Mary Agnes Bell (1877-1953) was the third of eight children born to Elizabeth Catherwood and Civil War veteran Julius Bythewood Bell in post-war Savannah, Georgia. Though the youngest girl in the family, Mary Agnes was ultimately the only one to become a mother herself. Because both Julius and Elizabeth died while some of those brothers were still quite young, her motherly skills were required early.
The Plant System
By their late teens, each Bell child was compelled to work to help provide for the family. Mary Agnes worked as a clerk for the Plant System, entrepreneur Henry B. Plant‘s collection of railways, steamship lines, and hotels.
The Charleston & Savannah [C & S] Railroad was chartered in 1854 by a coalition of lowcountry planters, merchants, and politicians. Construction was completed just prior to the U.S. Civil War. Following the Union capture of Port Royal in November 1861, the railroad’s importance became not only economic but logistical. The railroad was the objective of eight battles and skirmishes with Union forces. [It was] totally destroyed [during William T. Sherman‘s] march through South Carolina. All that Sherman’s troops left was a right-of-way and a roadbed.
https://www.carolana.com/SC/Transportation/railroads/sc_rrs_charleston_savannah.html
Julius and others among our Bell ancestors participated in a number of those battles and skirmishes to protect the C & S Railway. Toward the close of the War, the Union army destroyed railroad equipment and tore up miles of iron tracks, much of it heated and twisted around trees. These came to be known as “Sherman’s Neckties.”
With the end of the war, Southern railroads were little more than masses of junk. Henry B. Plant, a native of Connecticut, acquired control of the old Charleston and Savannah Railroad. [It was] rehabilitated within a remarkably short period, proving of incalculable aid in the physical, agricultural and financial recuperation of the South and the Southeast.
F.H. Glover, The Greatest Men of Florida. Suniland: The Magazine of Florida, February 1925, 1(5) 36-39.
John McLaughlin, Jr. and Isle of Hope
The chief clerk of the Plant System’s Savannah office was John McLaughlin, Jr. (1868-1958). John was the youngest child of twelve born to Irish immigrants, though not all lived to adulthood, and the only child born in Savannah. His father John Sr. was an auctioneer and Savannah city assessor for many years. John Jr. and Mary Agnes married in 1901 at St. John’s Cathedral, and lived for a time her with her Bell siblings on Macon Street, and later with the elder McLaughlins on Henry Street, before the young couple and their growing family moved to Isle of Hope.
Isle of Hope was a fresh-air escape from the city, a resort destination, and a seasonal residential area about seven miles southeast of Savannah’s historic district at the terminus of a streetcar line. Isle of Hope’s Barbee’s Pavilion on Bluff Drive offered animal exhibits including a terrapin farm, food, live music, dancing, and water recreation. The streetcar and Barbee’s are long gone, and Bluff Drive now runs serenely along the tidal Skidaway River, and is known for its tidy homes and cottages, gardens, and palms, pines, magnolias, and ancient live oaks dripping with Spanish moss.
The McLaughlins raised five boys and one girl on Bluff Drive, while John found success as a cotton factor in the John Flannery firm. The Bluff Drive home remained in the McLaughlin family until 1980, and contemporary relatives recall the sight and smell of purple-blossomed wisteria vines that once choked the house. “I don’t remember Mama Mac and Papa Mac coming to visit us in Macon,” wrote granddaughter Beth McLaughlin McKinnon. “We always went to their home and that was fine with us. Isle of Hope was like a magical vacation. The wrap-around porch was wide enough for us to play on. A huge chest at one end of the porch held a treasure trove of generational toys.
Their only daughter Mary Margaret McLaughlin shared that her father liked to invite people over after Sunday Mass for afternoon dinner and to sit on the porch overlooking the river. He served Gin Rickeys (refreshing cocktails made with gin, lime and club soda) and called the drinks “toothbrushes.” Sunday suppers were usually something simple like shrimp and grits.
Granddaughter Beth recalled, “We could roam the island at will and swim right in front of the house. We were all good swimmers, having been taught by our good family friend Anna Beckman at Shell Landing.” In her book Bluff Drive & the Isle of Hope Churches, Polly Wylly Cooper writes, “Miss Anna Beckman… taught swimming to her kindergartners in the river out front [of the McLaughlin home]. Stepping stones led to the river as there was no dock.” Granddaughter Beth also remembered, “Uncle Jukey (second child Julius Bell McLaughlin) would take us crabbing and shrimping. He built [us] a boat…. Rowing hard against the swift current, my cousins and I used the boat for years even after the outboard motor went missing. Our many adventures on the water included exploring a deserted island called ‘Burnt Pot,’ where wild horses and deer roamed through a jungle of native plants.“
“Mama Mac loved to cook. She and her wonderful housekeeper and cook Delia cooked on a wood burning stove. When, in the 30’s, electric stoves became more practical Papa Mac bought one for Mama Mac. Delia would have no part of it. They kept the wood-burning stove for Delia, who was still using it the late 40’s and 50’s. I remember it well. I thought it was quite a novelty. Delia cooked some great fried chicken and tasty gumbo on it!”
Favorite Sister
Mary Agnes was listed as next of kin by her brother Theodore Hinkston Bell (1885-1940) during his World War I service. When her brother John Bell (1880-1926) died unexpectedly, Mary Agnes traveled to Atlanta, signed the death certificate, comforted his widow and young family, then arranged for his burial in Savannah. In 1940 she traveled to Augusta to sign Theodore’s death certificate, and brought him home for burial as well.
“I always thought she was the sweetest, most wonderful person I ever met,” Beth continued. “She was happy and loving and I never remember her scolding me, or anyone, for that matter. She was always there for me when I got cut up with barnacles while swimming in the river or some other childhood “tragedy.” I remember once I got stung by a bee. Papa Mac put some liquor on tobacco and applied it to take out the sting and Mama Mac was there with a kiss and a soft lap to take refuge in. Even though I was a very active child I was just as happy to crawl up in bed with Mama Mac after she became bedridden due to heart trouble. I would sit with her for hours, working jigsaw puzzles or having her read to me as we sipped tea, English style (with cream). I still have vivid memories of her as if they happened yesterday. And I never think of her without a tug at my heart. I feel grateful to have experienced such a great and loving lady, and to have had her as my grandmother for even those few years. She will always be an inspiration for me.”
Aunt Mazie
Mary Agnes’ brother Joseph William Bell (1883-1959) worked with John McLaughlin at the Flannery Co. for many years, undoubtedly through the influence of “Papa Mac.” Joseph’s eldest daughter Mary Bell Grayson (1909-2001), spoke extremely fondly of “my favorite Aunt Mazie,” as she always referred to her. The First Communion prayer book she received from her favorite aunt remains in the family today. May we all make an effort to be as available to family and friends, and to leave a legacy of love like that of Mary Agnes Bell McLaughlin – daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, “Mama Mac”, and “favorite Aunt Mazie.”
Adapted from A String of Bells: Stories of a Southern Family © 2020 by Nick J. Guevara, Jr.
No Comments