McDonough ILGenWeb

LE MATTY, Joseph B., M. D. (deceased). — In the death of Dr. Joseph B. LeMatty, April 5, 1903, McDonough County lost a citizen of enviable character and one who, for a quarter of a century, pursued the profession of medicine and surgery with large benefit to his fellow-men. Dr. LeMatty was born in Perth Amboy, N. J., August 18, 1846, and was a son of Joseph and Joanna (Flood) LeMatty, natives of France and New Jersey, respectively. Joseph LeMatty came from France in his youth, and for many years followed the barber's trade in New Jersey, finally settling in Nauvoo, Ill., where he at present lives with his second wife.

Dr. LeMatty's youthful impressions were gained on the farm of his paternal grandparents in New Jersey, and in the district schools which he attended during the leisure of the winter months. In time he wearied of agriculture and learned from his father the barber's trade, devoting his time to the same in Bushnell, Ill., after his arrival there in 1867. A fewyears later he established a barber shop in Vermont, Fulton County, but seeking a wider and more resourceful occupation, in 1875 he entered the Missouri Medical College, in St. Louis, after reading medicine for a time in the office of Dr. Hoover in Vermont, graduating in medicine and surgery at the end of the two years' course. In 1877 he entered upon his professional career in New Philadelphia, McDonough County, and for twenty-five years made himself an important factor in the community. In March, 1902, he retired from active life to Bardolph, where he owned a comfortable home, in which the last months of his life were spent.

October 2, 1870, Dr. LeMatty was united in marriage to Mary B. Clark, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Jonathan and Melissa (Melhone) Clark, natives of Massachusetts and Ohio, respectively. Of the three children born to Dr. and Mrs. LeMatty, all are living: Minnie, wife of Claude Beal, of St. Louis; Joanna, wife of Dr. Hendricks, of Bardolph; and Daisy, wife of J. B. Knapp, of Chicago. Dr. LeMatty paid little attention to interests outside of his immediate profession, a fact which doubtless accounted for his success and continual advancement. He was a profound student of science, and at all times maintained the best principles and purposes of the profession to which his best years were devoted. His life, although comparatively brief, as years and opportunities are numbered, was well rounded and wisely directed, and he left as a legacy to his loved ones a comfortable competence, a spotless reputation and memories charged with noble deeds and unremitting self-sacrifices. In politics, he was a Republican.

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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McDonough County, compiled by Dr. Newton Bateman, and Paul Shelby, 1907, volume 2, page 936, extracted 15 Jun 2019 by Norma Hass.