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- [S106] The Mountain Press, 21 Mar 2011.
Upland Chronicles: Matthews known for music
by CARROLL McMAHAN The Mountain Press
Fred Matthews with his mother, Mary Jane Matthews.
The sheet music cover for “My Sweet Mountain Rose,” written by Matthews.
The mandolin owned by Fred Matthews was handed down to his great-nephew, Jeff Matthews.
As one of the seven children of Francis Calhoun “Cal” Matthews and Mary Jane Tarwater Matthews, Fred Decatur Matthews was born on Aug. 1, 1898, in the 10th civil district of Sevier County.
While growing up in the early years of the 20th Ventury, Fred experienced a childhood similar to most children living on farms; he did his fair share of milking cows and plowing fields in rural Sevier County and roaming the hillsides in his free time.
However, life changed for Fred In his early teens when he fell on an open pocket knife and injured one of his eyes so severely that he was blinded in that eye.
Fred did not allow his handicap stand in the way of fulfilling his dream of receiving a high school education. He graduated from Murphy College in Sevierville and began writing songs. By the time he was a young adult, Fred, who was an avid reader, began to lose sight in the other eye due to the combination of strain and glaucoma. Eventually, he was completely blind.
A gifted musician, Fred mastered several instruments such as a guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. He teamed with a younger neighbor, Henry Gibson, and the young farm boys traveled around East Tennessee singing and playing in string bands, performing in various community assemblies and entertaining at numerous local radio stations.
Fred and Henry frequently appeared on the WNOX Mid-Day-Merry-Go-Round broadcast in Knoxville. While socializing backstage, they became acquainted with several future Grand Ole Opry stars such as Archie Campbell and Roy Acuff.
There was another young man in the group from Luttrell who often bragged that he planned to “make it big at the Grand Ole Opry.” When speaking privately with friends about the young man, Fred said, “That boy is not much of a singer but he sure can play that guitar.”
The man was Chet Atkins. Both of them were proven to be correct because Chet did achieve stardom, but as a guitar player and not a singer.
Fred became acquainted with a songwriter named Frank Hartman and they composed several songs. Fred wrote the lyrics which Frank Hartman set to music. Several of their compositions were recorded. One of their songs, “Moonlight in the Smokies,” was recorded by Lee’s Mountaineers, on the Cabin John Recording label.
Fred desired to broaden his education, and since he had to rely on others for transportation, did so by correspondence courses from Hadley School for the Blind in Winnetka, Ill. Using books written in Braille and recorded material sent by mail, he studied the Bible, biblical histories and courses in the literary field.
Fred put his education to good use a Sunday school teacher and author of several books. Walking the four-mile round trip, he taught a Sunday school class at Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church for 50 years. In order to prepare, Fred received recorded lesson plans from the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville.
His profound love for Sevier County and the Smoky Mountains was reflected in his writings. In 1950, Fred wrote “History of Sevier County.” Five years later; he wrote a book entitled “Them Smoky Hills is Hypoed.” Both publications were sold locally at Lee’s Drug Store and Williams’ Drug Store in Sevierville and other newsstands throughout the county.
His writings appeared in several magazines, and The Labor News carried many of his editorials. He also wrote a weekly column for several years for Tri County News about the happenings among his neighbors in the Whites community.
Realizing the power of putting a pen to paper, Fred often wrote detailed letters to government officials appealing for such thngs as gravel for the muddy roads throughout to his neighborhood and suggesting better ways to apply tax dollars to benefit the public.
He wrote on an old Royal Typewriter and often asked his sister, Iva Atchley, who was a school teacher, to proofread his work.
Fred was married three times. After receiving a divorce from his second wife, he remarried his first wife. All of the marriages were brief.
After the death of his parents, he lived alone for the remainder of his life.
Over the years, electricity and a telephone were installed in Fred’s home; however, he lived his entire life without running water or indoor plumbing. He cooked his own meals and pumped water for drinking and bathing from a well.
A natural born entrepreneur, Fred, with the assistance of relatives, operated a rolling store in Whites community for a few years. He hired someone to drive him to Georgia where he purchased items for resale such as knives, small household appliances and chenille bedspreads. He returned home and sold the goods for a handsome profit.
One of Fred’s favorite pastimes was to swap knives on the Sevier County Courthouse lawn.
Knowing Fred was blind, dishonest customers would hand him a dollar bill and argue that it was a five. Once he had been taken, he recognized their voices and refused to have further business dealings with them.
During the last years of his life, Fred, was a victim of several home invasions. One time he was robbed by two young couples. When one of the boys reached for a gun, the girls became scared and begged their boyfriends not to shoot him, which was all that saved Fred’s life. In another encounter, he was assaulted by a lone perpetrator with a half-inch ratchet, leaving him severely injured.
Overcoming overwhelming odds by courage and determination, Fred Matthews lived to be 84. He died on May 1, 1983 and was laid to rest in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
— Carroll McMahan is the special projects coordinator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce
This is part of the Upland Chronicles series, celebrating the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics, would like to submit a column, or have comments, contact McMahan at 453-6411 or e-mail to cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or e-mail to ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S73] Rawlings Funeral Home, Book 2, 1 May 1983.
Matthews, Fred Decatur Aug 1, 1898 Tn May 1, 1983
Father: Matthews, Calvin
Mother: Tarwater, Jane Elizabeth
Cemetery: Pleasant Hill
Sisters: Lilly Hodges, Iva Atchley
- [S34] In the Shadow of the Smokies, Smoky Mountain Historical Society, (1993), 616.
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