File contributed by Fred Hamilton ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Biography of Robert M. and Mattie Lou Hamilton McGehee Presented at the 30th Annual Hamilton Reunion Downsville United Methodist Church Downsville, Louisiana August 7, 1988 March 18, 1891 was a very special day because that is the birth date of Mattie Lou Hamilton McGehee. She was the second daughter of James Meriwether and Julia Mary Calhoun Hamilton of Downsville. She had two sisters and eight brothers, and her father was the community's physician. Mattie Lou attended school in Downsville and in 1913, she graduated from the Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana (now Louisiana Tech University) with a degree in Domestic Science (Home Economics). During her college days she played on the collegiate basketball team and was apart of a small group of fun-loving girls who called themselves the "Dirty Dozen." Next came graduate school at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. It was there that she met a young law student named Robert Micajah McGehee. They were married in Downsville on June 25, 1914. He gave her an engraved watch as an engagement gift. Bob and Mattie Lou lived in Hammond and became the parents of three children: Julia Webb - May 26, 1915 ; Robert Joseph (Bobby Joe) - November 5, 1918 ; and Lucius D'Yampert (Lu) - December 14, 1921. Mattie had given her life to Christ at an early age, and she served Him as a leader in the Hammond Methodist Church. She was a church choir member and sang many solos. During the first years of the Great Depression, Mattie Lou worked as a clerk at Donaldson's Department Store in Hammond. Many people said she was the best and most helpful employee. She was unselfish in her service to others -- whether friend or stranger. Mattie Lou was a good manager and could make the best our of any situation, but the Depression became so very bad that she had to take the children and move back to her parent's home in Downsville. These were some hard years with Bob working in Hammond and the family in Downsville, but they endured and became stronger and closer together through it all. They eventually built a home in Downsville and finished raising their family there. Once again the church was a very important part of Mattie Lou's life. She was President of the Women's Society of Christian Service and was honored with a Life Membership. One time she received a letter from Rev. Isaac Patton thanking her for visiting the sick and shut-ins and expressing appreciation for her service to others. Mattie Lou didn't talk that much about God, but she didn't have to. She lived her faith, and you could see Him in her everyday living, especially after Bob died in 1960, and she lived alone. Mattie Lou enjoyed people and often had a party when out-of-town family came to visit. She always had bud vases of roses sin every bedroom and a bouquet of her flowers on the dining room table -- roses, camellias, daisies, daylillies, iris. There was a huge camellia bush in front of their house that came from her husband,Robert Micajah McGehee's grandmothers home in Alabama. It is over 100 years old and still growing. Mattie Lou often wore a camellia on her lapel. She was a tall, stately woman and always fashionably dressed. Blue was her favorite color, and she wore it often. It matched her eyes, and did they sparkle! Mattie Lou enjoyed keeping house and was an immaculate housekeeper. She had an easy-going personality and not much upset her except one time when Bob's puppy had left stains on the light green carpet! Mattie Lou often baby sat for her grandchildren. By now she had a new name -- Gee Gee -- named by one of the little granddaughters who wasn't big enough to say Grandmother McGehee. From then on she was either called Gee Gee or Aunt Matt by everyone. They suited her just fine. She never liked the name Mattie Lou anyway! Gee Gee had a special place in her heart for each of her 14 grandchildren, her seven girls and seven boys. She would let them to things their parents didn't allow like carve their initials in her big mimosa tree, saw on a wooden drawer in the pantry with a knife, or dig in the dirt under the house with her good spoons. Pictures of her children and grandchildren covered the walls of her bedroom. She often took the kids fishing at the pond, baited all the hooks, cleaned the fish, cooked them, and then patiently picked the fish off the bones so the children wouldn't get a bone stuck in their throats. Gee Gee was a super cook known especially for fried chicken, rice and gravy, caramel squares, and pancakes. Gee Gee loved to play cards -- Canasta, Rook, Hearts, and Spades -- and she always wanted to win! She enjoyed watching her grandchildren play basketball and baseball. One year at the Athletic Banquet she was surprised to receive a trophy -- for Downsville High School's Most Faithful Fan. As Gee Gee grew older, she grew even more beautiful. She loved her family so much, and she allowed each of her grandchildren to select crystal from her china cabinet which were her wedding gifts. She gave away her jewelry. She spent hours watching her birds from her breakfast room windows. She stilled worked in her flower garden. Many times her son, Lu, would come to visit her and find her in the rose garden in the heat of the day. He would fuss at her and tell her she was going to die in that flower garden! She always said, "I hope I do." Gee Gee lived long enough to see some of her older grandchildren married and to love several great-grandchildren. How proud she was of her entire family! Gee Gee went to her eternal home on January 22, 1977 at the age of 86, a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend to all. OBIT MRS. MCGEHEE DOWNSVILLE— Funeral services for Mrs. Mattie Lou Hamilton McGehee, 85, of Downsville, will be at 3 p.m. today in Downsville United Methodist Church with Revs. I.A. Patton, Leon Scott, and James Ailor officiating. Burial will be in Downsville Cemetery under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home of Ruston. Mrs. McGehee died at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Alpine Nursing Home at Ruston after a lengthy illness. A native of Downsville, Mrs. McGehee was active in community and church activities. Survivors include two sons, Lucius D. McGehee of Ruston and Robert J. McGehee of Downsville, 14 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. The family requests memorials be made to the Downsville United Methodist Church. OBIT FORMER LOUISIANA LAWMAKER DIES IN MONROE HOSPITAL RUSTON--Robert M. McGehee, 72, of Downsville died at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Francis Hospital in Monroe after a brief illness. Funeral rites weill be at 2:30 p.m. today in the Downsville Methodist Church with the Rev. Grady Foreman officiating. Burial will be in Downsville Cemetery under direction of Spears-Kimball Funeral Home of Ruston. A retired lawyer and a native of Woodville, Miss., Mr. McGehee was a 32nd degree Mason, a Gideon, and a member of Knights Templar. He was also a former member of the Louisiana Legislature and former city judge of Hammond as well as a steward in the Methodist Church. Survivors include his widow, Mrs. Mattie Lou McGehee; two sons, Robert J. McGehee of Downsville and Luciuc D. McGehee of Ruston; one daughter, Mrs. Julia Webb Lipscomb of Ponchatoula; and 13 grandchildren. # # #