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Mary Ann Amelia Manning was the paternal grandmother of our "Dee-Dee. "Mathew
Stewart Mathews.
She came from a prosperous and active Norfolk County family. Her father,
Mathew Manning, Jr. was a judge and sheriff. Her brother was sheriff also.
Another brother was in the Virginia General Assembly. Another, deputy clerk of
the circuit court. She was descended from John Manning who arrived at Norfolk on
The Globe in 1635. Her mother was Mary Hodges, daughter of Soloman
Hodges.
A complete genealogy of her family can be found at
www.manningfamily.org.
 Click
here for a larger
portrait painting of Mary Ann. It is in a pdf file that is read-only. Right
click to download file. You will need Acrobat Reader, which can be
downloaded from
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
If family members want to make a high-quality print, contact Lynn Hopewell.
She was a poet. Here is an image of
one of her poems. Note the handwriting. If you want to enlarge the image,
right click and download to desktop and view with an image editor, where you can
enlarge it.
Below is a transcription of the poem. Mary Ann was married to Edwin White
before she married James William Mathews. She had two daughters by White. He
died when the girls were only a few years old. Mary Ann is writing to her oldest
daughter, Mary.
Lines to my little daughter Mary H. White
Dear Mary, thou art in thy teens,
This day, you’re twelve years old,
What cares, what joys! What varied scenes!
I’ve felt and passed, untold,
With thee an infant, on my knees,
I’ve wept, I’ve laughed, I’ve smiled,
For I have lived for Rose and thee,
For love, my pains beguiled.
And from thine infancy, till now,
I’ve watched o’er thee and Rose,
Some grief I’ve born, I can’t tell how,
My Maker only knows.
I saw, when thou an infant quite,
Thy Father borne away,
By death, Oh what a chilling blight!
I felt upon that day.
But time has suaged that poignant grief,
Tis well, time checks our tears,
And by degrees brings some relief,
As rolls succeeding years.
But Mary, thou an orphan soon,
Hast never know thy Pa,
For him you lost, long e’er twas noon,
To meet the world, with Ma.
But Providence has never left,
Us yet, without a friend,
Nor have we ever been bereft,
Of Hope ——— Hope to the end
By your fond and affectionate Mother Mary Ann A. White
[Mary
Hodges White was 12 on 1 August 1848. Mary Ann
was age 35 years and 1 day. 3 months later, on 14 November she bore her son
Mathew James Mathews, by her second husband, James William Mathews. Oddly she
signed using the last name of Mary's father instead of her new husband's.]
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