Finally some Genealogy!!

I promised genealogical information, so here we go!

William Charles Bell was my 2nd great grandfather, born about 1821 in Stewart County, TN to George and Dulsanna Jane Bell*.  I must admit, I am not 100% confident his name was William Charles.  Most of my research has found just Charlie or simply a "C", but there is evidence supporting the name William Charles Bell in census records.
Charlie married Mary Adaline Yates, 17 November 1852 in Benton County, TN.  This marriage was solemnized by J.P. Arnold, a Minister of God and to this union was born five children: Missouri E.; Horace Monroe; Queen; Rosella J and William Clark.  Charlie died 20 Sep 1884 in Benton County, TN, but his place of burial remains unknown.

Recently I was sifting through some of my Dad's papers and discovered a deed I suppose settling Charlie Bell's estate.  It was for 65 acres of land being sold by my great grandfather's siblings to him.  I found it interesting, even though Mary Adaline was still alive, her name wasn't mentioned.  Was this an example of the lack of rights women had in the 1880's?  Yeah, I should know the answer to that and perhaps I do, somewhere buried in the back of my mind, but for now I'll leave it as a question.

Moving along, while reading this deed I began to realize I had numerous unanswered questions about my great grandfather's siblings.  Some had moved out of Benton County and I had skipped over them, with the intention of doing more research at a later date.  Well, that date was now and other than children's names I have learned some interesting bits of information.
     Missouri E. Bell - born August 1853 in Benton County, TN, married John Y. Jordan, son of Jonathan & Rebecca Jordan, 22 October 1873 in Benton County, TN.  They had one child, a daughter Minnie A. - born August 1883 in Benton Co., TN, who married William Massey Farrar 3 March 1895, in Benton Co., TN.  Missouri died in 1932 and is buried at Eastview Cemetery in Benton Co., TN, along side her husband, who died 3 July 1929.
     Horace Monroe Bell - born 23 July 1859. This is my great-grandfather and I will later devote an entire post to him.  Please note, the photograph on my home page, the man with two horses is Horace Monroe Bell.
     Queen Bell - born 7 October 1861 in Benton County, TN.  I have found this to be a little complicated and will address Queen at a later time.
     Rosella J Bell - born September 1863 in Benton County, TN, married Marion (Mace) Prince, 12 July 1877 in Benton County, TN, J.F. Presson, a Justice of Peace, officiated.  Notice Ella, as she would later be called, had not had her 14th birthday when she married.  When I began researching my family history I expected to find girls marrying young to be common; however, at least to this point, it is unusual in my family.  Moving along, Ella and Mace Prince had two children, both born in Benton County, TN.  Eva was the oldest, born 13 November 1878 and then Charles Orlander, born 11 August 1879.  According to the 1880 US Census for Benton County, TN they lived next to Ella's siblings in Benton County.  Next, they are found in the 1900 US Census living in Fulton County, KY.  Eva is now married to Edward Burns Smith and they are living with her parents. The next census 1910 gets a little complicated.  Edward and Eva Smith have moved to Hinds County, MS and both Ella and Charles are now living with them.  Ella's marital status is a widow.  Seemingly Mace has died and the 1920 US Census for Hinds Co., MS is the same.  However, the 1930 US Census for Hinds County, MS offers a new perspective.  While Ella is still living with the Smiths and is still designated a widow, Charles also lives in Hinds County, MS and living in his household is Mace Prince, age 74 and he is also widowed.  What??  I searched for Marion/Mace Prince in both the 1910 and 1920 US censuses and have not been able to locate him.  Where was he?  If anyone has any ideas, please share them in the comments section.  And . . . what's the deal with BOTH saying they are widowed??  Yeah, I have a couple of ideas, but I'd really like a little proof.
Also, Edward and Eva now have a daughter, Mary Adaline.  It appears the child was born about 1921 making Eva 42-43 years old when she had her first child.  I thought this strange, but while looking at a family tree on Ancestry.com I found a comment concerning Mary Adaline Smith that certainly intrigued me.  It stated this child was found on their (Edward and Eva's) doorstep.  That certainly explains Eva's late motherhood, but is this claim valid?  I haven't found anything to either confirm or deny this mystery, but will continue searching.  Again, anyone with thoughts, ideas and certainly facts to shed light on this, please contact me.
This leaves William Clark Bell, the youngest of Charlie and Mary Adaline Bell's children.  Clark as he was called was born in July 1865, never married and after is mother's death, 1 June 1897 he lived with his sister Missouri and her family the rest of his life that ended 27 July 1911.
     *Please note, many who have recorded information on Dulsanna Jane state her first name was Bulsanna; however, the actual written census record of 1860 Benton County, Tennessee clearly shows, at least to me with careful examination, that the first letter in her first name is spelled with a "D" and not a "B".
Thanks to all who take the time to visit this blog.  Perhaps we have a kinship and can share information, family stories, etc. that will help us get to know our ancestors more than just names and dates. 

Until next time have a safe weekend!

T. Bell

Getting my genealogy blog legs back

For those of you who have previously visited my blog you will notice I did away with bellblogger and decided to use my real name.  It was a little strange, visiting other websites and reading some of the things I have written but not seeing my name attached.  Yeah, I suppose my ego played a role in this, even though  I have never considered myself to be one of those ego kind of guys.  I try to be accurate and thorough in my final analysis and to see another name being given credit for my research, even a name of my invention, an alter ego so to speak troubled me.  Weird huh?

There is so much out there that is not accurate and this troubles me as I have previously noted.  It is distrubing to spend hours, days, weeks, months or even years sifting through records and documents to find a name or date and then go to someone's family tree and see misinformation.  Who among us, who actually puts the time, energy and effort into genealogy wants to discover our ancestor with a wife or husband they did not have?  One of my family lines has a fella who, by most anyone's account, is the absolute most knowledgable person anywhere on this family.  A few years ago, I came upon a sampling of his work and quickly realized he was mistaken in one of his lines, my line.  I contacted him, not to correct him but to ask where he had found the information.  He promised he would send me copies of the documents he had used, but the information never arrived nor did he answer my emails.

I truly want to be accurate.  Finding factual, documented information is extremely difficult at times and at other times I honestly believe it is impossible.  It took me more than thirty years to find my 4th great grandfather Bell, but I found him!  Yes, that day I felt like I had won the lottery.  Well maybe not one of those huge lotteries, but you know what I mean.  A side note:  I really would like to know how it feels to win one of those huge lotteries, so anyone with advice on winning, I'm listening.

One final thought to anyone who is just starting the journey of finding your ancestors.  Document ALL of your information!  Make notes where anything and everything you find comes from, talk to older relatives immediately and record or write ALL of their tales, stories and all they will tell you.  Their information may be the most valuable of any information you find.  I did not do this and regret it tremendously, but that is for another time.

Hope you enjoyed my words, please visit often and tell others!  As always I encourage your comments good and bad.  Next time I will actually include genealogical information!

T Bell

I'm BACK!!!

Wow!  Has it really been nine months since I last posted on this blog?  As age creeps up on me I have discovered, the passing of time is about the only thing that is faster now than it was 20+ years ago.  Sorry, I can't believe I even suggested age is creeping up on me.  Heck aging is a runaway train, a space ship traveling at Mach 100!  Next month I will turn sixty and that just can't be.  It seems like it was just last year I was fifty! 
And genealogy, I'm not so sure it's healthy!  Researching ancestors means finding dates of death, burial sites, etc. and frankly it's a bit morbid.  And then I fnd myself reading obituaries, looking for a recently deceased relative to add to my family tree and yes, that too is morbid.  For me it's not easy growing old and those who say it is better than the alternative, huh?  Perhaps it is better than the alternative, but such a statement is akin to preferring to be a little sick versus being a lot sick.  No one in their right mind wants to be sick period!  And while life seems to be better than death, why settle?  Why see the world as it is better to be alive than to be dead?  Live life to the fullest and make everyday an adventure, not a chore!  I stumbled upon this quote a while back and would like to share it.

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways in a cloud of dust, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Holy Sh*t! What a Ride!"

I plan to be more in touch and will try and add something to this blog at least once a week.  Should ANYONE have ANYTHING they would like to contribute, please use the comment portion.


Have a GREAT week,


T Bell

Monument

For this post I am going to veer away from Bell genealogy or any family genealogy and present an article from The Camden Chronicle, from Thursday, September 2, 2010.

Before I begin, this comes from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary to show I am keeping with the genealogy theme of this blog.

Definition of GENEALOGY
1 : an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms
2 : regular descent of a person, family, or group of organisms from a progenitor or older form : pedigree
3 : the study of family pedigrees
4 : an account of the origin and historical development of something.

Now on to my post -

Wow, I was fully prepared to label “Pilot Knob” as the highest point in West Tennessee. After all, this was something I had been told my entire life, by those I considered knowledgeable and educated in the matter; however, like so many things we “think” we learn as children, myths can take on a factual belief, yet are not necessarily real. Nevertheless, the historical significance of this site cannot be disputed, can it? Does this mean that some day history will be rewritten and future generations will be told the things General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his troops did were basically insignificant? I sincerely hope not!

This is what I discovered regarding “Pilot Knob”, from this website -
http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/tn_consv/archive/highpoints.htm

Tennessee’s High Points
By Bob Fulcher
Many of us have repeated the falsehood that Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park’s Pilot Knob is the highest point in West Tennessee. It is a cruel surprise that Pilot Knob is not even the Benton County HP. There are, in fact, 15 West Tennessee peaks on the list higher than our once-thought-to-be-so-special riverfront knob. Chester County’s Sand Mountain, at 740-feet, is the glory, the rooftop, the apex of West Tennessee.
(Bob Fulcher is a regional interpretive specialist for Tennessee State Parks.)

This article doesn't show an author, generally this means a staff writer; however, I am unable to offer credit to anyone, but clearly state it is not my article. Hopefully, I haven't made this too confusing, but I found the article extremely interesting and wanted to share.

In the Fall of 1931, an unidentified man and a monument in memory of Nathan B. Forrest arrived by rail at the Eva Depot from Calhoun, GA. This man stayed at the Holland Hotel in Eva about two weeks until the job of erecting the monument was completed.

Albert Cherry and Oscar Pafford were at the depot when the train arrived. The man said he was looking for someone to help get the monument up the hill and set it up. The monument consisted of the base, middle section and the shaft.

Mr. Cherry and Mr. Pafford contracted the job for $500. The monument was rolled off the train at the depot. Mr. Cherry and Mr. Pafford made wooden wheels for the wagon, Mr. Cherry had four big white horses and after loading the base onto the wagon the horses were hitched to the wagon and pulled the base to the foot of Knob Hill. The horses were unable to pull it up the hill. Mr. Cherry went to Dickson (Note: Dickson was some 50-60 miles or more from Eva) and rented a truck, the wagon was hooked to the truck and the truck couldn't pull up the hill. At this time, Mr. Bob Farmer was the Road Commissioner and he told Mr. Cherry that they had only one dozer, which was in use during the day, but they could use it after work to pull the load. Mr. Carsewell Holland drove the dozer home after work. Mr. Cherry, Mr. Pafford and Mr. Holland hooked the wagon onto the dozer and pulled it up the hill. The other two sections were lighter and were pulled up by the horses and wagon.

When all the pieces were on top of the hill and ready to set into place, some young men were hired to help. They were Ernie Cherry, David B. Pafford, Ben B. Holland, Addilea Hollingsworth and Omas (Bigen) Sanderfur. These young men were paid 25 cents per hour. An A-frame was built, cables were tied to trees with two winches on each side. Leather strips were put under the timber with long bolts to tighten the shaft to lift the set on the second piece. The base was set on lead to keep water out. Between the base and the first piece and the first and shaft a one inch strip of lead was laid around the edge to seal out water also.

Ernie Cherry placed a new Indian Head Penny, heads up on the base before the second piece was set into place. Mr. Ernie Cherry related this information to Clara Nelle Morisette on October 20, 1993. Mr. Cherry was 84 years old and the only one living at this time that helped in the erection of the monument in memory of Nathan Bedford Forrset. Mr. Ernie Cherry died November 21, 1995.

The following is an article that came out in the January 31, 1930 issue of The Camden Chronicle.
Forrest Monument for Pilot Knob -

While at Nashville last week attending the meeting of the Good Roads Association, O.P. Lashlee was informed that the legal status having been settled satisfactorily, a charter would be granted for the Forrest Memorial Park at Pilot Knob on the Tennessee River.

It will be remembered that an appropriation of $10,000 for this purpose was made at the last season of the General Assembly, but the matter was held up until Governor Horton called the extra session, when the bill was revived and adopted.

This means that the money is available and as soon as Spring opens, steps will be taken to have a monument erected on the spot where General Forrest directed the memorable attack on the federal gunboat at Johnsonville in the sixties. Mr. Lashlee is chairman of the park association.

Alexander Bell

For some time now I have wondered who Alexander Bell was and if or how he was related to me. Here is what I knew about him. According to his tombstone at the Camden City Cemetery, in Camden, TN, he was born 22 October 1830 and died 24 January 1904 and was a Mason, but other than that I knew little about him. So, yesterday I ventured to the Benton County Library in Camden hoping to find answers.

If you have never been to this library and have relatives associated with Benton County I highly recommend a visit. While larger libraries may have more resources their Genealogy Room is well equipped with information pertaining to Benton and surrounding counties, as well as other states. And, if you are there on a Wednesday morning, Ms Virginia Pafford will assist in your efforts. Ms Pafford is knowledgable in a great deal of Benton County history, as well as Benton Countians. There may be others who volunteer and if so I suspect they are also extremely helpful, but Ms Pafford was there yesterday. Also, the lower level of the library, the basement if you will, houses the Archives, a wealth of information and there is a lady there who will gladly assist. I do not remember her name, sorry, but she too was extremely helpful. So if you're in the area, stop by the library I think you'll be glad you did. And if you're a fan of catfish, just down the street and off to the right is the Country and Western Restaurant. Of course, they have much more than catfish and all the trimmings, including a daily lunch buffet, but the catfish is delicious and irresistable.

Now back to Alexander Bell. I know he married Louisa Elizabeth Corbitt, 26 September 1858, in Benton County, TN. When Alex died, an article was written in the 29 January 1904, Camden Chronicle stating he was survived by seven children. In the same newspaper the were two separate notes that mentioned his illness and death. One notes that Carl McRae and his sister, Mrs. E. E. Travis of Memphis were called to Camden the latter part of the previous week due to the illness of their grandfather, Alex Bell.

The second article mentions Ella Lockhart and her two nephews, Charles Collier and Alexander Bell of Stewart were in Camden during the illness and death of her brother, Alex Bell. Research has led me to believe Ella is the shorten version of Louella and Louella E Bell married George W. Lockhart, 6 December 1874, in Houston County, TN. I also suspect the father and mother of Louella Bell are George Washington Bell and Hannah Brown Bell; however, this puts somewhat of a question concerning Alex Bell and Ella Lockhart being siblings. Oh well, this has become typical of late in my research. I find one thing or even a partial something and more confusion erupts.

It seems I am the only one reading this blog, but maybe with a little luck, okay a lot of luck, others will pass through, read my words and spread the word. Maybe then, someone will know the answer to some of my questions and actually be willing to share.

Until next time, have a great day and be thorough in your research!

I'm BACK!

It's been more than a year since my last post. Wow! Has it really been that long? I could attribute my absence to many things, some more believable than others, but the truth is, are you ready for this . . . . I lost my password!



Yeah, that makes me sound like a bungling idiot. Well?? Seriously, I have too many accounts that require a password. At first, I used the same password, but realized that probably wasn't the best idea. Bam! A hacker discovers a password and uh yeah, they can get in ALL my accounts and somehow I doubt they would be paying my electric bill or depositing money in my bank account, so, I devised a "plan". I use 3 x 5 index cards, write pertinent information on them, like passwords and keep my cards in a box. Simple and easy right? It is simple and easy IF I actually make a card for each account and I didn't for this blog.



Okay, still no problem . . . . just use my email, change my password and I'm back in business, right? But, I have too many email accounts, personal, business, bills, genealogy, etc. and I could not remember which email I used for this blog. Yes, I do feel stupid and when I took a few minutes it was easy to figure out, but I didn't take the time! However, I am back, index card in a secure place and from time to time I'll be posting genealogical information. I welcome and encourage any and all comments and maybe this time I can actually make this blog thing work.



Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings and don't be shy. While it is entitled Bell Genealogy, I plan to expand to other family lines.

Today's thoughts

Okay, I’m writing to myself! Wow, gee, whoopee, that is so much fun! However, I suppose it has advantages, say I write something that could be offensive, I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to work it out with myself, even though I can be stubborn at times. Or, my grammar, use of words or punctuation falls short of being correct, I probably won’t judge myself, hey I may not even notice I screwed up. Yeah, I can certainly see an upside to being my blogs only viewer/reader, but somehow I’m still having a problem “sharing information with myself”. It seems, at least to date, I’m just not learning anything from me??? Not to sound arrogant, but I’ve read most everything I’ve written and I already knew the things I’ve read. Oh well, maybe this post will be different, but I’ll tell ya, I’m not holding my breath!

I’ll be honest, I’m a bit disgusted with many of those who research their heritage. Why? Well there are several reasons, but in this post I’ll will deal with but one reason. They are users! Oh, that’s not to say everyone falls into that category or fit’s the description. There are some who are genuinely helpful, willing to share and will even go that extra mile or more to assist. I have an ex-sister-in-law who falls into this category and while our research does not always match, she has been ever so helpful. Sometimes she amazes me at the information she finds. We bounce thoughts and ideas back and forth through emails and that was my hope that this blog would create the same communication for me and others, but nope, nada, nothing. Yeah, I’m beginning to whine and I almost said sorry, but I refuse to apologize to myself. Does anyone apologize to theirself and is it theirself or themselves? Well, according to this word processor program theirself is not a word and when I try putting them with self, together, one word, it immediately changes to “themselves“.

This is another advantage in not having readers, what I just wrote truly makes me sound like an idiot and while I may not be the sharpest pencil in every box, I’m not the dullest either.

Anyway back to my disgust with some researchers . . . . some seem to be interested in being able to “say” they have traced their ancestry to the Mayflower, the Revolutionary War or some other great moment in history, but do they not realize it takes more than to just “say” something? I discovered I was related to the third President of the United States. Thomas Jefferson’s father and my 6th great-grandmother were siblings, making President Jefferson and me first cousins, seven times removed. Wow! But so what does that mean, first cousins seven times removed?

I’m not certain, but it sounds like extremely distant relatives. Anyway, I was sharing this information with a relative by marriage and a couple of days later, got a call from her son, a guy I had never even spoken to and he was asking about our relationship to Thomas Jefferson. Many years later I was investigating a family tree on ancestry.com and lo and behold, it was this guy’s wife, who had the wildest tale of my ancestry imaginable. She had my 2nd great-grandfather being in Australia before he was born, then back in the USA within a couple of years and having families with similar names on both continents. Now in today’s world it is possible for someone to live “two lives” but not in the mid-1800’s, especially taking into account travel time. However, there in black and white was our relative Thomas Jefferson!

It was obvious two or more families had been combined and even more obvious the author of this family tree had not done the research, but instead combined research of others, who were probably not related, yet had posted this misleading, error filled garbage as fact. Yes, in my opinion it was garbage, true researchers do their own research or at least check the research of others.

Some years ago a fellow who had published numerous books and had the title of County Historian wrote an ancestor of mine died in 1860. At first, I took the guy as an authority, hey he’s published all of these books and I was still wet behind the ears, a genuine “rookie” in genealogy research. Then I discovered the 1860 date was based on a will, but the will was revised in December 1865. This ancestor had a slave and in his original will had left it to one of his sons, but the outcome of the Civil War freed the slave and a revision was needed. So much for being the author of numerous books and having a “title”!

I have the belief, if you attach your name to something, be as accurate as possible and if there are questions to the accuracy admit is, disclose it. I think it’s called having credibility. This post may not be agreeable to some, but it is my thoughts and opinions, thus making it accurate from my standpoint. However, if I missed something somewhere let me know.

Man that’s funny, no a bit spooky! No one will read this but me, so who’s to correct me, but me?

Maybe next time I’ll express opposing views . . no, that’s just too weird.
As always, have a great day and even if you aren’t in to genealogy, take a few minutes and write things down about yourself. Perhaps someone, a grandchild or great-grandchild will one day be interested in tracing their ancestry and even a “day in the life of” you, would be of great interest to them.