Matilda Givens (maiden name: Johnson) was born around 1826 in Missouri, probably to John Johnson. Her father was a farmer who owned $1,500 of real estate by 1850. She married Jesse Givens on March 29, 1849, and they had at least five children: Wallace, born around 1849; John, born around 1850; Robert, born around 1853; Mary, born around 1855; and Charles, born around 1859. They lived in Jefferson, Missouri, and her husband worked as a farmer. By 1850, they owned $300 of real estate. They moved to Cooke County, Texas, in the 1850s, and by 1860, they owned $450 of real estate and $2,295 of personal property. Her husband died around 1871, and she died sometime after 1873.