The Trefoil Tombstone Mystery

by Jane Garnett

One of the greatest joys in my life has been my involvement as a Girl Scout leader. For the last eighteen years, I have worked with teenage girls, helping them earn badges, sharing their dreams, loves, and sorrows. The girls and I have learned many lessons from each other, both challenging and rewarding over the years. I had always hoped to somehow discover that special, once-in-a-lifetime activity the girls would remember forever. In 1999, that experience quietly unfolded for us. Was there a green angel softly issuing an image from the trefoil tombstone so long ago forgotten in that Richmond cemetery?

In the fall of 1999, I took my Girl Scout troop to Richmond, Virginia to earn the Historic Richmond patch. As we visited various sites throughout the city, we were given a landmark to search for at each site. Over the course of the weekend, we visited St. John's Church where Patrick Henry had given his famous 'Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death' speech. We wandered through the cemetery outside the old church and found the grave of Edgar Allen Poe's mother, an actress, who was allowed to be buried in the cemetery provided that her grave was as far from the church as possible due to her shameful profession. We toured the capitol building, the Edgar Allen Poe house and Monument Avenue with its many statues of heroes. Where were the women heroes, the girls wondered? All we saw were the male figures. These girls were top students and eager to learn something new. These were the same, tired stories they had learned in school many times over.

Their interest was finally piqued at the Maggie Walker House. This was indeed a fresh story for the girls. Maggie Walker was the first female bank president. The daughter of a slave, Mrs. Walker founded many charities that raised the standard of living for black citizens and helped them acquire bank loans for new homes. She also suffered many tragedies in her life. One of her sons accidentally shot and killed her husband, thinking he was a prowler. She had lost a child in infancy. Due to an injury in her later life, she was confined to a wheelchair. The girls were intrigued by this fascinating woman who was able to overcome adversity and tragedy.

On our last day in Richmond, we toured Hollywood Cemetery, the burial place of Jefferson Davis, Jeb Stuart and many other Confederate heroes as well as two United States presidents, James Monroe and John Tyler. This beautifully located cemetery lies beside the James River with tens of thousands of graves. Our task was to find the iron dog statue that had been placed near a child's grave during the Civil War, presumably to prevent it from being melted down for cannons.

Many angels and unusual monuments adorn the graves throughout the cemetery. The sun's rays glided down from the blue sky, creating a peaceful sanctuary among the tall holly trees. My eye was drawn to one especially lovely angel gracing a grave. As my daughter, Laura, and I walked over for a closer look, Laura suddenly noticed a tombstone with a Girl Scout trefoil on it. How she found that one particular marker among the tens of thousands of tombstones, I do not know. Of course, we gathered the girls to gaze upon this remarkable find. Who could this woman have been? The tombstone only told us her name, Isabel Fuller Matthes, daughter of Edward and Belle Pelouze Fuller, wife of A.J. Matthes, died March 11, 1925 at the age of 27 years. She would have been living at the same time as our founder of Girl Scouting, Juliette Gordon Low. And could she have possibly known the founder? Girl Scouting was only thirteen years old when this woman died. She surely must have loved Girl Scouts to have had the trefoil on her tombstone. We were intrigued by this tombstone, but how could we learn more about this woman? I took a few photographs before we left to return to our home in Roanoke, Virginia.

I returned to my daily life; nevertheless, I could not forget this young woman and her fascinating tombstone. I would often review the photo of the tombstone. My first attempt to discover an identity for Isabel Matthes was to contact the Girl Scout Council in Richmond, but too much time had transpired since her death. They knew nothing about her and showed no desire to help me on my quest. I wrote to the caretakers of Hollywood Cemetery, who were sympathetic to my interest, but could only tell me that Isabel had passed away in a small town in New Jersey, and her body had been transported to Virginia for burial. Every day, I would stare at the photograph of her tombstone and ask Isabel to give me a clue. Then one day, I realized several of the other tombstones around hers had a shared, but unusual name - Pelouze. This was also Isabel's mother's maiden name. It was on her tombstone, the first clue.

Hurrying to the Internet, I pulled up the Richmond telephone listings for the Pelouzes. There was only one in Richmond. I wrote to him and in a short time I received a reply. A distant cousin of Isabel's, this gentleman graciously mailed a copy of his family's history to me. From this, I learned that Isabel had not only been married, but had a two-year-old son when she died, a son named for his father. Once again, I turned to the magic of the Internet and found an address, this time in Oregon. I wrote to this stranger across the country, hoping he wouldn't think I was completely crazy. Yes, he was indeed the son of this Girl Scout; but, he wrote that he had no memory of his mother since he was so young when she died; however, he sent a copy of her obituary and it provided a wealth of information.

Isabel had been the daughter of a state senator in Richmond. She had graduated from Vassar College in 1918 with a major in French, and returned to Richmond to teach high school. She was an athlete, playing basketball, tennis, and swimming. At the age of 12, she had saved a man from drowning and was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Bravery. She swam the Chesapeake Bay with only a rowboat to accompany her at one point in her life. She was active in social work, playground work, and the local Girl Scout movement.

If I had learned this about Isabel, I knew I could learn more. I contacted Vassar College's historian, and she sent information from Isabel's yearbook and newsletter, the Roll Call. According to the Roll Call, the first year after graduation in 1918, Isabel taught school full-time, complaining about the unruly students. The following year, she taught part-time and was learning stenography. Then in 1921, the Roll Call revealed her new job with the local Girl Scouts in Richmond as the Executive Director. Isabel wrote how proud she was of her girls marching along in their khaki uniforms, saluting her. However, she then stated that she was playing the invalid and that she must go away to a dry climate. Researching the Richmond Dispatch newspaper, I learned that Isabel had become the second Executive Director of the Richmond Girl Scout Council; nevertheless, due to her illness, she was only able to serve in that position for a few short months. Her son told me she had contracted tuberculosis, and sadly, her health would decline from that day on. She married in 1922 and had a son in 1923, never to regain her health. In 1925 at the age of 27 years, Isabel died from tuberculosis.

The Richmond Girl Scout office later would discover an old record of Isabel's mother asking for permission to use the Girl Scout trefoil on her daughter's tombstone. She thought other Girl Scouts would like to see it, and to tell the world of Isabel's devotion to the Girl Scout movement only thirteen years old at the time of her death. Isabel may have been forgotten, but seventy-five years later, Girl Scout Cadette Troop 555 of Cloverdale, Virginia poignantly re-discovered her.

The iron dog statue was presumably placed in the cemetery to prevent its iron from being used for military equipment during the Civil War. He now stands guard over a child's grave.

Isabel Fuller Matthes' tombstone located in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA. Mrs. Matthes' mother requested permission from the Richmond Girl Scout Council to have the trefoil on her marker.

The angel statue that led the Cloverdale Girl Scouts to Isabel Fuller Matthes' grave.