Interview with Carolita
Jones Quillin
March 1, 2003
Done by Nancy Quillin
Long
Mattie Bell Bridges Jones
.jpg)
Mattie Bell was a short, pudgy lady with a round belly. She wore her hair pulled back into a
bun. Mattie had lots of vanity and was
meticulous in her dress. She liked new
things.
Mattie was a sickly woman, but she did not look sickly. Carolita always thought her to be a
hypochondriac. Mattie would take to the
bed for weeks having others care for her.
She was very demanding of others, and Carolita remembers Granddaddy
getting off the tractor to come in to give her her pills. Carolita remembers all of Mattie’s children
being called to her bedside, thinking that she was dying. The grandchildren were made to stand outside,
and they could hear her carrying on.
Martin Harmon would do lots of the cooking and household
chores and Mattie would pack her bags and leave for 2-3 weeks at a time to go
visit her sisters.
Mattie Bell was very demanding of Ava as well. For most of Ava and Jo Carroll’s married
life, Mattie and Martin Harmon lived in their back door. Ava would take care of them daily.
Mattie Bell was highly thought of and very religious (not
spiritual). She would always be with her
church friends and most of them were gossips.
She was a “loper.” Carolita
remembers her getting up very early, putting on her bonnet, and making the
neighborhood rounds. She would then come
in through the back door of Carolita’s house croaking, “Lazy, lazy, lazy,” if
no one was up yet. Mattie Bell would
always say, “I just don’t know what to think of these young people. They’re just going to the dogs.” She tended to hoard things and would dole it
out later. For example, if she had fresh
fruit, she would finally offer it to the grandchildren when it was nearly
ruined.
