Mary Page Whaley taught school in the backyard of the family home in Williamsburg. It was known throughout the community as the "Mattey School," named for her son, Matthew, who was one of her students.

Matthew (Mattey) Whaley, the only son of James and Mary Page Whaley was born in 1696 in Williamsburg. He attended the small grammar school his mother had in the family's back yard. Young Mattey died at the age of nine in 1705 and was buried in the churchyard of Bruton Parish Church where his tomb still stands. James Whaley, his father, died three years later in 1708, and was buried alongside Mattey.

In 1705, Matthew's mother buried him beneath a stone that reads the inscription to the left.

Mrs. Whaley established the Mattie Free School for the poor on Capitol Landing Road in the boy's memory. It had a schoolhouse, a master's house, and a stable. Mrs. Whaley left for England, entrusting the school's management to the Bruton Parish Church wardens. She died 34 years later in 1742, leaving a legacy of about £800 (Some say it was as low as £50) to support the institution. But an executor refused to pay, resulting in a suit in chancery that dragged on past the Revolution. The wardens, unable to support the school, sold the property and earmarked the proceeds for poor relief.