I mentioned below that I would post some of the references to Matthew Gallaway/Galloway and his family in some of the local histories or biographies scattered around the South in the late 1800s. These histories apparently became very popular after the Civil War, and you have to take them with a grain of salt. Some were likely written with interviews of grandchildren, who provide their stories re their grandparents origin. None of them give the name of Matthew's father, but give various places of origin, states that the family lived in etc that provide some clues for future searches. It is hard to tell if Irene Dabney Gallaway used any of these in her work; I don't think any were sourced by her. Given the geographic spread, they may more likely reflect one branch of the family or another's family lore. They do seem to confirm the names of many of Matthew's children and grandchildren, independently of whatever Irene wrote. Also, the story of his widow (Mary Polly East) living into her ninties and moving with her sons to Alabama appears in the Texas story. By the way, the reference in the Texas one to Matthew serving as a Colonel in the Revolutionary War is not really believable, and may be a mixing up of some Civil War Gallaway who was a Colonel, or the use of the title of Colonel in the South as an honorary reference to distinguished older men. But it once again places him in the Revolutionary War in some fashion. It is this repeated hints that keep us looking for some evidence. These books are almost all available for free on-line somewhere, either ancestry.com, googlebooks, or archives.org. Some have been republished and are sold...look for the free versions! Many have other details of family members that I haven't included as I am focused on our Matthew. Also, one place that deserves more attention is the line established by Wiley Gallaway -- they seem to have owned a series of newspapers in Alabama. Newspaper folks must have surely had something more in print about their family. If anyone has access to those newspaper archives in Alabama (Moultrie Advertiser and others), it would be worth looking!!

Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans, 1888. P. 346
Col. Matthew C. Gallaway…”The Gallaway family is of Scotch Irish origin and came over to Oglethorpe county, Georgia, just prior to the Revolution in which three brothers took part on the patriot side. Many descendants of the stock now live in North Carolina and Georgia. Col. Gallaway’s paternal grandfather, Matthew Gallaway, a native of Oglethorpe county, Georgia, died in Morgan county Alabama in 1822. He married Mary East, who lived to the advanced age of ninety-six, and died in Oglethorpe county, Georgia, having gone back to that State after the death of her husband.”

Biographical Souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida, 1889, p. 295
N.L. Gallaway, MD…”The subject of this sketch comes of parentage originally from Virginia. His paternal grandfather, Matthew Gallaway, emigrated from the “Old Dominion” state when a comparatively young man and settled in Oglethorpe County, GA…”

Early Settlers of Alabama, 1899, p. 75
Wiley Gallaway…The Moulton News was purchased by Wiley Gallaway, Esq, then clerk of the County Court of Lawrence and presented to Matthew C. Gallaway, his oldest won…his paternal ancestry came from Scotland and Ireland, and located in Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia….Wiley and his brothers, Levi, Anderson, Brittain, Nathan J., and sister Sallie, were all born in Oglethorpe county, Georgia. In 1816, the family commenced moving to North Alabama, and in 1819, nearly every member of the family were located in Lawrence county. .. the Gallaways are a buoyant family and have a knack for coming to the top. …”

Memorial and Biological History of McLennon, Bell, etc Texas, 1893, p. 429
R.H.Gallaway…”Anderson Gallaway, his father, was born in Georgia, March 3, 1794, and his father, Matthew Gallaway, a native of Ireland, emigrated to America in time to join the patriot army in which he served as a Colonel. Colonel Gallaway’s widow emigrated with her four sons to Georgia and married at the age of eighty, about 1841.

****checking if name below is in Matthew Gallaway line.
Memorial Record of Alabama, 1893, p. 1016
Thomas C. Galloway…”The family is of Irish descent, its earliest progenitors coming to Richmond VA in the colonial days and some of them taking part in the Revolutionary War. The grandfather, William Galloway, removed in early times to North Carolina, where he brought up a large family, and the father of Thomas C spent his life there, where he married in 1828, and brought up a family of eight children as follows. John R., B.D., Thomas C., Lucy A., Joseph A., Mary A., Cora C, and Queen V…”