Matilda Lewis

Matilda Preston (1803-1883) was born at the time the family moved to Kentucky, and she claimed Kentucky as her birth place in future census’. “Matilda married Brackin L. Lewis on 23 December 1819 in Floyd County. Their first nine (or so) children were born in Kentucky before they, along with many other related Floyd County families, moved to Vermilion County, Illinois, in the early 1830s for about one year. Finally, they settled in Washington County, Arkansas, by 1836.” They had a total of sixteen children during their marriage. In her obituary Bracken’s nephew is quoted as saying that she “was noted for her beauty and amiable disposition, and their home was one of the happiest homes in Arkansas, and no one who has in days long gone enjoyed their royal hospitality can ever forget the pleasures of that quiet peaceful home.” She died in 1883 in White River, Arkansas, having lived a long life of 80 years, and was buried at the Whitehouse Cemetery in Arnett, Washington County, Arkansas. Despite the efforts of volunteers, no stone has been found that marks her grave, and the fact of her burial here comes from an earlier enumeration of the cemetery.