Friday's Faces from the Past - Harvard Kid #4

This tomboyish little blonde looks like she has on a nice pair of Converse high-tops.  Maybe the carnation she's holding was for coming in first place in a race in her cool buggy.  I can't tell you any more about this photo than what you can see for yourself. 

There is no identifiable information on this except what is written in the bottom corner which I can't make out.  This close-up here is what I'm trying to read.  The first line might be "J. J. Willey", as I have other photos with that photographer's name written on them.  Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts or ideas!

Wedding Wednesday - August Weddings in my Family Tree

Looking at marriages in August in my family tree, I have at least 51 couples who had an August wedding.  Five couples chose August 12th making it the most popular day of the month.  Only two couples among my direct ancestors were married in August.  

William Simpson & Avarilla Perkins, my Sixth Great Grandparents, were married August 18, 1742 in Baltimore, Maryland.  Their marriage is listed in the book, Maryland Marriages 1634-1777, compiled by Robert Barnes, and can be found at Ancestry. 

Roger Prescott & Helen or Ellen Shaw were married August 20, 1568 in England.  They are my Eleventh Great Grandparents.  This is so far back in history it's rare to have any actual documentation.  Their marriage is listed on Ancestry, but there is no image and the source information is "an array of materials including pedigree charts, family history articles, queries."  

My husband's Grandparents William Alfred Bryant Mattingly & Mary Frances Charlotte Boone were married August 28, 1900 at St. Augustine Church in Lebanon, Kentucky.  William was 50 years old at the time, he died only 9 years later.  This was his second marriage, his first wife was Mary Elizabeth Mattingly.  Lottie was widowed at age 31 with six children and never married again.  

Those Places Thursday - "On the waters of Pitman Creek"

Continuing from last week (which you can read here), this is a summary of property owned by my Great Grandparents Cicero & Allie Bell in Kentucky.  Following are the deeds we found in the Pulaski County Clerk's office in Somerset.  I've extracted just the identifiable information from them to help locate the approximate area on a map and compare to a recorded history (which you can read here).  The last deed we found in Wayne County was dated November 21, 1904.

Deed dated June 20, 1905, Deed Book 58 Pg 534

Ferguson, Kentucky - click to enlarge

J. A. and Georgie A. Wood and Elizabeth J. Richardson (widow) sell to Allie Bell - just Allie - for $190 with $90 down and 2 payments of $50 at 6% interest, "Beginning at a stake on the corner of Walnut street and railroad avenue...", then it describes a lot about 140 x 149 feet.  A note written at the bottom says, "The note for which a lien was retained in the above deed having been paid in full, we hereby release same.  This Aug. 12, 1906."    

Sounds like a town lot to me.  Where a store might be. On this Google map, you can find Sinking creek on the west side of Ferguson and the X is at Railroad Dr and Walnut Street (on Google, if you zoom in closer it's marked).  Even though Uncle Oren says in his recorded history at this point that they moved to Somerset, I think this deed describes property in Ferguson, on the south side of Somerset.  "The farm was sold and we moved to Somerset.  Here father bought a general merchandise store." 

Deed dated September 20, 1905, Deed Book 58 Pg 533

Elizabeth J. Richardson (widow), John A. & Georgie A. Woods sell to Mrs. Allie Bell - again just Allie - for $300 in 3 installments at 6% interest, property "Beginning on a stake on the south side of Walnut street the corner of C. S. Bell's lot..."  then to 3 different stakes at points SW, SE, NE and back to the beginning, measuring 120 feet by 140 feet if I read it correctly.  Some additional property adjoining the lot they bought in June, maybe where a new home was built.

Next Oren says, "After about a year in the store, my father was dissatisfied with that and wanted to go back to the farm.  So the store was sold."

The store might not have lasted a full year.  It was at this point in Oren's history that he said they moved to Illinois for a while.  Before our trip I found a couple of articles in online newspapers, this one from the Lexington Herald dated March 23, 1906.  Uncle Oren didn't mention this.  Maybe this move to Mercer county was a short one, then they moved on to Illinois.  Or it's possible that he only invested in this farm and never lived there.  His brother John was in Boyle County in 1904, adjacent to Mercer county, maybe only a few miles away.  There's a deed to get someday in Mercer County.  I especially like "a well-known merchant" here.  

Lexington Herald, Friday, March 23, 1906

After living in Illinois for a while, Oren said they moved to Ferguson.  "After a few months, his earnings were sufficient to take us back to Kentucky... The folks settled in a little village south of Somerset known as Ferguson. ...my father worked in the railroad shop and in his spare time, built a new home in Ferguson."   On an old Sanborn map of Somerset from 1914 I found a big railroad yard noted as being 2 and 1/2 miles south of the courthouse.  The new home he mentioned was possibly the reason for them buying that second lot.  Next in chronological order, the following deed is for the Dutton farm on Pitman Creek that is north of Somerset. 

Deed dated March 11, 1907, Deed Book 61 Pg 100-101

R. O. & Cordelia Heath sell to Allie Bell - again just Allie - for $1950 cash in hand paid. "Two certain tracts or parcels of land situated in [Pulaski County] on the waters of Pitman Creek...".  "Beginning on a black oak and two hickories the old Dutton corner...",  "containing 40 acres more or less...".  Second tract "Beginning on a stone in or near Joe Dutton's line...", "to a hickory, Dutton's corner...", "now McPherson's corner...", "containing 72 acres more or less...".  

This deed fits at this point of Oren's history:  "But after a while, my father preferred the farm rather than the shop, so he sold his new home and bought another farm.  This time north of Somerset, about a mile and a half out of town.  It was known as the old Dutton farm..." and he goes on to say  "...it was here that Virgil and Stanley were born."  Grandpa was born August 1, 1907 and Virgil was born September 7, 1909.

Wayne County Outlook, Thursday, April 4, 1907

Here's a clipping from the Wayne County newspaper that mentions selling a store again, a year after the previous clipping.  The "Dock Heath farm" here refers to R. O. & Cordelia Heath.  Crab Orchard Pike goes north from Somerset to Crab Orchard.  I wonder if one of the cottages is the home Cicero built while he worked in the railroad shop.  Notice Allie gets credit for the sale in the deed, but not the newspaper.  The following deed agrees with this clipping.  

Deed dated March 13, 1907, Deed Book 61, Pg 271-272

Allie  & C. S. Bell sell to J. E. Tomlinson and Beecher Smith for $1950 cash in hand paid, "Two certain lots of ground...", "on the waters of Sinking Creek...".   The first lot is described as "on the south side of Walnut Street, the corner of C. S. Bell's lot...", "being same deeded to Allie Bell by John A. Woods et al, on the 20th day of September 1905...".   The second lot bounded "on the corner of Walnut Street and Railroad Avenue...", "being same lot deeded to Allie Bell by John A. Woods et al. on the 20th day of June, 1905..." .  The two places in Ferguson were sold.

Now from Oren's narration:  "After about 4 years, they sold the Dutton farm and bought another one not far away.  The farm was known as the old Tom Meece place."  

Deed dated January 31, 1910, Deed Book 66 Pg 503-504

G. P. & Sarah B. Sallee and A. J. & Kate S. Crawford sell to Allie Bell (only) "for and in consideration of exchange of lands, deeded this day...", "on the waters of Pitman Creek...", "first tract 25 acres more or less, conveyed to parties of the first part by John T. Meece and others...", "three certain tracts of land adjoining the first tract and all now constituting one farm".    This deed refers to a previous deed where the Sallee's and Crawford's bought the land from John T. Meece in May, 1907.  

Deed dated January 31, 1910, Deed Book 69 Pg 350

Allie & C. Bell sell to G. P. Sallee and A. J. Crawford.  $1050.00, $300.00 paid down, with one payment of $750 at 8% interest, for "a certain tract of land in Pulaski Co. Ky, on the waters of Pitman Creek...", "beginning on a black oak & two hickories, the old Dutton corner...", "containing 40 acres more or less."  and a "Second tract adjoining above and both constituting one farm..", "in or near Joe Dutton's line...", ""to a stone, now McPherson's corner...", "containing 72 acres more or less...".   This deed refers to the deed conveyed to Allie by R. O. Heath & wife March 11, 1907.   A trade of the two farms. 

North of Somerset, Kentucky - click to enlarge

Click on this map and you can find Pitman creek to the right of Hwy 39, which was called Crab Orchard Pike back then.  At the top of the map you'll see Crimson Dr, and on Find A Grave, a map of the Vaught Cemetery (mentioned in following deeds) shows it at the end of Crimson Dr.  

From Oren's narration this is when they leave Kentucky again:  "In the summer of 1910, the folks were on the move again.  They rented their farm, the old Tom Meece place, and I joined them and we moved to Oklahoma...". 

Deed dated November 23, 1911, Mortgage Book M-19 Pg 371

"I Allie Bell & husband Cicero Bell... being indebted to The Citizens Bank of Somerset...in the sum of Three Hundred Dollars...I hereby bargain, sell and convey, by way of mortgage, unto said Citizens Bank, the following described property, viz.:  Being the same land conveyed to Allie Bell on the 31st day of Jany, 1910 by G. P. Sallee & etc....".  A note at the bottom is written:  "The debt for which the above mortgage was given having been paid in full we hereby release same completely.  This Dec. 12th 1914."  Just a little bit of bank business.

Deed dated December 21, 1911, Deed Book 75 Pg 145

Ben P. & Lela E. Hines and Walter & Desda Elrod sell to Allie Bell.  $350.00, $100 down and balance in 4 payments at 8% interest.   "on the waters of Pitman creek...", "on a poplar now down at corner of fence at Grave yard...", "to a stone Meece's corner in Gipson line...", "to a stone A. Vaught & P. J. Meece corner...", "containing 30 acres more or less."  So, this deed is for the farm they bought after living in Kansas, as Oren said:   "After a year, my father was ready to go back to Kentucky.  So, they moved from Ionia back to Kentucky."  This would be the last farm they would buy in Kentucky. 

Deed dated November 9, 1914, Deed Book 75 Pg 24

Cicero & Allie Bell sell to Mrs. Anna Kipp for $1450.00 cash in hand paid.  "on the waters of Pitman Creek...", "at a poplar stump at the Vaught graveyard, old corner, thence old line between this farm and the Hines farm...", "corner between this farm and the Gilmore farm where Gilmore farm calls for a stake...", "to a small hickory, where deeds call for a stone, the South-east corner of the tract bought by J. T. Meece from Gilmores..." .   The land from the deed dated December 21, 1911.  After this sale they paid off the mortgage from November 1911.  And back to Kansas they went.

Deed dated February 16, 1917 Deed Book 78 Pg 26

"..we Allie Bell and C. Bell who having deeded to G. P. Sallee and A. J. Crawford... on the 31st day of Jany, 1910... whereas a lien was retained in said deed to secure an unpaid balance of $750.00 and the debt having been fully paid, now we... do hereby name, constitute and appoint V. P. Smith of Somerset, Ky. our lawful atourney in fact, to release the said lien in the said deed to us, and to do all acts pertaining thereto, that may be necessary for the releasing and satisfying the said lien as fully as we might do ourselves were we present in person."  A Power of Attorney, signed by J. G. McLinn, Notary Public of Mitchell County, Kansas was sent to the Pulaski County Clerk, C. M. Langdon which he recorded on the 24th day of March, 1917.  By this time, Cicero & Allie had moved their family out of Kentucky for the last time.

Somerset, Kentucky

It's interesting to me that when Cicero & Allie are the Grantee's (buyers), the deeds are in Allie's name only.  When they are the Grantor's (sellers), he is named with along her.  There must have been a reason for that.  Another thing - I have always thought that Cicero's middle initial was C. not S., and I've never seen what the initial stands for.  Maybe it's Silas?  Cicero's Grandfather was John Silas Bell.

Uncle Oren's memory was fantastic!  I took his recorded history as a challenge to find these deeds.  Now I can piece together a better timeline of the places where my Great Grandparents raised their family.  I can better visualize, at least on a map, the approximate locations of their farms and the store.  With this information now maybe I can find out the name of the store.  This doesn't end here, but this is all for now.

Those Places Thursday - "On the waters of Meadow Creek"

Monday, I posted the transcription of Bell family history (you can read it here), including mentions of several places bought and sold by Cicero Bell 1900 through 1910 or so.  On vacation this summer, I was able to visit the court houses in Monticello and Somerset Kentucky to look for deeds for these properties.  I give full credit to my husband for finding several and helping me get them. My experience in court house work is limited since they aren’t open on weekends.  Our first stop was the courthouse in Monticello for the Wayne county deeds.

Deed dated August 28, 1901, Deed Book 35 Pg 173-174

The heirs of Berry Rogers were the sellers (E. R. & Mattie VanHoozer, R. & H. A. Meadows, D. B. & Margaret Morris, John & Lizzie Chrisman, H. C. Rogers, David & Diza Rogers, Hettie & Edgar Matchett, John & Martha Rogers, W. B. & Eliza Jane White, G. W. & Mattie Rogers, Lenora & Rilley Correll, Barbara & H. M. Eads, Noah & Catherine Rogers, B. R. & Mollie Creekmore).  They conveyed to Allie (Allie mentioned first) & Cicero Bell, land in Wayne County, Kentucky "on the Monticello & Burnside Pike".  This image shows the confusing mess of compass points that is the metes & bounds system to describe the tract of land.  So different from the square sections we're used to in Nebraska.  To determine the exact location takes much more time, effort and information than I have now.  But the names of their neighbors and some landmarks mentioned are worth noting -  John Simpson's corner on the north side of pike, the old Daugherty line, school house, Tate's corner, J. C. Rogers corner, Dick's line, C. T. Willhite's corner, Tolegate lot, a coal house. Those will help if I ever work more to find the locations. 

So, this matches well with Oren's history: "we moved to a new farm which was located on the turnpike between Monticello and Burnside... and settled near Mill Springs...  This new farm was known as the Rogers farm.  Here we lived for a period of about 4 years.  During that period, Ben and Ed were born." 

We found more deeds than I expected, but later I realized there were two we didn't find.  The sale of the first farm that had belonged to Allie and her first husband.  Also, we didn't find a sale of the Rogers farm, unless the following deeds sold off portions of it and the original description no longer applies.  

Deed dated November 12, 1902, Deed Book 33 Pg 293-294

Cicero and Allie Bell sell to G. M. Muncy and R. F. Sloan "for the purpose of a joint road running from the Pike over the lands of first and second parties hereto to the lands of C. T. Willhite on Meadow Creek".  Some of the description includes:  "Beginning at a cedar on the south side of the Pike, J. C. Rogers corner...", mentioning Roger's corner several times, and "to a Hickory sd Roger's corner on Tate line...".  

Deed dated November 12, 1902, Deed Book 35 Pg 363-364

C. T. & Elzira Willhite sell to Cicero Bell and J. W. Bell (his brother John) "land in the County of Wayne, State of Kentucky, on the waters of Meadow Creek".  The description includes "Beginning at a small Sourwood, Millers corner on Muncy line..."  and "in the middle of Meadow Creek, then down the creek with the meanders thereof..." and it describes every twist and turn of the creek.  Coming to "a stone on north side of sd creek (Shearer's corner), then Shearer's line...", "to a stake on sd line, Miller's corner, then Miller's line...to the beginning".  

Deed dated April 16, 1904, Deed Book 35 Pg 474-475 

J. W. & Lizzie Bell and County of Boyle, State of Kentucky sell to Cicero & Allie Bell their part of the land bought in 1902.  It is the same description of land.  Looks like John and Lizzie were living in Boyle County at this time.

Deed dated November 21, 1904, Deed Book 36 Pg 349-350

Cicero & Allie sell their Wayne County farm to J. W. Simpson "it being the same tract of land conveyed to said Cicero & Allie Bell from J. W. Bell and wife by deed date of April 16, 1904."  

Downtown Monticello, Kentucky

These were all the deeds we found listed in the index for Cicero or Allie Bell.  After we left the courthouse, we went right next door to the Wayne County Historical Society.  Knowing there was a slim chance, I asked a woman there if they could give us an idea where the land was and showed her the deeds and the transcription of Oren's history.  As she was reading, she gasped and told another woman that the deeds were for property on Meadow Creek.  It just so happened that the Willhite's and Muncy's were her family.  She was able to tell us about where the property was - south of Mill Springs if I understood her correctly.

Before we left Monticello, we took a quick tour of the Wayne County Museum, then went on to Mill Springs.  The Brown-Lanier House wasn't open, but we walked down to the Mill.  Then we just drove around that area for a little bit.  

Next I will post the deeds we found in Somerset.

Amanuensis Monday - Oren Bell's Recorded History

Following is a transcription of an audio recording of the history of the Bell Family, or a portion of it.  That portion is mostly Cicero Bell and his family starting about 1890.  Cicero is my Great Grandfather, the audio recording is the voice of his second son, Oren Bell.  Oren was probably in his 80’s when he taped this, his memory still very good.  Mary Ann, who is the daughter of Ben, another of Cicero’s sons, had asked Oren to do this.  Virgil, Cicero's youngest son, gave me a copy of the tape several years ago and it is a treasured addition to the old trunk in the attic.  My Grandpa is Stan, another son, born 109 years ago today, August 1, 1907 on the "old Dutton farm".

It was this history that lead me to search for the deeds to the different properties Cicero & Allie bought and sold in a 10-15 year span in Wayne and Pulaski counties of southern Kentucky.  In Oren's words...

"Mary Ann, I’m going to attempt to give you the story of the Bell Family as I sit here beside my desk.  I’ll just give it to you as it comes to my mind.
 I want to begin the story by telling you about the marriage of my father and mother.  Cicero Bell married Mittie Ramsey in 1900.  The first thing that my father did after their marriage was to build a new home for them.  He built a log cabin on Pea Ridge in 1890, soon after their marriage.  My father built this log cabin out of poplar logs which were rather valuable, and they built it on Pea Ridge not far from his mother’s home.  The cabin was so constructed as to have two rooms.  While we lived in this cabin, my brother and I were born.  Frank was born February 7, 1892 and George Oren was born January 14^th, 1894.  Father was a kind of a restless man.  He was never satisfied to stay anywhere too long.  He never stayed too long in any place we lived.  He had an uncle who lived in Smith County, Texas and in 1895, he decided that he would go to Texas.  And so he gathered the family and off we went to Texas.  

When we arrived in Texas, we visited his uncle known as “Lishe” Bell.  We spent a little time with them, then my father rented a farm and began to do the kind of farming that they did in that part of Texas.  As I remember, the things that they grew were a little different than we were used to.  Now the crops that they had was cotton, goober peas and other small crops such as sweet  potatoes and things of that kind.  He continued to farm until 1900.  In the mean time, my little sister was born.  She was given the name of Leavey.  In September of 1900 tragedy came to our home.  My mother was again pregnant,  and on the 10^th of September my mother gave birth to a little boy.  But she was at the same time ill with malaria.  And the baby’s birth and the malaria was too much for her and she died.  Then the next day, the baby also died.  They were both buried in the same casket and buried in a little rural cemetery outside Flint, Texas.   Just a month after the burial of my mother, my little sister Leavey also died.  She had taken sick and was sick long enough that she could not survive.  They were all 3 buried in a country graveyard that was called the Rather Cemetery.
 My father was very discouraged after the death of the family and he decided to go back to the old home in Kentucky.  At that time, Grandma Bell and my Great Grandmother were living on Pea Ridge in their home and we returned to their home and for a time we lived with them.  We lived with them until my father married again.  In the fall, my father married a young widow by the name of Allie Vickrey.  She had a son that was born in 1899, Bill Vickrey.
 Living with a Great Grandma gave me an opportunity to find out some things about the eariler life of the Bells.  My Great Grandma was a very interesting person.  She was in her 90’s, but was very active and alert.  She loved to tell us about the early days of her girlhood days in Virginia and of the early days in Kentucky.  She and her family moved from Virginia to Kentucky in a real early day.  They moved into Kentucky by way of the Cumberland Gap into Southeastern Kentucky.  They moved westward along the south border of Kentucky through the Blue Ridge Mountains and along the southern border until they came to Wayne County, Kentucky.  In Wayne County they settled on a strip of land known as Pea Ridge.
 At the early day, this area of Kentucky was covered with forest.  The settlers had to clear the land before they could grow any crops.  The timber country was also filled with a great many wild animals.  The animals that were present in that part of Kentucky were bear, fox, wolves, panthers and other smaller animals.  These animals made it very difficult for the pioneers to have any domestic animals such as chickens, sheep, hogs or cattle.  The settlers had to devise some means of killing off the wild animals.  The plan they used was rather unique.  They would select a good size tree, climb up the tree about 15 feet, and saw it off.  And on top of the stump, they would build a platform.  The platform was so built that no one could go up the tree and get on the platform.  To get on the platform they had to use a ladder.  They would use the ladder and go on the platform, and take with them onto the platform their guns and some fresh meat.  The guns they used in those days were single loading, muzzle loading rifles.  They did not have the kind of modern rifles that we have.  The frest meat that they took up on the platform was smelled by the animals and caused them to gather around the platform.  The pioneers could shoot the animals without fear.  By this means, they were able to thin out the wild animals so that they could grow domestic animals and could care for them.  I was about 7 years old when we lived with Grandma.  She was a good story teller and I was an eager listener.  

Cumberland River at Mill Springs, July 6, 2016

After my father’s second marriage, we moved to my step-mother’s acreage, which was located on Otter Creek about 5 or 6 miles from my Grandma’s home.  The acreage was too small to sustain a family, so the folks sold the acreage and we moved to a new farm which was located on the turnpike between Monticello and Burnside.  It was sold and we moved to this new home on the turnpike and settled near Mill Springs.  They bought an old farm that had a big house on it that had been used as a hospital during the Civil War.  This new farm was known as the Rogers farm.  Here we lived for a period of about 4 years.  During that period, Ben and Ed were born.  We lived there for sometime and we were on the move again.  The farm was sold and we moved to Somerset.  Here father bought a general merchandise store.  After about a year in the store, my father was dissatisfied with that and wanted to go back to the farm.  So the store was sold.
 Now mother had a sister that lived in Tallulah, Illinois and they had been corresponding and her sister had been telling her about the opportunities in the state of Illinois.  So off we went to Illinois.  After a visit with the Bryant’s we settled in a little town by the name of Farmers City.  We didn’t find much work there, only a few odd jobs.  So after a short time, my father decided to move again.  We moved to the town of Champaign.  Now Champaign and Urbana are twin cities.  My father rented a home in-between the two towns, and found work in a railroad shop near Urbana.  We rented a home and lived there for a few months.  My father worked in the railroad shop and earned a fair salary for those days.  He earned $2.00 a day.
 After a few months, his earnings were sufficient to take us back to Kentucky.  So off we went, back to Kentucky.  The folks settled in a little village south of Somerset known as Ferguson.  I didn’t stay with the family that time, I went on down to my mother’s sister in Wayne county and went to school for one term.  While I was away, my father worked in the railroad shop and in his spare time, built a new home in Ferguson.  But after a while, my father preferred the farm rather than the shop, so he sold his new home and bought another farm.  This time north of Somerset, about a mile and a half out of town.  It was known as the old Dutton farm.  Here we lived for some time.  I was now 15 years of age.  I got a job with a store in Somerset, and for a year or two I delivered groceries for a company by the name of Carter and Ham.  The folks sold the Dutton farm , however it was here that Virgil and Stanley were born.  After about 4 years, they sold the Dutton farm and bought another one not far away.  The farm was known as the old Tom Meese place.  At this farm, the boys attended school and we continued to work in the town of Somerset. 

 In the summer of 1910, the folks were on the move again.  They rented their farm, the old Tom Meese place, and I joined them and we moved to Oklahoma.  The Bryant’s, whom we had visited in Illinois, in the meantime had moved from Illinois to Oklahoma and they had settled near Wellston, a town about halfway between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.  We stayed with the Bryant’s for a while and picked cotton.  However, I found that my skill as a cotton picker wasn’t very good.  So, we decided to move on.  My father had a sister and her husband who lived in Kansas (now this was Carson Alcorn and Aunt Laura) and so we made the trip from Oklahoma to Kansas.  We went by train and arrived in Oberlin, Kansas and was met there by Uncle Carson who took us to his home and we lived with them for a short time.
 We then moved to a home that my father rented from Clum Rose north of Ionia.  We began to pay rent on various farms and searched around for a place to live.  Finally, my father rented a farm from a man by the name of John Stevens.  He farmed this farm for a year.  While he was farming the Stevens farm, I worked for a man by the name of Alvey Rose.  I started to work for him by cutting a half a mile of  hedge, getting posts out of the hedge rows.  After a year, my father was ready to go back to Kentucky.  So, they moved from Ionia back to Kentucky.  Frank and I stayed in Kansas.  I continued to work for Alvey Rose and Frank worked for Wiley Alcorn.  Alvey Rose’s wife was an M. D. but was no longer practicing.   She saw that I needed additional education and encouraged me to get back to school.  And in the spring of 1913, I went to a Teacher’s Normal in Mankato Kansas.  Under the tuterage of Mrs. Rose I had covered the material for the 7^th and 8^th grade during the winter of 1912.  In the summer of 1913, I attended this Normal school in Mankato and took a teacher’s examination.  I passed everything in the examination except Kansas history.  In the fall I took my grades from the teachers exam, presented them to the superintendent of  the high school of Mankato, a man by the name of J. J. Haney(?)  He looked over the list of grades and permitted me to enter high school.  I was then 19 years old.
 To provide my living while attending school, I worked in a store.  I clerked for S C Smith & Co.  out of the school hours and on the weekends.  I graduated from Mankato High school in the spring of 1917.  The folks, in the meantime, had to come back to Kansas and were living on a farm that belonged to Clum Rose.  In the fall of 1917, and the spring of 1918, I taught school.  Taught the harmony school,  which was right near the Rose family  stayed with the Roses.  I went to Camp Funston soon after my school was out, and joined the Army YMCA, and was made camp supply secretary.  There was a great stir about that time because the war was over.  War was over on November 11, 1918.  But I continued in Funston and helped to salvage the YMCA materials and to sell the Y building.  I came home from the war service September 1, 1919.  Then on September 7, Viola Noon and I were married.  The folks were in Kansas and a farm was rented to the folks by the Roses.  Frank and I were more or less independent.  Frank and Chloe wer married and their children were being born.
 All of the family moved to Nebraska.  First the Alcorns, then came the Bells.  They moved into an area known as Giltner.  I graduated from Cottner College in 1924.  Soon after, we moved to Norfolk.  As Pastor of the Park Avenue Christian Church.  Ben and Marie came to Norfolk and I married them.  By this time all of the family, the folks, Frank & Chloe, Ben & Marie, lived in Giltner.  Franks’s family were about all grown.  The boys had been in the war service, but were back at home in and around Giltner.  My father died in 1944 and was buried in Giltner.  Just 10 years late, Frank died of cancer and was also buried in the Giltner Cemetery.
 Mary Ann, from this time on, I’m sure know as much about the Bell family as I do.  So I’m going to close this at this point.  I hope that you get some good out of what I have said.  Thanks for asking me.  I’m glad to do it.  Oren Bell"

 Thank you, Mary Ann!

Read about the deeds from Wayne County - "On the waters of Meadow Creek"
Read about the deeds from Pulaski County - "On the waters of Pitman Creek"