07/15/2023
Remembering the patriarch of our Garber community, J.K. Ross (Old Matt) who passed away 100 years ago today July 14, 1923.
The 'White River Leader' newspaper at Branson mentioned his passing five days later.
J.K. Ross, commonly known as "Old
Matt" from the character in Harold Bell
Wright's Shepherd of the Hills, for
which he was the prototype, died the
morning of July 14. He was at the
home of his niece, Mrs. A.E. Jennings
of Springfield at the time.
Mr. Ross was born February 5, 1852,
in Huntington County, Pennsylvania.
When he was fifteen the family moved
to Indiana. In 1884 they moved to a
farm near Springfield, Missouri, where
they remained about ten years, when
Mr. Ross moved to Taney county.
He and his wife settled near Garber
remaining in that vicinity until last
winter when Mrs. Ross died.
Mr. Ross had planned to go to Cali-
fornia to reside with his son Charles,
but he never recovered sufficiently
from the sickness that came on him at
the time of his wife's death to be able to
make the trip.
Mr. Ross and his wife, commonly
known as "Old Matt and Aunt Mollie"
served as the central figures in the
book we mentioned above.
It amazes me the workload that Mr. Ross dealt with, especially in the last twenty years of his life. This man showed no signs of slowing down. Owning and operating a sawmill business at age 46. Taking on a weekly newspaper column position for the Garber community in 1901 along with occasional Sunday preaching. The Postmaster and Grocery business in 1907 at age fifty-five. Taking the railroad station agent job as well.
Then came the fans of the Shepherd of the Hills novel. He had to hire an assistant to help with the Post Office and Grocery business so he could do constant meet and greet during the summer months. Moving to Garber permanently in 1911 helped the situation greatly. His load of fan mail was overwhelming. Did he capitalize on his on his fame? You bet he did. He went on a lecture circuit for several years, his topic of discussion was how Harold Bell Wright changed everyone's lives for the better. His paperback booklet "Old Matt's View of It" was a huge success, sold to all guests as they got off the train at Garber.
It would be a couple of years before Old Matt and Aunt Mollie would receive a headstone at their gravesite at the Evergreen Cemetery near Notch. Branson tour guide and taxi driver Pearl Spurlock began the campaign to raise funds for their memorial raising the $250 to cover the cost. She did this by asking her passengers for one-dollar donations, and Harold Bell Wright donated funds as well. The new headstone was dedicated in 1925.
This morning I took flowers to the cemetery and decorated the area in front of their headstone and whispered a thank you to them and told them how much I love them. It's an honor to tell our guests out here at their homestead all about them. The good Lord has truly smiled down on us and still does.
--John
