| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 30 Dec 2002.
Julia Ellen Mathis obituary
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name: Vola Mathis
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Civil District 9, Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Marital Status: Single
Race (Original): White
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Son
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birthplace: TENNESSEE
Birth Year (Estimated): 1916
Last Place of Residence: Same House
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Teen Mathis Head F 52 TENNESSEE
Vola Mathis Son M 24 TENNESSEE
Otha Mathis Son M 22 TENNESSEE
R L Mathis Son M 18 TENNESSEE
Olie Mathis Son M 16 TENNESSEE
Walter Large Son-in-law M 24 TENNESSEE
Belva Large Daughter F 20 TENNESSEE
Eugene Large Grandson M 0 TENNESSEE
- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 4 Jul 2009.
(October 12, 1911 - July 4, 2009)
Vole Mathis October 12, 1911 July 4, 2009
Vole Mathis, age 97 of Cosby, passed away, Saturday, July 4, 2009 at Baptist Hospital of Cocke County, after a fifteen month illness. He was born October 12, 1911 in Cosby, Tennessee at what is now the National Park. He loved his church, Allens Missionary Baptist Church, which he had attended until he became ill. He was well known for operating bulldozers and graders in the Cocke County area for over 50 years, and helping build Interstate 40. He loved to say he was from Cosby, Tennessee, he loved to laugh, and he loved people.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Julie Williams Mathis, parents, Dan and Mary “Teen” (Ogle) Mathis, brothers and sisters, Olen Mathis, Virgie Mathis, Lottie Gunter, Clarence Mathis, Alfred Mathis, Otha Mathis, Belva Large, R.L. Mathis, and Olie “Gus” Mathis, all of Cosby.
He is survived by his daughters, Deane Galbreath, of Hartford, Joann Rhodes and husband Edward, of Dandridge, Valerie Williams and Gregg of Bridgeton, New Jersey; grandchildren, Melina Strange and husband Tim; Patricia Ellison and husband Eric; Sonya Shirley and Glen Ray, and April Shirley and husband Jason; great-grandchildren, Tyler Shirley, Emily Ellison, and Makenna Shirley; sister-in-law, Grace Mathis; many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends; special friend Ramona and the staff who cared for him at the Baptist Convalescent Center.
Funeral services will be held 8:00 pm, Monday, July 6, 2009 in Manes Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. Leon Large, officiating. Burial will be held 11:00 am, Tuesday, July 7, 2009 in Ogle Hill Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5-8 pm Monday at Manes Funeral Home prior to the funeral.
Manes Funeral Home in charge.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 7 Jun 2009.
Vol Mathis dead at 97
COSBY-Burial services were set this morning for Vole Mathis, well-known bulldozer operator, in Ogle Hill Cemetery in Cosby, a short distance from his birthplace in what is today part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mathis died Saturday in Baptist Hospital of Cocke County after a fifteen-month illness. He was 97.
Mathis was born October 12, 1911, in the Mathis home which stood near today's entrance into Cosby Campground, the eastern access to GSMNP. He was the last surviving sibling of ten children born to Dan and Mary 'Teen' (Ogle) Mathis, and a grandson of Elder Isaac Ogle, who pastored churches in Cocke and Sevier Counties for half a century and his wife, the former Nancy Jane Reagan.
Mathis enjoyed telling his children and grandchildren about his early days spent in this region and pointing out that he often plowed corn with a yoke of steers in the area now encompassed by the Park.
Although he had no formal schooling, Mathis was known for his exceptional skills in mathematics. According to his granddaughter, Patricia Ellison, her grandfather could calculate the square footage of an area "quicker in his head than anyone else could using a pencil and paper."
He also laughed about the time he had earned a five-dollar gold piece through the sales of chestnuts taken to the Knoxville market. The coin had been placed on the mantelpiece of the family's home when Mathis's mother went into labor with her son Olie "Gus" Mathis.
While his older siblings stayed with their mother, Mathis was sent to fetch the midwife. Within a few hours, the newest child had arrived and Mathis paid the midwife with his five-dollar gold piece. He later claimed that Gus "belonged to him" because he had "bought and paid for the new baby."
After most of their neighbors left the Park area, the Mathis family remained, taking advantage of the government's offer to remain in their home as long as they left everything the way it was.
"We just thought we'd live there forever," he would later say, but after fire destroyed their homeplace, the Mathis family moved a short distance away to Indian Camp. Among the things left behind was an abandoned automobile belonging to Mathis, part of which can still be seen today.
As a young man, Mathis was fascinated by all vehicles and owned one of the first motorcycles in Cocke County.
He also owned and operated the first bulldozer in Cocke County and over a fifty-year period graded building sites and roadways throughout the area.
During the construction of Interstate 40, he accepted an offer of extra pay for bulldozer work on top of the mountain stretch through "the Gorge" to push rocks out of the way. Because of the dangerous steepness of the area, workers tied ropes to the machine in case it started to slide down the mountain.
Mathis was preceded in death by his wife Julie Williams Mathis, his parents, and the following brothers and sisters: Olen Mathis, Virgie Mathis, Lottie (Mathis) Gunter, Clarence Mathis, Alfred Mathis, Otha Mathis, Belva (Mathis) Large, R. L. Mathis, and Olie "Gus" Mathis.
His survivors include three daughters: Deane Galbreath, Hartford; Joann Rhodes, Dandridge; and Valerie Williams, Bridgeton, New Jersey; four granddaughters; three great-grandchildren; and one sister-in-law, Grace Mathis, Cosby.
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1911 - 2009 (97 years)
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