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.