John Silas Bell and Rutha Simpson of Wayne County, Kentucky

Last November, I did a series of posts on my Great Great Grandma Martha Bell and her family, including both her parents and her three children.   Looking back at those, they might be confusing.  This time I'm going to focus on Martha's parents and their children.

John Silas Bell was the son of David Bell and Mary "Polly" Adair.  He was born in 1814 in Wayne County, Kentucky.  His father died when he was 4, and his mother remarried to Garner Parmley.  John was a farmer and he lived and worked in Wayne County his entire life.

Rutha Simpson was the daughter of Reuben Simpson Jr and Martha Merritt.  She was born April 22, 1822.  To my knowledge, Rutha also spent her entire life in Wayne County, although I'm wondering where she was in 1880 as I can't find her in the census.  John died at the age of 64 on December 29, 1878.  Rutha died on April 11, 1907, just 11 days short of her 85th birthday.  They had been married for 40 years.  I have been to their graves in the Stringer Cemetery in Wayne County.

This copy of their marriage bond came from a distant cousin years ago.  The top record is for a David Bell and Tarleton Bell, names I have run across before, but I don't have them in my tree.  The middle hand-written note is:

Wayne County, State of Kentucky  I Garner Parmley do heare by certify that I did on the 3 day of May (?) solemnize the rites of matrimony between John S Bell and Rutha Simpson acording to law given under my hand as one of the Justices of the peace for said county licensed to celebrate the rite of matrimony. August the 20, 1838  Garner Parmley, J P

The bottom copied record is the marriage bond:

"KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that we John S. Bell & and W Simpson are held and firmly bound unto the Commonwealth of Kentucky, in the just and full sum of fifty pounds current money, to the true payment of which we bind ourselves our heirs, &c. jointly and severally, firmly by these presents, sealed with our seals, and dated this 2nd day of May 1838. The condition of the above obligation is such, that whereas there is a marriage shortly intended to be solemnized between the above bound John S. Bell and Ruth Simpson of the county of Wayne.  Now if there shall always appear that there is no legal obstruction to said marriage, then this obligation to be void, else to remain in full force and virtue."

Signed by W. Simpson and John S. Bell

W. Simpson is Rutha's brother William and Garner Parmley is John S. Bell's step-father.

John & Rutha had seven children:

Martha Eveline Bell, born November 3, 1842.   Follow the hyperlink to read about Martha, no need to duplicate it here.

Ira Garner Bell, born November, 1844.  He married Martha E. Simpson who was his first cousin.  Martha Simpson's father was Thomas, brother of Rutha.  They had two sons, William and Thomas.  He and his wife Martha are buried in the Simpson Cemetery in Wayne County according to a memorial on findagrave, but his death date is unknown.

Mary Elizabeth Bell, born August 12, 1846.  She married John Stringer on February 4, 1870.  They had three children:  Littleton, Paulina and Tilden.  Elizabeth Stringer is buried in the Stringer Cemetery along with her parents and two sisters.

Elisha S Bell, born August, 1848.  Elisha was first married to N. C. Span in 1873.  I haven't been able to find anything more about N. C. yet.  Then in 1875, he married Rebecca McFarland.  Transcriptions of these marriage records are available on the Wayne County genweb site.  

I've also tried again to find Elisha and Rebecca's burial place hoping to get their death dates.  They were in Flint, Texas by 1900 and there through 1920, but they aren't listed in the Texas Death Records. I contacted one funeral home in Tyler, Texas and they gave me a phone number for a woman who has the records for the Flint Cemetery where I believe they are buried in unmarked graves.  She told me the records she has came from walking the cemetery, not burial records, so unmarked graves will not be listed in what she has.  I contacted another funeral home that has not responded to my request.  Probate records from the 1920's with actual images are available through familysearch.org, but looking in the index I don't find Elisha or Rebecca Bell listed.  

Saphronia Bell, born February, 1850, died apparently before 1887.  I posted a transcription of a deed from November 1887 which names the heirs of John S. Bell.  Her name is not on that deed.  If she had been married by then, I think she and her husband would have been included on the deed.

Emily E. Bell, born September 3, 1854, death date unknown but she is listed on the deed, so sometime after 1887.  It doesn't seem that she ever married and she may have died young.  In 1880, she lived with her sister Elizabeth Stringer.   She is buried in the Stringer cemetery near her parents.

Ursula Jane Bell, born April 8, 1856.  In the 1860 census, she was 4 years old, the year 1856 would be correct.  She married Henry Reynolds on December 7, 1871 and the transcription of that record has her age as 17 (born in 1854).  Did she actually get married at just 15 years old?   Ursula and Henry Reynolds had 3 children:  Leann, Ida and Thomas.  Ursula or "Sula" died on August 10, 1890 at about 35 years old.  She is also buried in the Stringer cemetery in Wayne County.

I have been in contact with descendants of Ira Garner Bell, Elizabeth Stringer and Ursula Reynolds.  If anyone asks me about them, I will refer the request to the cousins who know more about them than I do.  

Elisha is a guy I'm especially interested in.  My Great Grandfather Cicero Bell spent some time in Texas living near "Uncle Leish".  I learned this from an audio recording made by Cicero's second oldest son about the family history.  Uncle Leish and Rebecca had no children, they have no descendants.  I want to find more of their story. 

Amanuensis Monday - Bell Deed 1887

126 years ago...

"Whereas John S. Bell, of Wayne County, Ky, departed this life leaving certain lands to his children and heirs at law, and whereas the said children and heirs have divided the said lands among themselves by mutual consent and agreement, and whereon there has not been any deeds made to the several heirs conveying to them the title to them severally to the parts laid off as aforesaid.  Now therefore in consideration of the foregoing promises and to further establish and confirm the aforesaid division of the lands of the said John S. Bell, dec'd, Ira Garner Bell & Martha E. Bell, Martha E. Bell, Henry Reynolds & Ursula J. Reynolds, Elisha Bell & Rebecca A. Bell, Emily E. Bell, Elizabeth Stringer and Rutha Bell do hereby convey unto James Hutchinson & Lean Hutchinson his wife all our right, title and interest in and to a certain tract or parcel of land lying in the County of Wayne and State of Ky, it being the part that was laid off to the said Hutchinson & wife in the division of the lands of John S. Bell, dec'd, as above stated on the waters of Beaver Creek, and is bounded as follows viz:  Beginning at a White and Black Oak, Garner Bells beginning corner, running with his line N 48 E, 108 poles to a Red Oak, Maple & Gum, N 15 W with John Haynes line 20 poles to a Hickory S 63 W 165 poles to two White Oaks S 58 E 24 poles to two Black Oaks S 87 E 51 poles to the Beginning, containing 40 acres more or less.  All our right, title and interest in and to the above described tract or parcel of land conveyed as aforesaid, we will warrant and defend unto the said James Hutchinson and wife and their assigns forever, against the claim or claims of our selves, our heirs, and the claims of all other persons whatsoever.  In testimony whereof we have set our seals and signed our names this the 15th day of November 1887.

Attest:  Gemima E. Blankenship
J. W. Wright

Garner Bell

Martha E. Bell

Elisha Bell

R. A. Bell

Rutha Bell

Martha E. Bell

Emily E. Bell

Elizabeth Stringer

Henry Reynolds

Ursula J. Reynolds

State of Kentucky
County County of Wayne
      I Jas. H. McConnaghy, Clerk of the Wayne County Court for the County aforesaid, certify that the foregoing deed from Garner Bell and Martha E. Bell his wife, and Elisha Bell and R. A. Bell his wife, and Rutha Bell and Martha E. Bell and Emily E. Bell, and Elizabeth Stringer and Henry Reynolds and Martha J. Reynolds his wife, to James Hutchinson and Lean Hutchinson his wife was on the 15th day of November 1887, produced to me in said County and acknowledged before me by Garner Bell and Martha E. Bell his wife, and Elisha Bell and R. A. Bell his wife and Rutha Bell and Martha E. Bell and Emily E. Bell and Elizabeth Stringer and Henry Reynolds, and Ursula J. Reynolds to be their act and deed, this the 15th day of November 1887.

Jas. H. McConnaghy, Clerk

By J. W. Wright D. C.

State of Kentucky

County of Wayne

     I A. Fairchild Clerk of the Wayne County Court do certify that on the 22nd day of August 1898, the foregoing Deed was lodged in my office for record.  Whereupon the same together with this and the foregoing certificate have been duly recorded in my office.  Given under my hand this 24th day of August 1898.

A. Fairchild, Clerk"

Martha Eveline Bell's parents were John Silas and Rutha (Simpson) Bell, and her siblings were Ira Garner, Mary Elizabeth, Elisha S, Saphronia, Emily, and Ursula Jane.  From this Deed, it looks like Saphronia may have died before 1887.  Ira Garner married Martha E. Simpson in October, 1868, her father was Thomas Simpson, brother of Rutha.  Elisha married Rebecca A. McFarland in September, 1875.  Mary Elizabeth married John Stringer in February, 1870. I have not found that Emily ever married, and Ursula married Henry Reynolds in about 1878 and died in 1890.  

Why is there no mention of how much the 40 acres were sold for?

Cicero's Census

I've read that your brian is so pworeufl, taht it can raed scnetnees wtih mxied up wrods as lnog as the frsit and lsat ltetres are in the rghit palce.  Reading very poor handwriting is a challenge big enough for the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz.  The numerous possibilities of finding a very poorly misspelled name can be a daunting task.  Huge black ink smears and torn holes in an original document cannot be fixed to create a microfilm copy.  The names that appear and disappear each decade create more questions for us.  Who hasn't had these kinds of problems with census records?

My luck with finding census records really has been pretty good.  The Edith Abbott Memorial Library here in Grand Island has them from 1860 (territorial) to 1930 on microfilm for the entire state of Nebraska.  Two branches of my family had moved here by 1880, all but one by 1900.  I was able to get all of my direct ancestors Nebraska enumerations searching microfilm before they were online anywhere.  Other states took a little cash.  Through both the library and GI's Family History Center, I ordered in some census records from Kentucky and Illinois.  And most of the rest of the census records for my direct ancestors, at least back to 1850, I have found online.

In my BELL line I'm missing a couple records.  My great-grandfather, Cicero BELL, was born in 1869.  The 1870 Wayne County, Kentucky census shows him with his mother, Martha BELL (who was never married) and her parents.  Martha was the daughter of John Silas BELL and Ruth SIMPSON.  

I'm glad I didn't have to rely on Ancestry for this one, they have the name there indexed as "Simon C".  Will you all believe along with me that the name is written S.I.S.E.R.O.W. C.???

By 1880, Martha had had 2 more children, John William and Laura.  John Silas died in 1878.  I still have not been able to find Ruth, Martha or her children anywhere, not even with Martha's siblings.  I have searched the whole county page by page and even used the Soundex.  The 1880 soundex indexed only the households with children 10 years of age or younger.  I searched it for B400 in Kentucky and still didn't find Cicero, who would have been 11, or John William who would have been about 6 and Laura just 1.  Did they not get counted?  Did you see the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"?  Did you hear the kid with the shotgun say "I nicked the census taker"?  Seriously, I think maybe a household with an unmarried woman with 3 children may have evaded the census taker... somehow.

In 1930, my problem is with the information provided - or the lack of.  The closest person I can find that could be my Grandpa James Stanley BELL is one in Joliet, Illinois - listed as James S. Bell, age unknown, birth place unknown, birth place of parents unknown.  This guy didn't even have an occupation.  He was a Lodger listed with William Gladders' family, I don't know of any connection to this man or his family.  I tried to contact someone who had this family in a Rootsweb World Connect Tree, but got no response.  My mom knew that before he married, Grandpa moved around and did odd jobs, but she didn't think he was ever as far from Nebraska as Illinois.  Just how would I go about finding more information about this person with so little to go on?  If he didn't get arrested, I think I'm out of luck!  

What I have found writing this blog is that it gets me doing research on these people again.  I read through my old information again and search for names I haven't in a while.  Maybe something will come up this time!  How badly misspelled do you think Cicero can get?