Henry Walter “Walter” Matthews was born January 21, 1857, the youngest child of William A. Matthews, among the earliest settlers in Green DeWitt’s colony. Family connections run deep here: W. A. first married Naomi DeWitt, daughter of Empresario Green DeWitt, and after her death married Nancy King Fuqua, sister of William King of the Immortal 32. Walter attended Gonzales College, later farmed and ranched, and made multiple cattle drives, one reaching Wyoming. He married Elizabeth Rachel “Betty” Askey on March 10, 1885; their son was J. J. Matthews. The couple completed this house in 1911, and it remained in the family until 1971. Walter was killed on May 16, 1939; Betty died February 11, 1948; both are interred in the Masonic Cemetery. Independent house directories and press previews for historic-home openings confirm the 1911 date, the long Matthews tenure, and the family’s prominence.