I seriously doubt in the community of Meadows of Dan, there has ever been a man more loved and respected than Mr. Matt Burnette. Madison Lee “Matt” Burnette was born on the 1st of February 1904 to John Burnette and Orpha McGrady Burnette. Matt was the fourth child born to the couple; the first being Mary Jane; followed by Annie Eunice; Elisha Reuben; then Matt; next was Louisa Ruth; John Dexter; Gracie Irene; and Eulalia Dora Burnette.
Mr. Matt married Miss Ella (NMN) Smith of Laurel Fork in Carroll County, Virginia on the 27th of November 1926. Ella was the second child born to Marion William Smith and Flora Banks Smith. Ella’s older brother was Elbert, and her younger brother was Burton Smith.
Mr. Matt would tell a funny story about his courtship of Miss Ella Smith. When visiting Ella, Matt would tie his horse to the same apple tree in the front yard of her parents. The horse would paw the ground beneath the tree while he waited on Mr. Matt. Miss Ella’s Daddy, Marion W. Smith, asked Matt to tie his horse somewhere else because the hole where the horse had pawed was getting so deep that Mr. Smith was afraid the apple tree might fall over!
Mr. Bob Heafner, editor of the Mountain Laurel (mtnlaurel.com) once asked Mr. Matt what his favorite toy was as a child. Matt recalled that a man once gave him a piece of an old rubber inner tube and he made slingshots out of it. Mr. Matt’s mother wrapped it in paper and put it in an old trunk so sunlight couldn’t get to it. When it was time for a new slingshot, Mr. Matt would cut off just enough of the old inner tube for a new slingshot and would store the remainder away for the next time.
Everyone that encountered Mr. Matt has a memorable story to tell. My first memory of Mr. Matt was at my grandparent’s farm in Willis, Virginia in 1974. My grandfather was retiring after many years working on the Blue Ridge Parkway and he and my grandmother were moving “below the mountain” to be near their only child and only grandchild. Mr. Matt was the auctioneer in charge of selling the items that married folks collect over a period of nearly five decades.
Mr. Matt got his start as an auctioneer at the age of eleven. His first job was auctioning off the logs that were cut when clearing the site for the Concord Primitive Baptist Church. In an interview by Julie Hazelwood and shared by Matt’s granddaughter, Joyce Burnette Webb, Mr. Matt stated, “I guess I was born an auctioneer. Unless it’s born in a man, he won’t be a good one. I never reached out very far, just here and adjoining counties. Hazelwood asked Mr. Matt if he had taken any special training to be an auctioneer and he stated, “I’ve never took a bit of schooling, it’s just as natural as talking.”
In addition to auctioneering, Mr. Matt supported his growing family by sawmilling and farming. Matt and Ella’s first son, Arlie Eugene, was born in January of 1928, followed by William Kenneth in July of 1930, and Glenn Clayton Burnette in March of 1938.
Shortly before Glenn was born, Mr. Matt got a job working for the National Park Service building the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mr. Matt was paid .30 cents an hour for his work in helping build a 20-mile stretch of the parkway. Matt and Ella Smith also owned land beside Meadows of Dan Baptist Church and its’ cemetery of which part would be taken to become part of the parkway. On this land were graves of Africans who were enslaved by the Langhorne family of Meadows of Dan. Mr. Matt cared for the graves marked with fieldstones, but once the land was taken for the parkway, workers took the fieldstones and used them to fill in what would become the “scenic highway”.
Mr. Matt never forgot about this cemetery and showed his sons and grandchildren, and anyone else who would listen where the graves were located. In 1984, Mr. Bob Heafner promised Matt that he would do his best to get the headstones restored on the National Park Service (NPS) land, next to the Blue Ridge Parkway. After diligently working for thirty-four years with NPS officials, Heafner was able to preside over the dedication of the monument in August of 2018. If Mr. Matt had not insisted on sharing his knowledge of the cemetery, it would likely have been lost to the ages.
Mr. Matt started working as a custodian for Meadows of Dan Elementary/High School in 1945 and continued to work there for the next twenty years. My mother attended the school during this time and has such fond memories of Matt; she said all the children loved him because he was so kind to everyone.
Once Mr. Matt retired, he went full-bore on making handmade toys like the ones he played with as a child: Jumping Jacks; Dancing Dans; pop guns; sling shots; whimmy diddles; horseshoe puzzles; and spinning tops. All the toys were made from soft pine wood and usually fashioned with his pocketknife. Mr. Matt would spend five or six hours a day making the toys and folks could purchase them at Mayberry Trading Post and Mabry Mill.
Joyce Burnette Webb shared the following memories of her grandparents, “When the grandchildren were growing up, he always gave us lots of attention. He sang little songs, recited poems, and told ghost stories. Grandpa Matt had little short sayings invented just for us that he would frequently recite or sing to us. He would sit on the porch with us and sing hymns in his beautiful voice. He played with us and his handmade tools. He would teach us the tricks of the toys or challenge us to solve the puzzles. He particularly enjoyed chasing us with the pop guns!”
Joyce remembered, “He had dairy cows and taught me how to milk, then Grandma would show us how to make butter and cottage cheese. Coffee was very popular in the Burnette home. When I was about 5 years old, Grandpa would mix coffee, cream, and sugar and feed it to me from a saucer. They used brewed coffee which often left grounds in the bottom of the cup. Grandpa would gather us around the table and look into the grounds in the cup and tell us our futures. He was always looking out for us. At family dinners, he always saw to it that the children’s plates were filled before the adults dug in themselves.”
Linda Burnette Fain also shared some memories of her grandparents, “Grandpa always spelled his name Burnett, without the e at the end. Pronounced Burn-it. But Grandma Ella put the e at the end and their 3 sons were Burnette. Funny because when I was born, my birth certificate came back without the e. My parents went through a process to correct it!”
Linda continued, “Grandpa Matt was also adept at storytelling. He especially liked ghost or supernatural stories. I have recordings of his story telling and his singing. Grandpa Matt was a wonderful singer, and he was also a water dowser. He used a Y shaped big wooden stick. I recall that he was occasionally called upon to find water underground. Grandma Ella was supportive of Grandpa in his various interests. She was talented in being an exceptional wife, mother, and grandma! Grandma was also outstanding at crocheting and cooking.”
Mr. Matt passed away on the third of February 1987; he was 83 years old. His beloved wife, Miss Ella followed him less than three years later, passing away on the 6th of November 1989 at the age of 81. They are buried at Meadows of Dan Baptist Church Cemetery.
We are fortunate that we can still see and hear Mr. Matt and Miss Ella today! You can go to YouTube and just type “Matt Burnett” in the search bar and a wonderful video of the couple recorded by WFMY-TV comes up. The Southern Folklife Collection in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill contains audio recordings of Elder Bennie Clifton and Mr. Matt singing Primitive Baptist hymns. In 1978, as part of the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project for the Library of Congress, Mr. Matt was photographed, and audio interviews were recorded. By just going to the Library of Congress website, and typing Matt Burnett into the search bar, we can see over a hundred photographs of Mr. Matt doing the things he did so well. Tapes of Mr. Matt conducting an auction are also on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., along with some of his hand-crafted toys. What a legacy this couple has left behind!
Thank you to Matt and Ella Burnette’s granddaughters, Joyce Burnette Webb and Linda Burnette Fain for providing much of the information for this article. Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or (276) 692-9626.
