GASTON, MATTHEW ALEXANDER (1832 ~ 1883). Dr. Matthew Alexander Gaston, former member of the Texas House of Representatives, will receive a cenotaph at the Texas State Cemetery at a future date. Gaston served in the 12th and 15th Legislatures.
Gaston was born in Greene County, Georgia on November 1, 1832. He moved to Texas before the Civil War and served in the Confederacy. On April 15, 1862, Gaston joined George W. Knoz's Company, Ochiltree's Regiment, Texas Volunteers which was known as Company A, 18th Regiment Texas Infantry. In May of 1862 he was elected Second Lieutenant and in the following August he was elected First Lieutenant. He was promoted to Captain in November of 1862 and later attained a field promotion to Major. He was wounded at the Battle of Mansfield and was admitted to a Confederate hospital in Shreveport on April 17, 1864 where he spent six weeks before being furloughed. He was on sick leave when the War ended.
He lived in Alto, Texas for a number of years and was elected to the Twelfth Legislature from Cherokee County in 1870. Gaston served as a delegate for the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1875. The new constitution was accepted in 1876. He was elected to the Fifteenth Legislature in 1876.
Gaston died either on January 9 or January 8, 1883.
Information taken from family records and Texas State Cemetery file materials. |
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