This photo is courtesy of Gene Matlock, a gggrandson of W. R. and Elizabeth Matlock

Robert Orlen Matlock was the youngest son of W. R. Matlock and Elizabeth Matlock. He was born in 1881 in Meg, Franklin county, AR. He died in 1950 in Bristow, Creek county, OK.

Robert was married three times. His first wife was Sarah Boyles. He had seven children with Sarah. His children were Thelma, Elmer Phillip, Edward, Orlen David, Frankie, Lloyd, and Herbert.

Sarah died in about 1916 from complications resulting from child birth.

Robert married his second wife, Pearl Tanner McKinney, in January 1917 in Haskell county Oklahoma. Pearl was his nephew's widow.

His nephew, Robert Douglas McKinney, died young at about age 28 in about 1916. Doug was the son of Robert Orlen's older sister Mary Elizabeth Matlock McKinney.

He had two more sons, Howard and Floyd William, with his second wife Pearl. They had eight more children but only these two survived to adulthood. The rest were all born prematurely and nine of them were stillborn. Only one little girl, Juletta (a fraternal twin to one of the little stillborn boys), lived about thirty minutes.

He also raised two step-sons from this marriage, Garland Douglas (Doc) (McKinney) Matlock and James Albert (Jim) McKinney. He was both their stepfather and their great-uncle!

My grandmother Pearl died young at age 40 in 1932 near Depew, OK from an absess caused from an earlier surgery that went badly.

His third wife was Gertie Duggan Gabbard. They were married in 1934 in Van Buren, Crawford county, Arkansas. He had no children with this marriage but he had two more stepsons, Orville and Ben Gabbard.

Gertie survived him and died in the late 1960's. She is buried near Van Buren, AR. His other two wives, Sarah and Pearl, are buried near him in Hall cemetery north of Stroud, OK.