Two Grandmothers: Macy and Matty

Macy Alice Williams

I re-arranged some furniture yesterday to get to a file drawer.  Inside the drawer, I found a notebook in which I had made various notes including one entitled "Two Grandmothers".  It was actually about my mother's grandmothers Macy Alice Williams and Martha Sollis.  These were notes I'd taken after talking to my mother.

I think Mother was pondering on how similar their lives were but with such a difference in outcome.  Both women were reportedly twins, but we think their twins died at birth. They grew up in what we would call dysfunctional families.  Macy's father left the children to be raised by the oldest child, Sam (20), when their mother died.  I'm not sure what happened to Matty's father, but her mother is in 1880 census as a widow with 2 young children (9 and 5) while Matty was working as a servant in someone's home at 13 years old in another town.

Martha (Matty) Sollis
and Vennie Watson

They were both widows with young children.  Macy's husband died before my grandfather was born and Matty's husband died when my grandmother was a toddler.  Both husbands died from horse accidents----knowing the family history, I believe both were racing horses.  Both women re-married shortly afterwards to possibly abusive husbands.

At this point their stories begin to diverge.  When Grandpa didn't "get along" with his step father, he was sent to live with relatives.  Macy had the advantage of having a lot of family nearby so Grandpa had a variety of family to live with.

Matty, on the other hand, became mentally ill and was sent to Farmington Mental Hospital.  Grandma was put in foster care.

Back to Mom's notes----both women received support and strength from their Methodist churches in southeast Missouri's bootheel.  Macy became stronger with the support of the church and had 2 sons who became preachers (Grandpa's half brothers)

Matty was broken, but received support from her church in that they took my grandmother in and helped raise her.  One of the families was Macy's brother's family:  Maggie and Martin Luther Williams.

Mother concluded that these two women "molded her outlook".  Mother frequently donated to the Methodist church which had supported both women and to a Women's Shelter in Warren County, Mo. which provided a place for women to go in abusive situations.  Mother believed that she needed to help others who might have been like Macy and Matty.  By donating to these organizations, she hoped that her money would make a difference in someone's life, and they would become stronger like Macy.