944) came to San Saba County in 1874 and settled in the Chappel Community.  He married Ella Stafford on March 5, 1893. (For more on the Gage family history, see p. 107, San Saba County History, Vol. I, 1856-1983.)

 

7.         Hopper, Rebecca (1856-1930) was the daughter of Fielding Dawson and Nancy Smelser.  Rebecca’s first marriage was to Marshal D. Lewis on December 18, 1873. They had five children: William Fielding, Robert M., Nancy L., John J. and Marshal Dee, Jr.  After her first husband’s death in 1884, Rebecca married Charley Hopper (1852-1935) on June 6, 1886.

 

8.         Hubbert, Milton Noverl (1925-1945) was the son of Hugh E. and Essie Stafford.  He enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps on May 28, 1944 and took part in the Okinawa Campaign as an amphibious tractor operator.  He was killed in action on April 12, 1945.

 

9.         Lewis, William Fielding (1874-1929) was the oldest of five children. He was born to Marshal Dee Lewis, Sr. and Rebecca Dawson, and married widow Georgia Ann (Ward) Muhlinghaus on January 28, 1898.  They had four children: Cecil Ray, Ruby Pearl, Hillary Ward and Phillip Allen. (For more on the Lewis family, see pp. 92-94, San Saba County History, Vol. II, 1856-2001.)

 

10.       Low, Edgar (1915-1984) was the son of Thomas Theodore Low and Izora Matsler.  He married Ella Ruth Gage who was the daughter of William Henry Gage and Ella Stafford.  (See Low Family History, pp.204-205 of San Saba County History, Vol. I, 1856-1983.)

 

11,       McRorey, John Robert (1854-1920) was the son of Walton McRorey and Nancy Gregson.  He married Mollie Tomlinson.  They had four children: Vesta Pearl, Mary, Estelle and John Floyd. (See pp.105-107 of San Saba County History, Vol. II, 1856-2001.)

 

12.       Moore, Seth Martin (1838-1915) married Demaris Alexander.  They had ten children: David Franklin, Ella Lorene, Seth W.,  Silas A. Willie T., Hattie A., Joseph W., John H., Maud R. and Rany E. (See pp. 426-427 of San Saba County History, Vol. I, 1856-1983.)

 

13.       West, Temple H. (1905-1978) was the son of James Franklin West and Sallie Straley. He married Lena Mae Walton on August 19, 1929.  they had three daughters:  Mrs. Leota Mae Thornton, Mrs. Montie Luene Blossman and Mrs. Lee Ellen Cobern.