William Willard Mathews

Updated 9/26/2023 (CLM) Photo is from from 1983 celebrating 50th Wedding Anniversary//www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11479370 W.W.Mathews was born in Murphy, Cherokee County, North Carolina on February 25, 1907 . His parents were William David Mathews/Mathis and Sarah (Gailey) Mathews. He was the youngest of four children and the only son. The family came down to Central Florida sometime after W.W. turned three. As a child he would swim in Lake Eloise with African-American children during the "Jim Crow Era". William David left the family soon after and W.W worked for a Citrus Packing Plant as a laborer and later became a mechanic. I am unsure about his education, but he did go to school. W.W would often be found in his spare time working on projects. W.W made knives by melting aluminum in home made smelter.The smelter was an metal bucket with the bottom cut out and a blowtorch placed at the bottom to melt the metal. After the metal was melted it was placed in a wooden form of the handle the blade was placed inside. Once cooled he would remove any "flash" or "Excess Metal". Once WW found some railroad spikes and welded metal to them to create a Grasshopper paper weight. WW painted them black and painted large eyes on the head of the spikes. He was very good with math,but did his calculations in his head and no one could bother him or he would lose everything.His favorite sport was baseball, and football He married Audrey Lee Lawrence on December 31,1931.Together they had seven children 4 boys and 3 girls. In the 1930's W.W joined the Florida National Guard, and during WWII he worked in a war plant in Lakeland welding tanks. He passed away from cancer on December 22, 1989 and his Find A Grave # is 11479370 .He is Buried in the Church of Christ Cemetery in Eagle Lake, FL behind the Eagle Lake Elementary School.http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11479370Please Note: There is an unmarked headstone in the Mathews' plot. The story varies but a man from New York with either Cancer or TB came to Eagle Lake.The man may have been a member of the Church of Christ or knew a member at Eagle Lake , and bought the plot.The paper work was lost and no one knows who the man was.