2 MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY 



he was distinctively well-born. Through his father, 

 Richard Maury, he was descended from a very dis- 

 tinguished Huguenot family which came to Virginia in 

 1718. His mother, Diana Minor, was of Dutch ances- 

 try, being descended from Dudas Minor, who received in 

 1665 a grant of land in Virginia from King Charles H. 

 The Minors intermarried with the colonial aristocracy 

 of the Old Dominion, and there was accordingly added 

 to the mixed Huguenot and Dutch ancestry of Matthew 

 Fontaine Maury some of the best English blood in the 

 colonies. Thus it was that he inherited pride of family, 

 an inclination to scholarly pursuits, a deeply religious 

 nature, and the character and bearing of a gentleman. 



Matthew Fontaine Maury was born, the fourth son 

 in a large family of five sons and four daughters, on 

 January 14, 1806, on his father's farm near Fredericks- 

 burg, Virginia, and named after his paternal great- 

 grandfathers. There had been many migrations from 

 Spottsylvania and Albemarle counties to the free lands 

 of the Old Southwest ; and when Matthew was but five 

 years old, his father determined to attempt to better his 

 fortunes by following his uncle, Abram Maury, who had 

 already established himself on the Tennessee frontier. 

 Practically no details as to the incidents that occurred on 

 this long and toilsome trek have been preserved; but 

 there is a tradition in the family that all the goods and 

 chattels were transported in wagons, and that, when 

 little Matthew grew tired of walking or cramped from 

 riding in the rough, jolting wagons, he was frequently 

 carried on the back of one of his sisters. Their experi- 

 ences were, no doubt, similar to those of thousands of 

 other early pioneers who went to the Old Southwest to 

 lay the foundations of new commonwealths. 



