Where Are Charles
and Warren: sons of Joseph and Deborah (Williamson) Bell?
Jean M. Hoffman, CG
The children of Joseph and Deborah Bell are documented
in a gravestone and U.S. census records in Washington County, Ohio, in 1850 and
1860, then Gallia County, Ohio, beginning with Deborah’s death in 1865. Those
surviving to the end of 1885 are listed in Joseph’s will. Sons Charles and
Warren are not accounted for in later sources.
Joseph and Deborah were married in Washington County,
Ohio, in 1839 when he was a resident of Newport Township, and she lived in
Marietta.[1] They set up housekeeping
in Newport Township as recorded in the 1850 U.S. census.[2] At that time their
children were:
- John Bell M 10 Ohio
- Martha Bell F 8 Ohio
- Austin Bell M 7 Ohio
- Charles Bell M 6 Ohio
- Mary Ann Bell F 4 Ohio
- Warren Bell M 2 Ohio
- Judith Bell F 6 months Ohio
Ten years later they had four more children but the
oldest, John, had died.[3] Charles was now 16, listed
as a farmer, and Warren was 12. The family was still in Newport Township,
Washington County, Ohio.[4]
In 1865 Deborah, the mother, died and was buried in
Clay Chapel Cemetery in Clay Township, Gallia County, Ohio.[5] Joseph purchased land
there adjacent to Walter S. Thorniley, Deborah’s brother-in-law.[6]
Joseph Bell’s household in 1870 consisted of the
following:
- Martha A Bell F 27 Ohio
- Austin Bell M 26 Ohio
- Mary Bell F 24 Ohio
- Warren Bell M 22 Ohio
- Judith Bell F 20 Ohio
- Edgar Bell M 18 Ohio
- Ella Bell F 16 Ohio
- Willey Bell M 14 Ohio
- George Bell M 11 Ohio
Now both John and Charles are missing but the other
nine children are listed.[7] Austin Bell had served in
the Union Army as a private in Co.
G, 36th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War but had returned to the
family.[8] It is possible that
Charles’s absence is related to the war, but with such a common name, it is
hard to tell whether any Charles Bell in the army is this one.
During the 1870s six of the nine children married. At
the time of the census in 1880 Joseph Bell still had his oldest and youngest
daughters, Martha and Ella, living with him. In addition, the youngest child,
George Bell, with his wife and child, lived with his father. Joseph (age 72)
and George (age 21) were both said to be farmers.[9] Daughter Mary Ann Bell
married in Caldwell County, Missouri, and remained there with husband Robert
Glenn Murray. The others who married were Austin, Judith, Edgar, and William,
all living in Clay Township in 1880.[10] No records were found for
Charles or Warren.
Joseph Bell wrote his will on 30 December 1885. He
left to “my daughters Martha A. Bell and Ella Bell and my son George Bell all
my personal property and the farm on which we now reside.” From the estate he
required them to pay his debts and funeral expenses plus a bequest of five
dollars ($5.00) to each of his other children listed as “sons Charles W. Bell,
Austin Bell, William Bell, Edgar Bell” and “daughters Judith Davis and Mary
Murray.”[11]
The Application to Probate Will of Joseph Bell was
presented on 12 February 1886 by George Bell. Oddly only five heirs were named:
Martha Bell and Ella Bell, daughters in Eureka; Judith Davis, daughter in
Gallipolis; sons William Bell and George Bell in Eureka.[12] Ultimately the estate was
settled and $5.00 was paid to heirs other than the three, Martha, Ella, and
George. Receipts for that sum were signed and included in the estate packet
from W.W. Bell (William W.) on 22 November 1886,[13] Edgar Bell on 29 November
1886,[14] Mary B. Murray on 29
November 1886,[15]
Austin Bell on 29 November 1886,[16] and Judith Davis on 1
December 1886.[17]
There is no receipt from Charles or Warren Bell.
There is no evidence of the demise of either son, but
it seems reasonable to think that Charles Bell died sometime in the 1860s and
Warren Bell sometime in the 1870s. Clearly neither received any inheritance
from their father’s estate in 1886.
All online sources viewed 30 November 2024.
[1] Hymeneal [marriages], Marietta Gazette and Washington County Agriculturist, Marietta, Ohio,
Sat. Sept. 7, 1839, Vol. II, No. 40, “Married . . . On Sunday evening last, by
the Rev. H. Gear, Mr. Joseph Bell of Newport to Miss Deborah Williamson of this
township.”
[2] 1850 U.S. census, Washington
County, Ohio, population schedule, Newport Township, sheet 465A,
dwelling/family 1, Joseph Bell household; imaged, "1850 United States
Federal Census," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4093962_00577).
[3] Find a Grave, database with
images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90379458),
“John Bell” (1840-1854) memorial created by Arden & Ginger Wince with
tombstone image by Jean Hoffman; citing Barker Cemetery, Lower Newport,
Washington County, Ohio.
[4] 1860 U.S. census, Washington
County, Ohio, population schedule, Newport Township, sheet 81, dwelling 66,
family 68, Joseph Bell household; imaged, "1860 United States Federal
Census," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7667/images/4304720_00166).
[5] Find a Grave, database with
images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52061456),
“Deborah Bell” (unknown-1865) memorial created by “hospicenurse ali” with tombstone image by “Anonymous”;
citing Clay Chapel Cemetery, Clay Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
[6] Gallia
County Deed Record 34: 545, Walter S. &
Mary J. Thorniley to Joseph Bell, 7 April 1865; imaged, “Gallia. Deeds
1864–1865, 1865–1866,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37H-WSWP-V),
image 290 of 646.
[7] 1870 U.S. census, Gallia County,
Ohio, population schedule, Clay Township, sheet 252A (continuation skips over a
page), dwelling/family 83, Joseph Bell household; imaged, "1870 United
States Federal Census," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4277795_00050).
[8] Official Roster of the Soldiers
of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Vol. III
(Cincinnati: Ohio Valley Pub. & Mfg. Co., 1886), 36th Regiment of Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, Company G, p. 675, Private Austin Bell; imaged
"Official roster of the soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the
Rebellion, 1861-1865, Vols. 1-12," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/31412/images/glh_092851__0001_a_01-0344?usePUB=true&_phsrc=knB5087&pId=30225),
image 1144 of 2792).
[9] 1880 U.S. census, Gallia County,
Ohio, population schedule, Clay Township, ED 21, sheet 277B, dwelling 231,
family 237, Joseph Bell household; imaged, "1880 United States Federal
Census," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4243599-00200).
[10] See Joseph Bell - WikiTree Profile,
ID Bell-48459 (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bell-48459)
to follow his and his children’s records not cited here.
[11] Will of Joseph Bell, 1885,
recorded 1886, Gallia County Will Record 3: 137-38; imaged, “Ohio, Probate
Records, 1789-1996,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-27667-19735-76?cc=1992421&wc=M934-6WY:n601757916),
Gallia > Wills 1898 vol 3-4 > image 169 of 1223.
[12] Joseph Bell Estate Case File no.
544, Application to Probate Will; imaged, “Gallia. Probate Estate Case Files 1803–1943,”
FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS2J-Z9LB-R),
image group number (IGN) 103808575
> image 478 of 2118. Entire Case File > images 462-516.
[13] Joseph Bell Estate Case File no.
544, Receipt of W. W. Bell, image 497.
[14] Joseph Bell Estate Case File no.
544, Receipt of Edgar Bell, image 502.
[15] Joseph Bell Estate Case File no.
544, Receipt of Mary B. Murray, image 496.
[16] Joseph Bell Estate Case File no.
544, Receipt of Austin Bell, image 493.
[17] Joseph Bell Estate Case File no.
544, Receipt of Judith Davis, image 499.
