Jane Flint: A Bell Child Identified

By Jean M. Hoffman, CG^SM

Samuel and Mary (Lyons) Bell of Newport Township, Washington County, Ohio, had one son still living in Newport at the time of an 1881 county history. That son, Nathan, is undoubtedly the source of the information in the book. It states that there were twelve children in the family.¹ Early census records support that number.²

Five surviving sons were named in the county history. All appear in the 1880 census. Their names and locations in 1880 are: Nathan, Newport, Washington County, Ohio; Samuel, Jr., Meigs County, Ohio; Joseph, Gallia County, Ohio; Hiram, Hillsdale County, Michigan; and William H. Bell in Fillmore County, Nebraska, and soon after in Salt Lake City.³ Three daughters have been identified as Mary, wife of Presley Tuel and later Nelson Wallace; Charlotte, wife of Nathan Bell of Barlow Township, Washington County; and Amanda, wife of Bartlett Jackson.⁴

Viola and Thomas J. Bell were children of Nathan Bell of Newport Township. Nathan’s first wife, Adaline (née Reckard,) died in January 1849, shortly after their house burned down, leaving the children motherless and homeless.⁵ Their father was enumerated with his brother, Joseph Bell, in Newport Township in the 1850 census.⁶ The children were recorded with Porter and Jane Flint.⁷ A third child in the Flint household was David Delos Flint. He was the son of the late Asa Flint, Porter’s relative.⁸ Finding the Bell children with her was the first step in identifying Jane Flint as a member of the Bell family.

Jane was the wife of Porter Flint of Ludlow Township, Washington County, Ohio. They were married 18 February 1836. While there is no civil record, the marriage is noted in the newspaper giving Jane Bell’s home as Newport Township.⁹

In April 1860, Porter Flint drowned leaving Jane alone on their property.¹⁰ She was issued Letters of Administration for the estate of her late husband on 8 Aug 1860. She gave bond of $3,000 with Joseph Bell, undoubtedly her brother, and Richard Scott as her sureties.¹¹ A few days earlier, the census enumerator listed her alone at age fifty-six. Her real estate was valued at $3,500 and personal property at $800. William H. Bell and family were listed two households later.¹² He was the youngest of the Bell children identified to date. Jane wrote her will 11 August 1865. In it she left many bequests including to her “beloved brother William H. Bell” her spotted horse, five sheep, and a clock. To his daughter, Jane Bell, she left her bureau. Her will was presented to probate in Washington County on 29 January 1866.¹³

A resident of Newport Township before marriage, Jane was associated with the children of Nathan Bell in her home, with Joseph Bell as her surety, and with William H. Bell by proximity and specifically as her brother. She is clearly their sister, probably the oldest girl, and a ninth of an apparent twelve Bell children. She was born about 1803-04 in Ohio and died in 1865-66 as a resident of Ludlow Township, Washington County, Ohio. She had no children.

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Endnotes

1. H. Z. Williams Bro. Pub., 1788–1881, History of Washington County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches (1881; reprint Knightstown, Ind: Bookmark, 1976), 568.

2. 1820 U.S. census, population schedule, Washington County, Ohio, Newport Township, page 222 (stamped), line 9, Samuel Bell; NARA microfilm M33, roll 95.

3. 1880 U.S. census, population schedules. For Nathan see Washington County (Newport Township,) Ohio, ED 235, page 350D, dwelling 211, family 231, Nathan Bell household; NARA microfilm T9, roll 1076. For Samuel, Jr. Meigs County (Racine Village, Sutton Township,) Ohio, ED 120, page 307A, dwelling 78, family 82, Samuel Bell household; NARA microfilm T9, roll 1048. For Joseph see Gallia County (Clay Township,) ED 21, page 277B, dwelling 231, family 237, Joseph Bell household; NARA microfilm T9, roll 1018. For Hiram see Hillsdale County (Camden Township,) Michigan, ED 83, page 77B, dwelling 201, family 207, Hiram Bell household; NARA microfilm T9, roll 580. For William H. see Fillmore County (Fairmont Village,) Nebraska, ED 323, page 455D, dwelling 128, family 132, William H. Bell household; NARA microfilm T9, roll 748. Also for William H. see “Report of Coroner’s Inquest, Death of William H. Bell, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 14 June 1887,”Emeline Bell, widow's pension application no. 380,677, certificate no. 255,011; service of William H. Bell (Pvt., Co. F, 116th Ohio Vol. Inf., Civil War), Case Files of Approved Pension Applications…, 1861–1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veteran Affairs, Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

4. For Mary see Josephine E. Phillips, compiler, Vital Records of Washington County (Cleveland, OH: Western Reserve Historical Society, 1942), 4, Mary Bell to Presley Tuell (1830.) Also Samuel Bell and wife Mary to Joseph Bell (1834,) Washington County, Ohio, Deed Book, 24: 318-19, reserving a tract “given to my daughter Mary Tuel,” County Recorder's Office, Marietta, Ohio. Also Nelson Wallis and wife Mary to Joseph Bell (1844,) Washington County, Ohio, Deed Book, 36: 61. For Charlotte see “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” Washington County Probate Court, Marietta, Ohio, vol. 1: 423, Charlotte Bell (Newport) to Nathan Bell (Barlow), 1832; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 24 May 2013); from FHL microfilm 941,958. For Amanda see Phillips, Vital Records of Washington County, 4, Amanda Bell to Bartlett Jackson (1840.)

5. “House Burned,” Marietta (Ohio) Intelligencer, 1 Feb 1849, p. 2. Also 1850 U.S. census, Washington County, Ohio, mortality schedule, Newport Township, page 293, line 1, Adaline Bell entry; NARA microfilm T1159, roll 15, her death erroneously reported for 1850.

6. 1850 U.S. census, Washington County, Ohio, population schedule, Newport Township, page 465 (stamped), 929 (penned), dwelling/family 1, Joseph Bell household; NARA microfilm M432, roll 738.

7. 1850 U.S. census, Washington County, Ohio, population schedule, Ludlow Township, page 497-98 (stamped), 993 (penned), dwelling/family 73, Porter Flint household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 15 October 2012); from NARA microfilm M432, roll 738.

8. David Delos Flint, guardianship, Administrators and Executors Docket, 1857–1865, Book C: 176, Washington County Probate Court, Marietta, Ohio.

9. “Hymeneal [marriages],” Marietta (Ohio) Gazette, 9 April 1836, p. 3.

10. “Drowned,” Marietta (Ohio) Republican, 13 April 1860, p. 3, col. 1. Also 1860 U.S. census, Washington County, Ohio, mortality schedule, Ludlow Township, line 10, Porter Flint entry; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 15 October 2012); from NARA microfilm T1159, roll 30.

11. Administrators and Executors Docket, 1857–1865 (Probate Court, Washington County, Marietta, Ohio), C: 455; “Ohio, Probate Records, 1789–1996,” digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 17 October 2012; imaged from FHL microfilm 946,228.

12. 1860 U.S. census, population schedule, Washington County, Ohio, post office Flintsmill, Ludlow Township, page 469 (stamped), dwelling/family 91, Jane Flint household and dwelling/family 93, William H. Bell; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 15 October 2012); from NARA microfilm M653, roll 1049, imaged from FHL microfilm 805,049.

13. Jane Flint will (1865), Washington County, Ohio, Will Book 1: 523-24, Washington County Probate Court, Marietta, Ohio; "Ohio, Probate Records, 1789 - 1996," digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 7 May 2013); imaged from FHL microfilm 946,216.