THE WOMEN AT 1243
Mattie Williams Bell
March 4th Ancestral Women 31-Day Challenge honoring one of my women ancestors a day for the 31 days of March. Join me and add your ancestor.
**********
MATTIE WILLIAMS BELL (1900-1972) was my maternal grandmother and one of five mothers in my childhood including my mother. She and her three siblings helped raise me and my siblings. We were one big family living in a two-story Georgian style house.
Grandmother Mattie dropped out of high school when her father, Willie Williams, died suddenly from a massive stroke. She got a job at the local hospital; and also helped her mother, Mary Ella Williams, with the younger siblings, including her sister born six weeks after their father’s death.
During the summers, grandmother travelled north to Massachusetts and New York City for work. She sent money weekly to her mother to help with bills and anything else the family needed.
Mattie followed this routine until she married her long time boyfriend, Clifford A. Bell, on September 22, 1927, in New York City. Both were from Augusta and continued the relationship while working in NYC. They returned to Augusta in October of 1927 to begin life as a married couple.
Getting married during the Great Depression meant there were times when each of them were in different cities because there were no jobs in Augusta. As time passed and the family grew, one of them remained in Augusta while the other traveled to find work elsewhere.
During the summer of 1933, Mattie went to Sea Island, GA, to work as a maid at The Cloister Hotel. She wrote the letter below to her husband.
She also wrote a postcard to her daughter, later to become my mother.
In the letter and postcard, Mattie informs her husband and daughter that she will be home soon but not before making a trip to Jacksonville, Florida, with the family for whom she works. She is more specific about her feelings/thoughts what’s in the letter to her husband. She writes,
I don’t know why you did not write me at all [.] Maybe [we] will meet Monday night. I will get home then. . . . I have been worry about home. I cannot hear a thing from you all. I guess when you get this[,] I will soon be there[.] ]D]on’t forget to tell my children I will be home. I like to know what they are saying and doing. [D]id you get any work to do [?] Will see you soon. [L]ots of love. . . . Your devote wife. . . .Mattie
Mattie and Clifford had two children at this point, a daughter and son. The daughter, who became my mother, was the oldest which is why the postcard was sent to her. There were no postcards to their son.
This was the last time they were separated from one another and the family until their divorce in 1956. Clifford remarried in 1960 and died on January 23, 1962. Mattie and their three adult children attended the funeral.
Mattie did not remarry. She continued to work as a housekeeper, cook, and seamstress. The latter was her own business. She made clothing and other items for Blacks and Whites alike. She did this while also being the head of house, grandmother/mother to me and my siblings, participating in the Parent Teachers Association, being an active member of Springfield Baptist Church, and advocating for civil rights and social justice.
Mattie died May 21, 1972, in NYC. Her body was returned to Augusta where a funeral was held at Springfield Baptist Church. She is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery with other beloved family members.
RIP Momma Mattie.
**********
Source: The Mary M. Marshall Collection - https://archives.libraries.emory.edu/repositories/7/archival_objects/274186
Oral History from family members, neighbors, and friends of the family, including my own memories.
**********
NOTE: I invite you to subscribe free or paid. Going forward, Paid subscribers will have access to behind the scene research information and other benefits that won’t be available to free subscribers. Posts for Women’s History Month will be free for the first 2 weeks after which they become paid; however, you can still support by becoming a paid subscriber or making a donation at CashApp:$MaryMarshall46.
Thanks to each of you for reading and commenting. Your comments mean a lot and guide me in the choice of the next subject. Feel free to drop topics you’d like to know more about in the comments.
Dr. Marshall
