Sharing my EXCITEMENT!!!

For those of you who are not deeply involved in genealogy, tracing your family's roots or searching for your ancestors, you will not understand this.  However, compare it to fishing and finally landing that largemouth bass that has evaded you for years or to being a collector and finally finding a missing piece to your collection.  Are you feeling the excitement?  Oh come on, you know you can feel it!!  Feel the tingle in your feet?  Makes you wanta dance doesn't?  Oh stop it, you look silly, at least turn on some music and close those blinds.  What will the neighbors think?

First, as you will notice on the right side of my homepage, I have added a picture/photo.  This is my Great Grandfather Horace Monroe Bell, his wife Harriett Cornealia Farrar Bell and their children.  My Granddad, B. Charlie Bell, the man in the buggy at the top of my homepage, is the little guy in front, between his parents. Then to the left is his brother Arzo Monroe Bell, next standing behind his dad's right shoulder is Horace Cornealius (Neal) Bell and the tall fellow in the rear is my great uncle William Albert Bell.  To Uncle Albert's left is Aunt Ida.  Is it just me or does she have a remarkable resemblence to her mother?

Yes, since I had never seen my Grandmother Bell and the only photo I had ever seen of Granddad Bell was the one where he is standing between the two horses, just below the family photo.  Receiving this was truly exciting, but, my excitement didn't end there.  Through this blog I have contacted someone who is related to the Yates family and I am truly convinced their Yates and my Yates are one and the same.  Wow!!!  This is the most exciting thing I have encountered with those rascally Yates since I first discovered the Cleghorn murder trial.  That sounds terrible, I apologize!  Anyone taking the life of another, regardless of the situation, should never be compared, in any way, to a celebration.  However, I cannot and will not deny it was extremely interesting and now to have found relatives I didn't know existed is great.

It seems Joshua Yates did not die in 1862 as I had believed.  He left Missouri and ventured into Illinois, marrying a Martha Clutts, 5 February 1870, in Alexander County, Illinois.  This marriage resulted in the birth of one child, Charles Joshua Yates, born 29 January 1875.  I'm still working on information and when I get it more organized, I will share.

Well that's it for now, just wanted to share my excitement.  Have a GREAT Sunday, stop by whenever you have a chance and feel free to share anything and everything you may have that might connect our paths in life.

Tim

Questioning Accuracy

Sometimes I am amazed when watching documentaries of the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and/or the Civil War.  I wonder, where did they get the information?  Sure, there are numerous historical documents, some with detailed accounts of battles, expectations, casualities, etc., but what about those narrators.  How is it possible to know what someone was thinking during a battle that person did not survive?  My goodness, I have had trouble just finding some of my ancestors and/or their/my kin.  I'm sorry, but I am a skeptic!  And, the deeper I dig into my ancestory the more I wonder about the history I was taught in school.  Too much of our history, in my opinion, has been written by those who do not know, were not there and have no realistic way of knowing fact from fiction.  Oh I know that sounds terrible, but I have seen and read things that happened in my lifetime in which today's historical accounts do not match the events as they occured.  One glaring example is the racial tension in the 1960's.  I could write page after page on this, but I will try to be brief.  The "history" of school intergration suggests violence in different degrees throughout the South.  I was a Freshman in high school when our county schools first intergrated, but instead of problems, the white kids embraced the thought.  As bad as this may sound, there were some black athletes our entire high school actually looked forward to having join our football and basketball teams.  There was NEVER a racial divide or any problems throughout my four years of high school.  And, that first year of intergration we got a new teacher, a black man who to this day may be the most beloved teacher the high school has ever had.  Also, I am not aware of any racial problems in surrounding counties, so to suggest there were racial problems throughout the South is not true.
Another example of "Today's History" versus "Being Alive and Watching" is the stories of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Growing up, watching Dr. King on newscasts, we seldom if ever heard his message.  The cameras rolled, showing viewers the violence mainly of police using billy clubs and striking those who were in the crowd.  Yes, it appeared Dr. King was a trouble maker, but now we're allowed to hear his words and he surely spoke, preached if you will of non-violence and peace.  The news media controlled what America saw and heard and it never appeared to be anything associated with non-violence.  I consider this to be a sad situation and wonder how many were injured and possibly killed because of misunderstandings and/or the news media sensationalizing something other than the facts that existed?
All of this brings me to a discrepancy in my previous posts concerning my Great Uncle Alonzo Park's death.  I first posted he was riding a bicycle when the crime was committed, but in the second post, the newspaper article plainly states he was driving a horse and buggy.  The bicycle inclusion came from stories I grew up hearing, but it is possible I misunderstood and Alonzo "sometimes" rode a bicycle.  Maybe when he was delivering mail in town??  Hmm, sounds reasonable!  Okay, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Seriously, I try my absolute best to be accurate, I want to be accurate.  Otherwise, what is the point in doing any research, just make up stories and say they are true.  However, as hard as I try to be accurate, sometimes things are foggy at best.  Therefore listening to a narrator tell the audience what somone was thinking shortly before their demise seems more a product of making a better story than making accuracy a priority.  Just my thoughts and opinions!

Have a Safe St. Patrick's Day and should you partake of the spirits, do so responsibily and have a designated driver.

Thanks for stopping by, please come again and perhaps share a comment just to let me know I'm not talking/writing to myself.

Tim

Highway Robbery - The Murder of Alonzo Park

First, I would like to thank Sheila Hopkins, TnGenWeb - Carroll County Coordinator and Jere Cox at the Gordon Browning Museum in McKenzie for the research they did searching for information on the Alonzo Park murder.  Thanks guys, I really appreciate ALL of your effort and certainly am indebted to you both.

Okay, as Sheila commented in an email, there was good news and bad news.   The bad news was, there was a fire in the Carroll County courthouse in 1931 and all the criminal court case files were burned.  However, Sheila and Jere found the following article from the Carroll County Democrat, May 25, 1906.

Highway Robbery

A genuine case of attempted murder and highway robbery, terrible in its' every detail, occurred near Hollow Rock Wednesday afternoon.

The victim was Alonzo Park, a rural mail carrier out from Buena Vista.  He was waylaid and fatally shot while crossing Green's turnpike, two miles south of Hollow Rock, but only a short distance from the Hollow Rock Junction.  The perpetrator of this foul deed was Alvin Condor, 16-year old son of Rev. E.R. Condor of Hollow Rock.  No one witnessed the crime but Condor was later arrested and confessed the crime.

Sid Aden, who lives near the turnpike, seeing Park's horse and buggy near the levee with no driver, went on the hunt of Park, thinking an accident had happened to him and found him lying on the side of the road with two bullet holes in his head and in an unconscious condition.  Neighbors were called and the unfortunate man taken to the junction and later placed on the evening train and carried to his home in Buena Vista.

The action of young Condor aroused suspicion against him.  He was seen on the levee a short time before the shooting and in the bottom shortly after.  Several parties who believed that the boy did the shooting went out on a hunt for him.  He was found near the old P.T.& A. depot and arrested.  Messrs. Bradford and Bowen made the arrest.  Condor ran when he saw the parties coming toward him but after being shot at a few times he gave up.  He at first claimed he knew nothing of the matter, but a pocketbook was found on his person and recognized to be Alonzo Park's, and after being pressed made a confession and told all about how it was done and what actuated him to commit such a crime.  He said he was afraid of Park and as he (Condor) was aiming to leave the country he wanted to put Park out of the way before he did so.  He said he hid behind a tree and as Park came along he stepped out and Park said, "you are that same boy", where upon he commenced shooting Park.  He shot four or five times and used a 22 caliber pistol.  He said after the shooting the horse ran about 100 yards before Park fell from the buggy.  He followed Park up and robbed him, taking a watch and pocketbook containing over $2.00.  The money was found on his person.  He had hid the pistol and watch but later told where they were and they were secured.

The boy is about 16 years old and has the reputation of being a very bad boy, although his parents are splendid people.

Park is about 36 years old, has a wife and one child and has been carrying the mail over this route for over two years.

I found it interesting, odd, strange, perculiar or even weird how the article begins calling this a "case of attempted murder".  Clearly there was a murder.  I do not know what Condor's sentence was, but do know family lore has it that the family did not want him put to death.  Also, the stories I have heard include Condor's stating he had been reading of the exploits of Frank and Jesse James before commiting this crime.  Oh, I should include this was in Tennessee.  I just realized this is not mentioned in the article.

Trying to connect Bells

I offer my sincere apology for having overlooked George Whitworth's comment/post.  Sorry George!  Your post certainly intrigues me.  I can almost make a connection to Lemuel Alsobrooks or Allsbrooks Bell and logic does connect my family line to him, but I fall just short of being able to put it all together.  I would truly like to have any information you are willing to share either on this blog or my email address is belletal08@yahoo.com.  This morning I did a bit of, well preliminary searching and found where Percy Warner Whitworth married Lottie Bell, 7 March 1909, in Hickman Co., TN, by J.V. Hassell, Minister of God.  They lived in Hickman Co., TN for the 1910 Census, Spring Creek, AR for the 1920 Census and Lee County, AR for the 1930 Census.  However, the 1910 census puzzled me, it shows George Edgar Whitworth age 15, lived in the same household as Percy W., Lottie and their son Oscar E. age 6 months, but indicates George is a brother to Percy??

I look forward to hearing from you George and again, apologize for not responding sooner.

Tim

George Whitworth - Jan 1, 2012, 01:34 PM


I'm a direct descendent of Lemuel Allsbrook Bell, Sr. and Jr. of Stewart, Tennessee. My grand mother, Lottie Bell of Stewart married my grandfather, Percy Warren/Warner Whitworth, in about 1910. He was the L&N station master in Bon Aqua Springs, Hickman Co, Tennessee when my father, George E. Whitworth, Sr. was born in Feb. 1910. I am interested in any info on my ancestors. My paternal great-grandfather was William M. Whitworth and wife, Emily Ragan Whitworth of Dickson County, Tennessee.

The Park/Parks Family

I'm going to take a break from my Yates family research and concentrate on my materal Grandmother's family the Park or Parks.  It is written and documented both ways, but Mammy, as I called her was a Park, Belvia Park.  She was born in June 1880 and died in December 1968.  Her husband, my Grandfather C.G. "Lige" Robinson was a Methodist minister and died 4 July 1954.  After Pappy's death Mammy stayed with my family and Mama's sister and her husband, two weeks at a time.  I was eight days shy of being three years old when Pappy died, so I got to spend alot of my life with Mammy.  I learned from her, but now I truly wish I had paid closer attention and asked more questions.  I plan to devote an entire piece to Mammy, but for now this is basically a preview of things to come.

As anyone who has read my blog is aware, my Yates ancestors were charged, tried and two of them were convicted of killing a man, James Harvey Cleghorn.  Well, my Park ancestors are on the other side of the legal end of such a trial.  Mammy's oldest brother, Alonzo Park was the victim, murdered or as the Family Bible has written, assassinated.  I believe the definition of assassinate is to murder a "prominent" person and I am not sure a mail carrier would be considered a "prominent" person, but to his family Alonzo Park was surely a "prominent" person.  So, I suppose using the word "assassinated" in a family bible is not so far fetched.
I am awaiting information on how to obtain court records, but for now this is what I know.  Alonzo Park was born 10 April 1873, the eldest child of Robert Wilson Park and Martha Jane Cole Park.  He married Martha Ellie Brinkley 7 January 1899, in Carroll County, TN and to this union was born one child, Ethel Venera Park, October 1900.  Alonzo was a rural mail carrier and it has been said was the first in the area to ride a bicycle to deliver mail rather than by horseback.  I'm guessing the morning of 23 May 1906 was no different than any other morning, yet when Alonzo left on his bicycle that morning he would not return.  While delivering the mail that day Alonzo would come upon a 15-16 year old boy, Alvin Conder.  The facts a I know them are few, but simple.  Conder had a gun, he believed mail carriers carried great sums of money and he shot and killed Alonzo Park.  Hopefully, I will secure court documents and will have better, more factual information, but for now I will close with two bits of information.  First, after Alvin Conder was found guilty family lore has it that the family did not want Alvin Conder put to deah.  Second, in looking through both the 1910 & 1920 U.S. Census, Alvin Conder is an inmate at the Tennessee State Prison in Nashville, Davidson County, TN.

My apologies to anyone who came to this blog expecting Bell genealogy content.  I will jump back and forth from Bell to Rushing to Robinson to Park, Yates, Farrar, Frazier, etc.  If you have ties to Benton County, TN it is my guess at some point I will be writing about your ancestor so please visit again.

T Bell

Yates Family, more information or is it???

First, I'd like to thank the folks at the David Benton Facebook page for including my article, written by Mary C. Bell Hudson.  Next, I want to thank those of you who have visited and please, if you have something, anything related to genealogy you would like to share please use the comment section and I will copy and paste it into a post of its' own.  While my intentions were to write solely on Bell Genealogy, I feel this limits both my viewers and the content. If you will notice I have included other family names and will continue to do this.  Also, I plan to be more active with this blog in 2012 and you, the viewers can make that easier for me, if you will also submit material, but please include sources of information if possible.  That source can be something as simple as your own personal knowledge, but I do want to be accurate.

Okay, the Yates family has been a challenge for me to say the least.  I keep wishing and hoping I'll find something that will be like a key and unlock, at least some of what I will call a mystery.  Unfortunately, it seems the more I discover the more mysterious they become.  Recently, I visited the archives in the basement of the Benton County Library to verify something I found on Ancestry.com concerning Joshua Yates, seemingly the only son of Elisha.  Joshua and his sister Harriet were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of James Harvey Cleghorn.  If you have read my account of the Yates trial, you may remember originally the entire family was charged with first degree murder, but later charges were dropped against sisters Charlotte and Johannah.  Joshua, Harriet, Salitha and Adeline were tried and on February 16, 1845 the jury's verdict was Salitha and Adeline not guilty and as mentioned Joshua and Harriet were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.  Joshua was sentenced to two years in the penitentiary and Harriet was sentenced to three years, but like EVERYTHING else involving this Yates family I have hit a wall.
First things first, I mentioned visiting the Archives at the Benton County Library to ascertain the validity of this:  Quarterly court minute book b (1854-1861) P. 506: jOSHUA yATES CHARGED AS FATHER OF CAROLINE oAKLEY'S TWO BASTARD CHILDREN IN MARCH 1860. P/508 - LISTS THE YOUNGEST CHILD AS 3 YEARS OLD.
which is noted in a family tree on Ancestry.com.  I haven't a clue where any of this came from.  The minute book (b) and the dates do not match, nor does the page.  In fact, there is no record of Caroline Oakley period.  Truthfully, as silly and ridiculous as it sounds, I'm beginning to wonder if there is a conspiracy out there to prevent me from finding the truths about this Yates family!
Oh that is so silly, stupid, paranoid even right?  Okay, after the trial and verdict was given I can find no record of Harriet Yates existence.  I have researched the Tennessee State Prison, viewed a list of prisoners being housed in the state prison (1831-1855) and neither Joshua, nor Harriet Yates name is included.  I have even been in contact with Mr. John-Paul (Jay) Richiuso, C.A., M.A., Assistant Director for Manuscripts Services at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, who physically checked their records and found no evidence either ever served time in prison.  But, I have found this from the September 1845 Term of Court in Benton County, TN - Tha Joshua Yates had been Lodged at the Carroll Co Jail

Sept 1845 Term of Court--Benton Co TN
12-27-1844 1-14-1845
1-19-1845 5-12-1845
to 4 turnkeys
Total: 51.12
also Feby 1845 To putting irons on Joshua Yates .25
May 1845 To taking iron off Joshua Yates .25

This seemingly indicates Joshua Yates was incarcerated from 27 December 1844 until 12 May 1845, but what about Harriet?  Remember she was sentenced to a year longer than Joshua.

Perhaps one day I will find something that will pull all of this into place and give a clear picture of this Yates family, but until then I will continue to search.  Joshua and wife Tabitha moved to Missouri and are in Long Island, Mississippi County, MO for the 1860 US Census.  Tabitha was said to be a widow and re-married G. Cyrus Campbell, 2 November 1862.  There are accounts of a Joshua Yates being killed in the Civil War and accounts of a Joshua Yates being a prisoner. Oh, there are also accounts of Joshua Yates enlisted on both sides and ALL are about the same age and yes, the same age as "my" Joshua Yates.  Whoopie!! This is soooo much fun, but I really wish I could catch a pinch of luck.

Forgive me if this is extremely jumbled and if it was about another of my families I might try to fix it and try to make it make sense, but not with the Yates family.  I'd never get it fixed!

Until next time, thank you for visiting and please come again,

Tim Bell

Growing up in Benton County, TN in the 1850's, through the eyes of Mary C. Bell Hudson

I was given this several years ago by Debbie Beasley Cox of Gainesville, TX.  The author is Mary C. Bell Hudson (8 November 1847, Benton County, TN - 26 July 1921, Gainesville, Cook County, TX).  She was the daughter of John Bell and Lucy Blackwell Bell and married James G. Hudson in Benton County, TN, 23 January 1866.

Composition by Mary Bell Hudson, Gainesville, TX - March 12, 1886 (only 18 _ _ was given, but based on her mention of 38 years of life, I determined, as she was born 8 Nov 1847, the year to be 1886; however, that is just a guess). I copied it as near to the copy I had as I could.


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Thirty eight years of life spent by Mrs. M. C. Hudson the former life in my native state of Tennessee the remainder in Texas.

Commence at three years with my mother and father going to my first school playing with my rag doll that mother made. Here comes little sister now large enough to play with me . . . .Mother in the house at work and Pa at the shop . . . he was a blacksmith . . . down to the shop we would go. . . upon the vice bench with one dolls to play in the toy box . . . Oh those happy days . .the remembrance of childhood seems so sweet to me now. Pa busily at work . . the sound of the anvil and hammer all day long. Noon time would come . . Pa would hear the dinner horns blow for dinner . . .he would look out and see so many horses waiting to be shod and men waiting for work . . he would say Mary you and Sis go to the house . . tell your mother I can't come to dinner I am so busy. .. .mama would fix Pa dinner and carry it to him and spend a few moments with him . ..Oh the happy ______ that was spent together at the Black Smith shop with Mother & Father & Sister and I. Now back to the house we would go ... Mother to work busy all day . . . Sister & I to play and evening tide was creeping slowly on the sun was sinking in the far blue western skies above us . . The song birds sweetly echoing their last songs and note for the day. In the beautiful foliage have hid theirselves away for the night. PaPa's anvil is still ringing . . .Mama is busily engaged in preparing the evening refreshments for the little family and Juicing the cows attending the chickens while Sister and I is down on the creek bank watching the little fishes playing in the water ...Our thoughts wandring away with the fishes as the flirt and swim till we was called to supper.

Right here I want to say dear reader this was our humble little country home situated on the banks of the big old Rushing Creek five miles North of Camden, TN. Right here at this little home I went to my first school ... The teacher an old gentlemen with white beard and hair, tall and erect called me his little pet . .. There I learned to spell and read . .. The house was full of young ladies and gents . .. I was the only baby in school and the pet of all. There I learned to love my teacher and my parents and teacher learned me to love all the young ladies and gents in school . . .I thought that everyone loved me. Dear Reader I thank God for good parents and teachers that learn us to love. Love is the best and sweetest thing on earth. We couldn't live without it. I think if I could only live those sweet days over again I would learn to love more . ..The beautiful Spring come trickling out of the high banks a few rods from the creek where Mother and the school are to get water is as plain in my memory now as it was then .. It is so dear to me . ..Things that is planted in our young hearts is yet young when so are bending and blooming with old age a sweet remembrance. Now hear Papa has moved down on the Public road in amongst the Big Forest trees and yet on he same creek . . a lovely place close to our Grandmothers where all of us little folks love to go. The Anvil was still ringing . . Sister and I still playing in the tool box on the vice bench .. .There is an improvement on Black Smith shops . . Now maybe they don't have vice benches now. Pa made log coal . . Kills burnt his own coal . . now the coal is bought. The new home, the beautiful tree and big creek with its high white chalk bluff, the nice fishes rthe sweet song burds is all sweet memory to me. I wish I could live them over again. From small acorns large happiness. I am going to school at the same place and am loved by all . . . Sister & I she is with me now.

Our school was out . . . Sister and I played on the white chalk bluff making toys out of the chalk as white as snow. Sister gets sick with fever. (A long) time I was lonesome I couldn't play . . .I was lonely. I want to say although we are young if we are rightly taught by our parents that love in our hearts will never part there is moments all along through life when we can have sweet reflections of the past that will make us glad we have lived. Now Pa has moved. Bought farm home with all _______

beautiful . . .surrounding . . nice big orchard with its pretty mingled and scented the place. To my mind the apple tree bloom was the sweetest of all blooms. It is needless to say we was happy. The anvil and hammer was still ringing out in the clear open air. The work was going on in the house. We did not play so much. We went to school . . to the same place, a lovely place with an wodden structure with two doors, dirt chimney fireplace across one end of the house that warmed the entire house, large windows with glass and wooden shutters. Oh it was a sweet remembrance to me.

That beautiful stream runs through our farm with all of its nice clear water and pretty rocky bed full of fish . . .see them just as plain any time. Could sit in the shade of the foliage of those big trees on the banks and fish all day. So innocent so pure . .. with watchful eyes to watch after us all the time . . . the all seeing eye above us and parents at home.

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