Row Robin Quilts at Sue Dee's

These are the Row Robin quilt tops that were shown at Sue Dee's during our final class with Mac in October.

Peck Family History Draft Version

Link to Peck Family History on Google Docs:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-1b4l7kg5JCdWxtcDc4R1AwMlk/edit?usp=sharing

Final Pages of Baby Book Complete

Today I finished my Baby Book project. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I tried to add as many family stories as I could because those are the things I enjoy most about the old photo albums I look at. This first page is from Summer 1959.

This page is from December 1959 - Grandpa Fuller took the photos of Judy and me in our white dresses with the huge petticoats. It must have been right before or after Christmas at our house.

Here is the final page of my album. I wanted to end on my 6th birthday because 1960 was one of those years full of Big Events in our family. We took our first cross-country vacation to Phoenix, Dad took a new job for General Motors up in Warren, OH and was travelling back and forth for most of the summer, and we moved to Warren that Fall where I started First Grade and then, almost immediately, was moved up to Second Grade.

I'm planning to add a final page of retrospective journaling on the right-hand side of this page.

I may, or may not, make another autobiographical scrapbook album about those years in Warren. However, it's a great feeling of accomplishment to finish this one.

Young Family History - Draft form

Link to Young Family History on Google Docs:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-1b4l7kg5JCZDhFaXBvSEVXYjQ/edit?usp=sharing

Family Tree Ahnentafel data

Link to my Ahnentafel report:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-1b4l7kg5JCbTdiT0c4NWlKdms/edit?usp=sharing

Progress on 1959 Slides to Photos

I am partway through the 1959 pages for my album. I have all the photos in the plastic sleeve protectors, and I've picked out the cards to use on all the pages, but I have to write most of the journaling on those cards now.

I added some photos of my Kindergarten schoolwork that I had glued into an old Scrapbook album back in 1960. I also found a photo of my old Elementary School on the internet and included it with my drawing of the school.

I was still in Kindergarten when I started that scrapbook. You can see I have been scrapbooking for a very long time. I made photo collages on PhotoShop and printed them as 6 by 6 pictures on cardstock. I used double-sided 6 by 6 paper for the journaling cards.

One more of the 1959 pages - this was Christmas at our house.

I've decided to add photos up to my birthday in 1960 and then stop for this album. So I'm very close to finishing now. I think I'll keep converting slides, though. At least it would be good to get them catalogued and saved digitally even if I don't decide to print any more for now.

Finished Up to 1958!

 

 

I had the next set of slides printed from Persnickety Prints and filed them in my small storage photo books. I had my photos and list of slides by date in front of me, and then I planned out which photos were going to go into which page in the book. I had a few vertical photos that I had printed in both 4 by 6 and 2 by 3 sizes since I wasn't sure where they would fit in the overall pages.

 

Here you can see the worksheet that I used for planning which page protectors to use and where the photos and journaling cards would go. I am keeping the photos in chronological order as much as possible. A few are hard to date, but I guessed based on clothes, haircuts, and where we were in the photo.

 

I also took some of the letters that Grandma Fuller saved for me and added them in between the pages where they fit chronologically - or as close as possible. I decided to use the orginals instead of scanning them since they were in a file folder. I used photo corners for most of them, but a few I attached with a tape runner.

 

 

 

 

I had fun with the journaling cards, adding a lot of embellishments to the cards for Christmas. I used a variety of holiday papers that I bought recently (on sale, of course!) that had cutout sheets of journaling cards, tags, phrases, etc.

 

 

I also had some 12 by 12 layouts that I finished when I took an online class from Amy Sorenson called Textuality from Big Picture Classes. I decided to include them chronologically as well. This one of my grandmother reading to me fit right in with a few photos of me reading and another of my Great-Aunt Edith reading to me. I enjoyed making the new page balance with the old - luckily I still had a few of the labels that I used on the older layout. I added other patterned paper that had similar colors.

 

 

Here is a close-up of the new page. Some of these pages I spend a lot of time on the cards that I add, and other times I just use basic cards that I write my journaling on. I'm lucky to have a lot of time to spend on the project, so I have fun with it. I really like the fact that I can easily move things around if I find a new photo or decide I don't like the way something looks.

 

 

 

I am still sticking with Becky Higgins Project Life Olive Edition cards for most of my pages. I think it helps make the album look more consistent. I just print out cards from the digital version as I need them. Sometimes I type the journaling on the cards before I print them, but most of the time I write the journaling by hand. I know that when I look at old scrapbooks from my mother, grandmothers and even great-grandmothers I like to see their own handwriting.

 

Here is where I added the last few pages from my original Baby Book (scanned copies) along with one more paper that Grandma Fuller saved. She had written something on the paper about how I wrote the letters of the alphabet and copied my name. It goes along with what my mother wrote on the Baby Book page next to it.

 

I'm very happy with how this album is turning out, and I'm close to finishing the initial project. If I decide to convert more of the slides, I will have to buy another binder to put them in. This one is just about full now.

More Slides from the 1950s

More progress on my Slide to Digital image project this week!

I visited my parents two weeks ago and picked up another big box of slides from the 1950s and 1960s. The first thing I did was to sort the slides by year and jot down the who, what, where and when of each slide.

A few days later I started scanning the slides. I had already decided which groups of slides I wasn't going to bother with due to their poor quality color/exposure and the fact that the subject matter wasn't particularly interesting to me.

I am using the Wolverine Slide and Negative Scanner that I found on Amazon last year. It does a good job of duplicating the quality of the slides and is easy to use. I found that setting up an old slide light table is the easiest way for me to get through the slides and keep track of what I've scanned. I am working on one year at a time on the light table - for the most part I have between 20 and 40 slides per year. Dad and I weeded out the slides that were not of our family before I even brought them home.

Yesterday I got about 130 more slides from 1953-1959 scanned, catalogued, and uploaded to Adobe Photoshop Elements. Here is the setup I'm using - my light table, my slide scanner, and my list of slides to be scanned - along with the box of chronologically sorted slides.

 

The scanner is easy to use, but takes some getting used to. You have to put three slides at a time in the tray that feeds through the scanner. Once the tray is closed an pushed into the scanner,  you just push the scan button once to get the image, then press the button again to save the photo image to the memory card that is in the scanner. This little black box is plugged into a power strip to run, but doesn't need to be plugged into a computer to scan. I find it much easier to work at my kitchen table than up in the computer room which has very little space to spread out on.

 

The middle slide in this photo has to be turned 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise to be scanned since the opening on the top of the tray is rectangular. You can rotate the image on the scanner before you save it to the memory card, or I just wait until the image is uploaded to PhotoShop to fix it.

The most time consuming part of the process is on PhotoShop once the images are uploaded. Uploading from the scanner to PhotoShop is simple - I just plug the scanner into the computer via USB cable and use PhotoShop to find the photos on the memory card that I haven't uploaded yet.

Once in PhotoShop Elements, I follow these steps (sometimes in batches):

1. I immediately tag them all with a category (for example, Slides 1954_1964) so that they are easy to find later.
2. I add a caption to each photo with names, place and a date.
3. I use Autocorrect to fix lighting, levels and color on the image - many times this is good enough for the slides that aren't damaged or had bad lighting.
4. I set the internal date on each photo based on what I could figure out from the slide - some of them were already written on by my dad or grandpa. Some of them have the date they were developed, although this is not usually the date that they were taken. Sometimes it's over a year later than the original shot date. I can usually figure out from who it is, what we are wearing, where we are, if it's a holiday, the time of year, etc.
5. Then I start working on the slides that I want to get prints of right away and decide if they need to be fixed in PhotoShop. I try to get all the dirt and dust particles cleaned up, taking the most time on people's faces and anything that really detracts from looking at the photo. Sometimes I have to fix dark or overexposed photos. Sometimes I crop a little to remove things in the background, but for the most part I want to see the background because it's an important part of the story behind the photo.

I did all five steps for 30 photos that I wanted to get prints of, and today I uploaded those to my Persnickety Prints account and ordered my 4" by 6" matte prints. Three of the photos were vertically oriented, so I decided to order those as 3" by 4" matte prints. I can either put them in the small pockets of my pages, or I can mount them on a 4" by 6" card and use them that way.

Here's one of my favorite photos from this batch. My two great-grandmas at our 1957 Christmas party in Ohio.

I already received an e-mail that my prints are done and will be shipping out tonight. Can't wait for the next step of the project - putting them in my scrapbook. It's starting to look pretty good now, and I think I've got all the photos and memorabilia from 1954 - 1957 that I wanted to save in my scrapbook now. Next time I will document how I'm planning my layouts by year.

Bell Family History - Book Manuscript

I worked on the Bell Family section of my paternal grandmother's family history book yesterday and today. I had more information than I thought about the Bells. There is still no real evidence of where Lewis Bell was born or any clue as to who his parents were, but from Harrison Bell down the line to my great-grandmother, Bertha Mae Bell, there is a lot of good information that I've collected.

Here is the Lewis Bell Deed of Trust that at least shows he was married to Mary Anderson, daughter of James and Mary Anderson and that Lewis lived in Fauquier County, VA and had a son named William Bell.

And at the other end of the Spectrum, here's my great-grandmother's Birth Certificate.

Now I just need to insert all the digital files into my Word document, format them and make sure the manuscript still makes sense. 

My "Baby Book"

Once I started printing the photos from my dad's 1950s and 60s slides, I remembered that Mom gave me my Baby Book and a box full of stuff from my childhood. I pulled it out of the closet and looked inside. Some of those things definitely belong in a scrapbook with my converted slide photos.

Mom wrote a few things in the book, but not that much, so I scanned the pages that she wrote on, and I will include them as I go along with the project.

Here's the box of stuff I have:

That's my Baby Book on top. The rest of the box is full of file folders that Mom carefully indexed for me - along with a Timeline. I inherited my love of Family History from her.

Today I completed a few more pages of my scrapbook, and I'm really pleased with my progress so far.

 

Cover

 

Title Page

 



 

First pages of my Baby Book (scanned and reprinted) along with pink borders to match my other cards.

 

 

A card from Great-Grandma Kraus, my Baptismal Certificate, my Birth Certificate (scanned)

 

Another page from my Baby Book - Family Tree, Newspapers with my Birth Announcement

 

 



I skipped forward a few pages in the Scrapbook to my favorite Christmas photos - I was almost 3 years old, and I loved Roy Rogers & Dale Evans. The card in the lower left is a scanned page from my Baby Book in Mom's handwriting about what we did for Christmas that year. I added the digital scrapbook paper and bow so that it matches the other cards I'm using in the book.

 

 

I have a few more pages completed, but several with missing information or photos, so I'll post those when they're finished.

 

I should credit the Scrapbook supplies that I used:

Cards and Papers - almost all are Becky Higgins Project Life, Olive Edition (digital version from AC Digitals); also Becky Higgins page protectors - many different sizes (designs) are being used here (from Amazon.com).

A few of the papers are from Reflections (Michael's) and My Mind's Eye.

Christmas papers and embellishments are October Afternoon, Holiday Style from 2011.

The Calendar style cards are from Heidi Swapp's free Calendar Download that I found on her blog at the end of 2012.

The stickers are almost all American Craft Thickers - various types and colors.

The actual 3 ring binder is by Reflections from Michael's.

Can't wait to get some more slides from Dad later this week and ask him and Mom about some of the photos that I already scanned.

Harrison Bell & Vincent Bell of Shelby County, OH

I'm finally getting around to posting these final few notes about the Bells.

Research Trip - August 2012 - Shelby County, Ohio

During my last trip to Ohio I searched the Shelby County probate courthouse records for any of our Bell relatives. There were no birth records at the time of Harrison Bell's birth (he was probably born in Hardin, Shelby Co, OH). There were no probate records for either Lewis or Harrison Bell, but I did find the last will and testament of Vincent Bell who left his estate to his brother, Harrison Bell of the same county, and his sister, Nancy Bell Bennet.

The will was filed on 22 July 1854.

The estate was settled on 14 June 1859 and signed by W. W. Skillen, Probate Judge.

This continues to link the names that were listed in the D.A.R. magazine as children of Lewis and Mary Anderson Bell. (Vincent, Harrison and Nancy were siblings.) It still doesn't give an actual primary source document listing Lewis and Mary Bell as their parents, however.



My parents and I also found two cemeteries in Hardin, Shelby Co, OH with some Bell connections.

The first was Carey Cemetery - a very old cemetery with mostly headstones that are unreadable, although one in particular was well preserved. It had the name of Elizabeth Davis, consort of the Rev. William F. R. Davis. This husband and wife were listed in the DAR query from 1918 as the parents of Rebecca Davis, who was the wife of William Bell, Lewis Bell's eldest son. They (William and Rebecca Bell) are supposed to be buried in this cemetery as well, according to Find-A-Grave information. We looked at every headstone, but most were unreadable.


The other cemetery, a mile or so south of the first, is Brookside Cemetery. It is being well maintained and there were some Bells in that cemetery as well, but none in our direct line.


All of these findings, although not direct proof of Harrison Bell's birth or parentage, supports the facts listed in the DAR magazine which makes me think that the author did have either a family bible, or some written record of the Lewis Bell family tree.

I also believe that the Bell family was moving along with other families who belonged to the same Methodist church. A history of Hardin in Shelby County says that the first church was at Joshua Cole's house in Hardin. I found tombstones for a son and a daughter of Joshua Cole at the Carey Cemetery quite near to Elizabeth Davis' tombstone. The cemetery is located on what appears to be private property - very similar to the Palmer Chapel cemetery in Miami County where many of the Slagles and Andersons are buried.

More research about the Methodist Episcopal Society might be helpful.

Harrison Bell and Judah Slagle - Part 2

The next record that I found is the 1850 Census -

1850 Federal Census Record - Turtle Creek, Shelby, OH

Head of household: Harrison Bell, 44, Blacksmith, born VA

Also listed:
Judith Bell, age 44, born KY
James Bell, age 14, born OH
William Bell, age 13, born OH
Francis Bell, age 9, born OH
Jacob Bell, age 7, born OH
Sarah A Bell, age 3, born OH


1858 deed - Monroe Twp, Miami, OH

Harrison bought property from Ansom & Elizabeth Fuller in Monroe Twp, Miami Co, OH for $1,000.00.

"being part of Fractional Section 10, Town? 4, Range Six E. Beginning in the center of the Road leading from Dayton to Troy, and Colesville to the Pike ... [details about the exact boundries] ... containing 6 acres 30 perches? more or less."

I also found on Ancestry.com a township map made in 1875 showing the property of "Mrs. H. Ball(sic)" consisting of 6 acres in Section 10 of Monroe Township which must be the same property as described in the deed. This property is just south of what is now Tipp City, and is very near the Great Miami River.

1860 Federal Census Record - Monroe Twp, Miami, OH

Head of household: Harrison Bell, age 55, Blacksmith, born Virginia
Value of Real Estate: 1200, Value of Personal Goods: 100

Also listed:
Judah Bell, age 56, born Kentucky (cannot read or write was checked)
James Bell, age 25, Farming, Personal Goods 200, born Ohio
William Bell, age 22, no occupation listed, Personal Goods 200, born Ohio
Francis Bell, age 19, no occupation listed, no value listed, born Ohio
Jacob Bell, age 16, attending school, no value listed, born Ohio

Ohio Death Record, 1869, Monroe Twp, Miami, OH

Volume 1, Pg 24, No. 507
"Harrison Bell; Date of Death: 1869 Sept 23; Married; Age: (blank); Place of Death: Monroe Twp; Place of Birth: Virginia; Occupation: Blacksmith; Parents names: (blank); Race: White; Cause of Death: (blank); Place of Residence: Monroe Twp; By Whom Reported: G.B. Bruce"


Tombstone - Maple Hill Cemetery, Tipp City, Miami, OH

1806 - 1869
Harrison A Bell
GAR Star Marker (fought in Civil War)

1870 Federal Census Record - Monroe Twp, Miami Co, OH

Head of household: Judah Bell, age 67, Keeping house, Real Estate Value 1000, born Pennsylvania

This is the right name, right age, right location, but the place of birth doesn't match any other source document that I've seen, so it must be a mistake.

James Bell (34) and William Bell (32) are listed just above and below Judah as separate households. Neither has an Real Estate Value listed, so perhaps they each had a house on Judah's property.

James was married to Sarah E (28) and had a son Albert W (2).  William was married to Anna M (29).

1880 Federal Census Record - Adams Twp, Darke Co, OH

Head of household: James B Bell, age 44

Listed along with James' wife, children and in-laws we find:

Julia Bell, age 74, born Kentucky, Relation to Head of Household Mother, Father's Birthplace Germany, Mother's birthplace Virginia, Widowed, White, Female.

I need to follow-up on these clues about her parents, John Slagle and Anna Matheny, and their birth places.


Tombstone - Gettysburg Cemetery, Darke Co, OH

The Miami Valley Genealogical Index lists a Gravestone for "Judy Bell" wife of Harrison Bell. This is the information listed in the Index:

"Judy Bell, date of Birth: 1804; Source: Gravestone; Cem# 2005: Gettysburg Cemetery, Adams Twp, Darke Co; date of Death: 1881 wife of Harrison; County: Darke"

Those are the sources that I've found so far for Harrison and Judah Slagle Bell.

Slides to Digital Photos Project - 1950s

I have started a project to scan slides that my Dad and Grandpa Fuller took beginning in 1954. I tried three ways of printing the scanned images - at home, using HP's Snapfish service and Persnickety Prints online service. All three were very good, but Persnickety Prints offers the most options in terms of sizes, photo paper, and had as good or better quality photos than the other two.

Now I am putting the photos into a Three Ring Binder using Project Life photo sleeves and cards. Here are the first two double-page layouts that I completed this week.

I'm having lots of fun looking at the old photos, and have also scanned some things that Mom saved for me like the Birth Announcement she mailed out and my Baptismal Certificate. I am also going to try to incorporate scanned images of the Baby Book she started for me, but never had time to finish.

I think this project will take me quite some time to finish, but one thing I have now is time.



Harrison Bell & Judah Slagle - Part 1

Lewis Bell's son Harrison Bell is my direct ancestor in the next generation of the Bell family.

Harrison Bell came to Ohio with his parents and siblings in the 1820's. The first document that I can find in Harrison's name is the 1830 Federal Census for Wayne Twp, Montgomery Co, Ohio. At first I wondered why Harrison lived in Montgomery County when his parents were living in Miami County? But in looking at a township map I realized that Bethel Twp, Miami County and Wayne Twp, Miami County were adjacent to one another and so they could have been almost next door neighbors. On a current map of Ohio, what used to be Wayne Township is now fully incorporated into the city of Huber Heights. He may have already started his career as a blacksmith - there is no occupation listed on census records until 1850.

1830 Federal Census Record - Wayne Twp, Montgomery, OH

Head of household: Harrison Bell

1 male aged 20-29 (Harrison)
1 female aged 20-29 (Sarah, see next paragraph)

1830 Marriage License - Montgomery, OH

The next record that I found regarding Harrison Bell was a marriage license in Montgomery County dated 22 Jan 1830. The bride's name was Sarah Slagle. The comment says "H.B. sworn." There were no other witnesses mentioned. A marriage return says "Married on the 4th Feb 1830 Harrison Bell and Sarah Slagle by me John F. Aughe J.P."

In the 1830 census, on the next line down from Harrison Bell is John Slagle. This is quite likely Sarah Slagle's father, but I have not found any other documents to corroborate this theory.

1834 Marriage License - Montgomery, OH

The next record that I found for Harrison Bell was a marriage return in Montgomery County dated 31 Oct 1834. He married Judia Slagal (misspelling of Judah Slagle). I have found several sources that tell me Judah Slagle was the daughter of John Slagle and Ann Methany.

eg, Bourbon County Marriage Bonds - "SLAGLE, John and Anne Metheny, Bond Date: 4 June 1792; Bondsman: Thomas Metheny"

and Family Search IGI "John Slagle and Ann Metheny family group sheet .... Judith Slagle, Female, Birth: 1805, Bourbon, Kentucky" but no mention of Sarah Slagle, so she may have been a cousin to Judith, not a sister.

From these facts I draw the conclusion that Harrison married Sarah Slagle in 1830 and that between the 1830 census and Oct 1834, Sarah Slagle died. She could have died in childbirth or from a disease or in an accident. There's no record of her death that I've found about her in any of my searches.

1836 Deed of Trust - Bethel Twp, Miami Co, OH  Book 13, pg 681

In 1836 Harrison Bell bought property in Bethel Twp, Miami Co, OH. The sellers were James Anderson and his wife, Ann. If these are James and Ann Anderson buried at Palmer's Chaple cemetery in Bethel Twp, they were Harrison's uncle and aunt. James was his mother's brother. One of the witnesses on the deed was John Slagle, his father-in-law.

The 1840 Federal Census reflects this change in residence.

1840 Federal Census Record - Bethel Twp, Miami, OH

Head of household: Harrison Bell

1 male aged less than 5 (William H)
1 male aged 5-10 (James Bennett)
1 male aged 30-39 (Harrison)
1 female aged less than 5 (unknown - must have died in childhood)
1 female aged 30-39 (Judah)

Listed on the three lines above Harrison in this census record are:

John Slagle, James Anderson and Charles Slagle
John and James were younger than Harrison (aged 20-29) and Charles Slagle was in the same age bracket as Harrison Bell (30-39).

More to follow....

Lewis Bell and Mary Anderson - new information

A descendant of Lewis and Mary, through their son Thomas Bell, wrote to me this week. He said:

Where did Mary Bell live after Lewis died? You listed two logical choices for 1850 in your article. I would like to suggest a third - Thomas Bell

Thomas was living in Bethel, Clark, Ohio with his wife Minerva at the time. Their children were Sarah, Hannah, Vincent, Margaret, Belinda, and Francis. Also listed was Mary E Bell (about 75)female born Virginia.

It is logical that Mary may have lived part of the time with other relatives and they listed in the census also.

I also have a copy of a document "Register of Deaths" lists her death on 21 Feb 1857. It lists her from Turtle Creek, Shelby, Ohio. It also lists her parents as James and Mary Anderson.

Certainly Mary Anderson Bell may have been living with her son Thomas in 1850. The Death Register confirms that she was living in 1850, but not in 1860. I think it is also plausible that she lived with more than one family during this time period.

The Family Search death record was not sourced. I will follow up with Barry Bell to get the source details for the Death Register.

Lewis Bell & Mary Anderson - Part 3

Most of the family trees that I've seen for Lewis Bell say that he died in about 1831. Since he doesn't appear in the 1840 census records, at least not that I can find, I agree that he most likely died between 1830 and 1840. I haven't found any evidence of a will or cemetery record for him. I searched the will indexes in the Miami County Probate court records in Troy, OH this past August, and there was no Bell estate in the oldest books there.

The Palmer Chapel Cemetery in Bethel Twp, Miami Co, OH has tombstones with death dates back into the 1830's - even one back to 1819 - so Lewis Bell could have been buried there, but noone recorded it on the cemetery lists that I've seen.

Mary Anderson Bell probably survived him. The 1850 Federal census for Bethel Twp, Miami Co, OH lists Jeremiah Bennett and his wife Nancy (Bell) Bennett. Nancy was Lewis and Mary Bell's daughter. Also listed in this census record are Vincent Bell aged 45 and Mary Bell aged 83, born in Virginia. It seems most likely that this Mary Bell was Nancy's mother and Vincent Bell was Nancy's brother.

I found a record on Family Search that says Mary Anderson Bell died on 18 Feb 1851. Since I can't find her in the 1860 census, this would fit the facts that I have so far. If she died in Bethel Twp, Miami Co, she may have been buried at Palmer Chapel Cemetery, but her name was not listed on any cemetery listings that I've found so far.

Just this week I received an e-mail from a descendant of William Bell, Lewis & Mary Bell's son. He  was married to Rebecca Davis, and they lived in Greene Co, Miami Co, and Shelby Co, OH. He had information from another direct descendant who recorded the following notes:

1) Lewis may have served in 111 Reg't (Parkers) Virginia Militia as a private during the war of 1812 - Roll Box 15, Roll Exct 602.

2) King George County VA 21 Nov 1778. Will of Thomas Ficklin mentions daughters, Susannah Sweetnaim, Ann Fewell, Margaret Jenkins, Sarah Swetnam, Elizabeth Ficklin, and Lucy Ficklin; son, John Ficklin; sons-in-law, Wm. Sweetnaim and John Swetnam; brother Benjamin Ficklin; nephew, James Bowen; grandson Lewis Bell. Two other Ficklin women also married Bell's, one went to Ohio, the other to MO.

3) William Bell inherited an interest in a Mill belonging to James Anderson and had to sue Vincent Anderson.

4) Lewis Bell and Rebecca's brother posted the bond for William Bell's marriage to Rebecca Davis.

Note 1 regarding the War of 1812 - Lewis would have been at least 42 years of age in 1812. It seems unlikely that he served, but it is certainly possible, especially in the Militia if it was a "home guard" unit. He was certainly still living in Virginia in 1812.

Note 2 regarding the will - If Bell was mentioned, but his mother (whose maiden name had to be Ficklin) was not, it strongly suggests that he was an orphan, or at least that his mother had died. In 1778, Lewis would have been between 8 and 12 years old. His father wasn't mentioned either, so it's hard to judge, but this could be a reason why our family tree stops at Lewis. Maybe he didn't remember much about his parents. OR, maybe this is a different Lewis Bell. It's certainly something to keep in mind - and another family to research for clues.

Note 3 regarding the mill - It's interesting that James and Vincent Anderson, brothers of Mary Anderson Bell, are both buried at Palmer Chapel Cemetery. Vincent lived to be 81, James only 61. James died in 1842, so the dispute over the mill must have happened in the years following his death.

Note 4 regarding William Bell's marriage - good information to have.

I think that wraps up all the information I've collected about Lewis Bell and Mary Anderson to date. I need to follow-up on the 1812 war record and the Ficklin will when I have time. I also need to double-check my RootsMagic database to see if all the sources are correctly documented for Lewis and Mary.

Lewis Bell & Mary Anderson Part 2

Today I will look at several unsourced family trees for Lewis Bell and Mary Anderson. Some of the information is very helpful when trying to search for source documents, especially census records.

Family Search (the LDS family history online database)

There is a Family Group Record for Lewis Bell and Mary Anderson of Fauquier Co, VA. It lists nine children, they are:

1) James male (11 Jan 1794 - 1 Jan 1835). Place of death West Lebanon, Warren, Indiana.

2) Rebecca female (1797 - none listed).

3) Fielding male (1792 - 1854). Place of death Bedford, Tennessee.

4) Nancy female (1801 - 26 Feb 1883).

5) Vincent male (1802 - June 1859). Place of death Shelby, Ohio.

6) Harrison male (1797 - after 1850). Place of death Poss, Shelby, Ohio. [NOTE:  I know that all of this information is incorrect.]

7) Elizabeth female (1804 - none listed).

8) Thomas male (Jul 1809 - 2 Aug 1854). Place of death Adams, Indiana.

9) Margaret female (1811 - none listed).

Interestingly, William Bell, the one son mentioned in the deed of trust (see yesterday's post) is not listed on this Family Group Sheet.

DAR Magazine

There was a "reader query" in a 1918 DAR magazine which listed the names of all of Lewis and Mary Anderson Bell's children. There are no dates, but it does mention some spouses, which is helpful as well.

"BELL - Ancestry desired. Probably came from Maryland to Virginia; m Mary Anderson in Fauquier Co., Va., where all of their children were born, and moved to Ohio with children in about 1821; settled at Bellbrook, named for Bell. He had ten children: William, m Rebecca Davis, dau of "Parson Davis," (probably Wm. F. R. Davis, in Va., where several of their children were born) James, Margaret, Fielding, Harrison, Vincent, Thomas (my mother's father), Nancy Elizabeth (who m my uncle Geo. Anderson), Rebecca."

[NOTE: I looked into the theory that they settled in Bellbrook, Greene Co, OH and found little to support it. See later in this post regarding Thomas C Bell, son of William Bell and Rebecca Davis.]

The same reader listed two other queries - one about the Anderson family and one about the Mattox family. Both of those surnames were in his lineage. The reader signs his query "R. S. A." His grandfather was Vincent Anderson who married  Mary Mattox.

One thing that I do find interesting about this query is that it ties the Anderson and Bell families pretty tightly together. There are Anderson, Mattox and Slagle's (Harrison Bell's in-laws) all buried in the Palmer Chaple Cemetery in Bethel Twp, Miami Co, OH. I saw Vincent Anderson's tombstone there this past August.

So I am taking the names of the 10 children as fairly accurate. I believe the 1918 reader query had to be based on family bibles or oral family tradition. I then began to search census records for more clues about the family.

I already found the 1810, 1820 and 1830 census records for Lewis Bell which match pretty closely with the names and dates that are on the Family Search Family Group Sheet above.

Now I have started looking for more census records about Lewis Bell's children. This is what I found today.

1840 Federal Census for Turtle Creek Twp, Shelby Co, OH

Wm Bell

The ages of the people in this household closely correlate to a family tree that I found on Family Search for William Bell, the son of Lewis Bell of Fauquier County, VA. The submitter was William Bell of Talahassee, FL.

There is also a male aged 60-69 in the household who COULD BE Lewis Bell, but also could be someone else. I believe that Lewis Bell probably died before 1840 or he would be listed as head of household - see my next note about his wife/widow.

There is also a female aged 40-49 who could be, and probably is, Rebecca Davis Bell, William's wife. I don't agree with the family trees that say William Bell had a third wife who he married in the 1830's. Rebecca Bell is listed as head of household in 1850 with all of their children listed by name.

1840 Federal Census for Franklin Twp, Shelby Co, OH

Fielding Bell

There are 3 males aged 30-39 and 1 female aged 20-29 and 1 female aged 60-69. I think this may be a household of the 4 unmarried children of Lewis and Mary Bell. That would be Fielding, James, Vincent and Elizabeth Bell. The ages don't quite match up, but that is a common error on census records. The older woman is quite possibly Mary Anderson Bell, their mother.

Two lines down from Fielding Bell is

Thomas Bell

This is another one of Lewis Bell's sons. There are 4 young children (1 male, 3 female) along with Thomas Bell aged 30-39 which matches what I know of his probable birthdate, and a female aged 20-29, who must be Minerva Helmer Bell, his wife. I have been in contact with a descendant of Thomas Bell and his information matches this Census record.

1850 Federal Census for Bethel Twp, Miami Co, OH

Jeremiah Bennett

The descendant of Thomas Bell has also given me some information about Nancy Bell, daughter of Lewis Bell, and recorded that she married Jeremiah Bennett. I know that Harrison Bell's son James B Bell's middle name was Bennett, so that is a probable connection to the family. This census record lists Nancy Bennett, aged 36 - which sounds a little young for the Nancy Bell who was Lewis Bell's daughter. However, the writing is very hard to read, and I've certainly known many census record ages to be wrong.

Vincent Bell is also a member of the household - aged 45 or 48 (hard to read). That matches the age of Vincent Bell who was the son of Lewis Bell. Another household member is Mary Bell, aged 83. This could easily be Mary Anderson Bell, widow of Lewis Bell and mother of Nancy and Vincent Bell.

John Anderson

The same township census record has John Anderson, aged 36, born in Kentucky with Mary Bell, aged 73, born in Virginia, living with him. This could also be Mary Anderson Bell, widow of Lewis Bell, living with a nephew. I would guess it more likely that she would be living with her daughter and son than with a nephew.

Find-A-Grave Carey Cemetery, Shelby County, OH

William Bell

There is a memorial listed on the Find A Grave website for William Bell, husband of Rebecca (Davis) Bell. It lists his birth date as Feb 18, 1796 and his death date as Jan 15, 1845. There is no photo, so I don't know if a lookup was done at the cemetery, or just listed by a descendant.

Rebecca Bell

Another memorial is listed for Rebecca (Davis) Bell. Her birth date is listed as Aug 1, 1793 and her death date as Mar 29, 1862. Again, no photo or source is indicated. Her parents are listed - William A Davis (1766 - 1837) and Elizabeth (Cocston) Davis (1760-1841).

Someone else linked Thomas Cowan Bell to these two memorials saying that they were his parents. He was one of the founders of the Sigma Chi fraternity when he attended Miami University in Oxford, OH in the 1850's. This Thomas C Bell was born in Greene Co, OH according to the Sigma Chi biography, and served in the Civil War (I looked up his pension records on Footnote and they matched a biography I found on the Sigma Chi website).  He died in Oakland, CA in 1919 according to the Civil War records. He is buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery.

William and Rebecca (Davis) Bell did have a son named Thomas C Bell - the 1850 census for Turtle Creek Twp, Shelby Co, OH lists him, aged 18, living with his mother - who was already a widow in 1850 - and his other siblings. It is certainly possible that he is the same man who attended Miami University in Oxford, OH in the 1850's. He had an Aunt Lizzie Davis who he apparently lived with while he attended school, so her husband could have been related to Rebecca Davis.

One of Thomas C Bell's sons applied for membership to the Sons of the American Revolution in 1897 and used Rebecca Davis's father, William A Davis, as his Revolutionary War ancestor. (I found his application on Ancestry.com today.)


1830 Federal Census for Sugar Creek Twp, Greene Co, OH

William Bell

There is a record for William Bell in Sugar Creek Twp, Greene County in 1830, and I don't find any William Bell head of households in Miami, Clark or Shelby County in 1830. The ages match those of William and Rebecca Davis Bell and their children, so it is probable that they are the parents of Thomas Cowan Bell who was a founder of the Sigma Chi fraternity. There were no other Thomas Bell's listed in Greene, Shelby, Miami, or Clark County in 1850 who were born in 1832 - at least not that I found so far.

This seems to link our Bell line with Stephen Bell, the founder of Bellbrook in Greene County, OH, but I don't think it's a very strong connection. Our Bell ancestors loved to name their children after relatives, and I don't see a single Stephen among any of the records that I've found so far. William and Rebecca moved to Shelby County before 1840 and lived out their lives there.

In summary, I believe that most of Lewis Bell's children settled in Shelby County (a little ways north of Miami County) in the 1840's - 1850's and lived near each other for a period of time before they began to migrate to other counties and states. The only one who possibly lived in Greene County was William Bell, and that only for a short period of time.

My next post will be about Lewis Bell's son Harrison Bell, my great-great-great grandfather.

Lewis Bell & Mary Anderson

The Bells are ancestors on my father's maternal grandmother's branch of the family. Her maiden name was Bertha Mae Bell. She was the daughter of Jacob S Bell, who was the son of Harrison Bell. We believe that Harrison was the son of Lewis Bell and Mary Anderson who lived in Fauquier County, Virginia from at least 1800 to 1820.

My most recent research for Lewis Bell was to lookup the deed that has been referenced on "One World Tree" and Ancestry.com member trees establishing the fact that he was James Anderson's son-in-law and Mary Anderson's husband.

I ordered the microfilm from the LDS Family History Library and printed a copy of the original document for myself. I also looked at the index to see if other family members appeared on the same microfilm.

The film that I requested was:

Fauquier County, VA Deed books Vols 26-27 microfilm # 0031595

I found 8 Bells listed in the index. There was also a Maddux listed (Mary Anderson's brother James married Anna Maddux - they are buried in Bethel Twp, Miami Co, OH).

The Bells referenced were:  Charles Bell and his wife, Agatha C. Bell; John Bell; William Bell and his wife, Sarah; James Bell; and Lewis Bell. Thomas L. Maddux was listed in the index. Peter A. Maddux was a witness to Lewis Bell's deed of trust.

I believe that William Bell and James Bell were children of Lewis Bell. They were both named as recipients of debt payments in a deed signed by Charles Bell, so he may have also been a brother, but could have just as easily been a cousin, uncle, nephew, etc.

The deed that Lewis Bell signed mentioned a suit between Lewis and George Harrison. It's interesting that the surname Harrison shows up in this deed. If they named their son after a relative using his surname as their son's given name, this could be another family connection.

Lewis Bell deed of trust to Ludwell Rector:

"This Indenture, made the 7th day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty two between Lewis Bell of the County of Fauquier and commonwealth of Virginia of the one part, and Ludwell Rector of the County of Fauquier and commonwealth aforesaid of the other part witnesseth that the said Lewis Bell for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar lawful money of the United States to him in hand paid by the said Rector at and before the sealing and delivery hereof, the receipt whereof he doth hereby acknowledge, and thereof and of every part thereof doth for ever exonerate, acquit and discharge the said Rector for the uses herein after named by there presents hath granted, bargained, sold, aliened, en??, released and confirmed & transferred unto the said Rector, his heirs and assigns forever all the right, title & interest in p?? remainder of the said Lewis Bell in & to the estate of James Anderson dec'd of Prince William County & father in law of said Bell said interest consents of the ? part of the property now held by Mary the widow of said James Anderson for her life...

... thirdly, pay to William Bell son of sd Lewis four hundred dollars ..."

This establishes the relationship between Lewis Bell and James Anderson as well as establishing that William Bell was the son of Lewis Bell.

Other source documents that I have found for Lewis Bell are:

Fauquier Co, VA 1800 Tax List; District of Elias Edmonds Junr;

"Bell, Lewis  1-2-0-1" 

1 free male over 16
2 horses
0 slaves over 16
1 slave between 12 and 16

1810 United States Federal Census

Fauquier Co, VA

"Lewis Bell  3 2 1 1 - 2 1 - 1 - - 9"

3 males under 10; 2 males bet 10 and 15; 1 male between 16 and 25; 1 male between 26 and 44
2 females under 10; 1 female bet 10 and 15; 1 female between 26 and 44; 9 slaves

1820 United States Federal Census

Fauquier Co, VA

"Lewis Bell - 3 1 - - 1 2 1 2 1 - - 4 - - - - - - 4 - 1"

3 males between 10 and 15; 1 male between 16 and 18; 1 male 45 or older
2 females under 10;1 female between 10 and 15; 2 females between 16 and 25; 1 female between 26 and 44

1830 United States Federal Census

Bethel Twp, Clark Co, OH

"Lewis Bell  - - - - 3 - - - 1 - - - - - - - 2 - - - - 1 - - -"

3 males between 20 and 29; 1 male between 60 and 69
2 females between 15 and 19; 1 female between 60 and 69

Lewis Bell was not listed in the Bethel Twp census of 1840 - he may have died, but I did not find a death record or probate file for him when I searched in Miami County. Because Bethel Twp is split between Miami and Clark Counties, the information may have been recorded in Clark County.

From this limited information, we can deduce that Lewis Bell of Fauquier County, VA moved to Bethel Twp, Clark Co, OH between 1820 and 1830. He was probably born between 1766 and 1770. His wife, Mary Anderson, was probably born between 1776 and 1784. Mary was the daughter of James Anderson.

The LDS website, Family Search, provides us with more information, but no direct source documents. A DAR publication from January, 1918 lists two reader queries, one entitled "Anderson" and the other "Bell". It refers to Lewis and Mary Anderson Bell and their children. It also lists the children of James Anderson. Presumably this came from a family bible or oral family tradition, but the source is not given.

Next week I will go through these two sources and analyze the data given.

Family Tree Scrapbook Album

Franz and Margaret Kraus & Family

I've finally finished putting copies of all the old photos from my Mom and Dad's families into a scrapbook album. I limited myself to studio portraits, or similar snapshots, for each of my direct ancestors and a few of my aunts and uncles. I'm amazed at how many of my ancestors had their pictures taken. One or two of them are photos of paintings or drawings.

These are four photos of ancestors in my family tree that go back the farthest. Samuel Fuller (b 1802 in VT), Paulina Norton Hill (b 1805 in ME), Marianna Fairbanks Hendee (b 1798 in VT), and Sarah Price/Preiss Wentling (b 1821 in PA). The photos were probably taken between 1880 and 1890. The picture of Marianna Fairbanks is a painting that my mother owns - it was done in 1816 - the year she was married. I'm lucky that my mother's family was good about keeping family history photos and sharing them with all the descendants.

I am planning to use this blog to document my research as I work on the next two levels of family history. My trip to Ohio last month produced a lot of new source documents and photos. I'll be updating RootsMagic and also writing more of my Young/Bell Family History book.

I will also be starting to write the Brandt/Suber Family History book and I found some new information in Wyandot County. The Wentz Cemetery in Richland Township, for example, had tombstones that mark the graves of several of my ancestors. I need to get the information added to my RootsMagic database and also analyze what other research I should do next.