You Just Can't Matcham

This week, we will look at the descendants of the only daughter of John H. and Amanda Walker Callin to survive infancy, Emma Beatrice Callin (1885-1951). Born nearly six years after her brother, John, Emma would be quickly followed by three younger brothers born in the five years between 1885 and 1890.

George & Emma; 1907

George Delorain Matcham (1844–1923) was born in Pittsfield, Lorain county, Ohio, to Edward and Abigail (Tinker) Matcham, both of whom had come to Ohio from Massachusetts. Edward was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in 1812, and he arrived in what would be called Pittsfield in Ohio in 1830. He and Abigail were school teachers in neighboring townships. Abigail was descended from the Mayflower Tinkers.

According to a 1951 article in Elyria's "The Chronicle Telegram" on the history of schools in Lorain county:

"Pittsfield's first school was taught by Miss Minerva Loveland in a small cabin erected for educational purposes. In 1831 or 1832 Edward Matcham began his period of teaching which lasted 10 years. Miss Abagail Tinker was the first teacher in Rochester Township. She conducted her school in a log cabin during the Winter of 1833-1834."

Edward and Abigail were married 8 April 1835. They had a daughter, Mary, in 1841; their only son, George, followed in 1844. George was never a very healthy boy, and he had to drop out of his studies at the college at Oberlin because of his health problems. Still, he was a bright young man, and after he managed to complete a course at the business school at Oberlin, he took out patents on improvements he made in farm equipment, which helped establish him as a business man.

In 1871, George married his first wife, Marion Worcester (1840–1906). George served on the school board for a time, and kept up his patents for income. The couple continued to live in Pittsfield until 1895, when they moved to Oberlin. Soon after coming to Oberlin Mr. Matcham invested in land at Linwood park on Lake Erie and helped to develop the resort. He built several cottages there and had spent his summers there for several years. Marion helped run the 19 room inn they built there, until her death in 1906.

George D. Matcham II
with John H. and Amanda Callin

Emma Beatrice Callin (1885–1951) married George the following year. Emma was the fourth child of John H and Amanda (Walker) Callin. She grew up in a house with a Civil War hero father, a pioneer mother, five brothers and her grandmother, who died in 1903. They married when Emma was 22 years old and George was 63 - just two years younger than Emma's father, John H. Callin. (I suspect the two men were at least friends, if not business partners.)

In the 15 or 16 years they were married, George and Emma had five children. They continued to live off of their inn, and Emma hosted social life in the resort on Lake Erie. Sadly, George died in 1923, when their youngest daughter was only four years old; but Emma's mother, Amanda, had been living with the family for several years by then, and surely helped with the children.

After five years, Emma remarried, wedding Gustav Heimsath (1888–1963) on 10 December 1928. Gus was an engineer whose family hailed from Germantown, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. After Amanda died in 1933, and the children began to leave home, Gus and Emma moved to the Cleveland area, where Emma died in 1951.

     I. George Delorain Matcham II (1908–1994) may have been their third grandchild, but he had the distinction of being John and Amanda's first grandson. He worked as a mechanic as a young man, and at one point owned a TV repair shop. Over the course of his life, he worked at the Ridge Tool Co., General Motors Fisher Guide Plant and Bendix-Westinghouse, all in Elyria, and the Fruehauf Trailer Co. in Avon Lake.


On 7 August 1930, George married Emma Narelle Knepper (1910–1985). Emma was the daughter of Giles Allen Knepper (1878–1962) and Addie Kaiser (1884–1961). The couple had a daughter and three sons; their three eldest children are still living. They raised their family in Lorain county, and lived in Elyria until they moved to Punta Gorda, Florida, in 1965. Emma suffered from an unspecified long illness, and spent the last few months of her life in Elyria with her daughter. George died in 1994 in Punta Gorda, also after a long illness.

       D. James Allen Matcham (1943–1946) was the youngest child of George and Emma Narelle Matcham. He was struck by a car and killed at age three.

Eddie Matcham with mom
Emma Heimsath

     II. John Edward "Eddie" Matcham (1912–1965) served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II, and married Opal Estelle Hindman (1907–2001) in Peoria, Illinois in November 1945. They lived in Peoria and ran a restaurant near Bradley University. Eddie was severely wounded during the war, and was a member of Disabled American Veterans. He died at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Haywood, Illinois. He was buried on Christmas Eve Day in 1965.

     III. Marjorie Matcham (1914–1999) was 6 years old when her father died, and she was about 11 when her mother remarried. She would have grown up knowing her grandmother, Amanda.

Marjorie married Robert William Young (1913–1992) on 23 December 1934. His parents were Edward D Young (1874–1953) and Mary Elizabeth Barnes (1876–1940). Edward was not related to the Young family we talked about in the post A Sly, Young Girl; they were descended from a different Young family which had been in America since the 1700s. Edward was born in England in 1874 and came to the United States in 1881.

Robert and Marjorie had three sons, though only two survived to adulthood. She was the owner of Grange Mutual Insurance Agency in Youngstown, Ohio, until 1962, when the couple moved to Punta Gorda, Florida. She was a member of Peace River Shores Property Owners Association, Charlotte County Art Guild and the Arthritis Foundation. They left behind six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.


       A. Lawrence William Young (1938–1948) drowned while trying to rescue his younger brother while they were rafting in an abandoned strip mine. Chester was pulled out of the water by two Boy Scouts, Richard Griffen (15) and Ronald Reese (15), but they were not able to rescue Larry.

       B. Chester Edward Young Sr (1939–1996) grew up and married in 1960. His wife, son, and two daughters survived him.

       C. John W. Young (1941–2007) was a graduate of Youngstown State University and in 1999 he retired from General Motors Powertrain of Defiance, Ohio. He left behind a wife, son, two daughters, and five grandchildren.

     IV. Truman Wallace Matcham (1916–2005) served in the United States Navy during WWII and graduated from Ohio State University in 1948. He married Martha Lee Rosencrance (1923–2003) on 19 June 1943, then served in the war from 22 April 1944 through 24 January 1946. They raised two daughters and a son, all still living.

Truman retired from General Electric Co. in 1980 after working 41 years as an industrial engineer and manager. He was a member of the Lawrence Park United Methodist Church, where he was a trustee and held other leadership positions. He served as a Lawrence Park Commissioner and Judge of Elections in Lawrence Park for many years. He also served on the board of the Erie chapter of Meals on Wheels.

     V. Ruth Ellen Matcham Heimsath (1919–2009) was so small when her father died, she only really knew her step-father, Gus Heimsath. She grew up and married Richard R "Zimmy" Zimmerman (1924–2009) in February 1946, and they had two children: a son, still living, and a daughter. Zimmy remarried in 1969, and judging from the dates of the records, his divorce from Ruth, his second marriage, and his younger daughter did not arrive in that order. Regardless of the situation, Ruth began using her step-father's name, and was known as Ruth Heimsath until her death in 2009.

     A. Sarah J "Sally" Zimmerman Pence (1947–2012) died suddenly on Sunday, March 11, 2012 in Chapala, Mexico. She left behind her husband of almost 30 years, six daughters, 13 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.

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That seems like a lot of tragedy for one small post, but there are also a lot of folks who are still with us... and a lot of children and grandchildren! That motivates me to keep going, and finish this project - not just so you'll all buy the eventual book, but so we have something that ties us all together.

An even better way to tie us together is to drop a note; you can comment here on the blog, email my Gmail address - I'm "callintad" - or click on the link to visit the private Callin Family History group on Facebook. (Relatives of James Callin only, please; I will ask how you're related before I click "approve"!)

As always, if you spot any mistakes or omissions, or if you want to share a story about one of these Callin family descendants (whatever their surname) I hope you'll let me know.