A Labor of Love

DeKalb’s Matteson Farms Commissary serves as a fitting tribute to the Matteson family’s passion for history

by JENNIFER JORDAN

Friends and family members of the Mattesons gathered for the ribbon cutting of Matteson Farms Commissary on October 27.

Marcus Garvey once said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” Worth Matteson, Jr. knew his family’s history meant more than just his own personal history. He was interested in the history of all places and people he came across in his life. “He wanted to preserve history. He saw value in things others didn’t,” explains Matteson’s son, Worth III. This interest grew into a collection of hundreds of antiques that Matteson picked up on his travels. After Matteson passed in 1999, his wife, Beverly, asked their son, Worth III, what they should do with all of his treasures. Luckily for us, much of Matteson’s collection is now on display in the Matteson Farms Commissary at the Williams House Museum in DeKalb.  

Worth and Beverly’s grandchildren during the ribbon cutting: (front row) Linsley Matteson Kinkade and Laura Matteson LaCroix; (back row) George Matteson, Worth Matteson IV and Allen Matteson.

The Matteson family has operated a farm in Foreman for over a century.  “Grandy was a SeaBee in WWII in the South Pacific,” remarks his granddaughter, Laura LaCroix. “I think this is when a farmer from Southwest Arkansas developed a love of all things nautical. He had many treasures from his years in the South Pacific and other nautical antiques - many he said rivaled items in the Smithsonian. My brothers and cousins had many pretend sea adventures playing with the ship’s wheel, compass and ship engine room telegraph.”  

Turn-of-the-century (1860-1900) kitchen utensils displayed in the Commissary museum include choppers, grinders, apple peelers and cherry pitters.

Worth Jr. bought, sold, traded items throughout his life, but it became a full-time passion when Worth III and his brother, Gordon, returned to the farm after college. Laura comments, “I remember how they  would leave on their antique hunting trips to New England in late spring and return 6-8 weeks later with a motorhome full of treasures.” “He was an antique seeker. Those were his vacations,” adds Worth III. Worth Jr. and Beverly would sell some items in the antiques markets in Texarkana. “He would spend weeks cleaning things and getting it all ready to go. He would sell some items so that he could buy more.” 

In the farm’s commissary, Matteson stored his finds. Worth Sr. had constructed the original building in the early 1910s or 1920s, and it operated as a commissary for Matteson Farms’ tenant farmers until the beginning of World War II. “It became a farm office and parts house until Worth Jr.’s collection pushed the parts out and into a newly constructed shop in 1975,” Worth III elaborates. “From then until now, it has been a farm office and display of his many antiques.

As youngsters, the grandchildren played with many of the nautical items now displayed in the Commissary museum.

“He greatly enjoyed showing his antiques to the many visitors at the farm. If one showed an interest in the items, he would spend hours with explanations of their use and history,” Worth III states. “He definitely knew the purposes of his items as well as their historical value. He educated himself to better understand his collections,” Laura adds.  

Worth Jr. and Beverly Matteson with their grandchildren: (front row) Worth Matteson IV and George Matteson; (back row) Laura Matteson LaCroix, Linsley Matteson Kinkade and Allen Matteson.

In addition to nautical history, Worth Jr.’s interests included Americana, Native American artifacts and especially tools from the past. “He pursued many interests but always returned to his true passion of finding tools with history,” Worth III says. Tools form the majority of the museum collection. It is easy to see why Worth Jr. was besotted with antique tools. Their craftsmanship is exquisite. “Looking at these, you can see that people had uses for everything. If they needed to do a job, they made a tool for it,” comments Worth III’s wife, Janie. At Matteson Farms Commissary one can marvel over a multitude of farm tools, from travelers, spades and pitchforks to a horse collar maker, a scale and a cotton gin. There are household tools for cooking and carpentry tools. The building also houses Worth Jr.’s nautical items, including an anchor, ship’s wheel, and a ship’s figurehead. Worth Jr. also enjoyed building things himself. His own armillary sphere is on display. 

The collection is lovingly preserved in a museum building that was a labor of love itself. When the Matteson family sought to share Worth Jr.’s collection with others, DeKalb residents Michael and Carolyn McCrary developed the idea to design the building to be a replica of the original farm commissary office on the headquarters of Matteson Farms. “We envisioned recreating the barn’s features in the new building,” Carolyn McCrary explains.  “Michael completed the interior by himself, spending months working on it,” adds Janie. “All the wood you see was from the Old Calvit Barn.” Indeed, McCrary refinished boards, walls and doors with lumber and tin reclaimed from the Old Calvit Barn, a century-old barn that sat north of DeKalb on U.S. Highway 259. No doubt Worth Jr. would have been delighted to have another piece of history preserved along with all of his treasures. “Right away, Mike knew that enough could be salvaged to complete the entire interior. When the many displays were added, the project was a ‘thing of beauty,’ as the inside design and artifacts complemented each other, “ Carolyn states. “We feel that working with Janie and Worth III was a true partnership, and we are all quite pleased with the end result. Mike says that his one regret was that he never met Worth Jr. and Beverly Matteson as they must have been two interesting people.” 

Worth Matteson Jr. posing on an anchor that is now on display in the Commissary museum.

The Matteson family and the Williams House Museum volunteers held a ribbon cutting ceremony on October 27. They hope that travelers from far and wide will visit the Matteson Farms Commissary, as well as the four other Williams House Museum buildings. “The DeKalb volunteers are wonderful people who take care of the building,” Worth III states. Visitors are welcomed anytime. Linda Shumake, one of the volunteers, is happy to open the museum, she says, “whenever there is any interest.” Linda can be reached at 903-667-3917 or 903-824-3580, and Carolyn McCrary can be reached at 903-667-3344 or 903-748-1698. 

For the Matteson family, the commissary serves as a fitting tribute to Worth Jr.’s passion for history. “The commissary is not a finished product,” states Worth III. “We will continue to add things.” Laura adds that the goal of their family is to “provide a link to our past, and educate and entertain current and future generations. We also want to bring attention to the fabulous museum that is already in place at the Williams House. We hope that more people will make a weekend drive to DeKalb to see a truly high-caliber unique and eclectic collection.”