Van Archibald Bell

1832 - 1901  (68 years)    Has no ancestors but 27 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Van Archibald Bell
  Birth	4 Jul 1832	Anderson County, South Carolina, USA
  Gender	Male
  Death	16 Feb 1901
  Person ID	I380482	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	5 Jul 2002

  
  

  Family	Josephine Rebecca Tyler,   b. 6 Sep 1839, Georgia, USA d. 1923, Cherokee Co., Alabama, USA (Age 83 years)
  Marriage	17 Oct 1856
  Children	1. Willie Montegue Bell,   b. 4 Nov 1858   d. 14 Jul 1859 (Age 0 years) + 2. Emma Viola Bell,   b. 3 Aug 1860   d. 9 Mar 1942, Chattanooga, Hamilton CO, Tennessee, USA (Age 81 years) + 3. Robert Archie Bell,   b. 23 Dec 1863   d. Yes, date unknown + 4. Vanetta Bell,   b. 5 Jun 1866   d. 6 Jun 1897 (Age 31 years)   5. Blanche Bell,   b. 4 Aug 1869   d. 1907, Farrill, Alabama, USA (Age 37 years)   6. Terressa Bell,   b. 31 Oct 1871   d. 1918 (Age 46 years) + 7. Dewitt Clinton Tyler Bell,   b. 1 Jan 1874, Cassandra, Walker, Georgia, USA d. 30 Dec 1927, Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama, USA (Age 53 years) + 8. Gwendolin Bell,   b. 7 Jun 1877   d. 11 Jan 1949, Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, USA (Age 71 years)
  Family ID	F151330	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 Jul 2002

  
  

• Notes

  VAN A. BELL was born in Anderson County, SC, 4 July 1832. In the 1850 Murray Co., GA, census he was shown as age 18 and living in the household of his brother Sanford, along with Sanford's wife and child. On 17 October 1856 he married JOSEPHINE REBECCA TYLER (see TYLER) whose family was also listed in the 1850 Murray Co. census. The only records of the of her daughters. According to the pension application and her handwritten record of births, she was born 6 September 1839 in .Macon, GA. The year of her birth was erroneously given as 1840 on her tombstone. She died in 1923 in Cherokee County, AL. The 1860 census record for VAN A. BELL has not been located, but his wife's pension papers stated that they were living in Cave Springs, GA, when he enlisted in the Army of the Confederacy in nearby Rome, GA. He had two periods of service in the Confederate Army beginning with 1861 when he enlisted for the first time and served with the 8th Georgia Volunteers under Captain Towers as a private. He was discharged due to illness in November of the same year. In September 1863 he reenlisted as Chaplain of the 6th Battalion, Georgia State Guards, under Captain Hawkins and served until the end of the war. This battalion took part in the Battle of Chickarnauga, which was said to be one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. According to his widow's pension application, he was captured at Huntsville, AL, but escaped. During the Civil War, his wife and her family (including her father, mother, and brother) fled Georgia ahead of Sherman's advancing Union Army and went to the Cedar Bluff/Gaylesville area in Cherokee County, AL. It is believed that relatives were living there, possibly a married sister of JOSEPHINE or one of the several Bell families living in the area. The 1870 census of Catoosa Co., GA, enumerated this family in Ringgold, GA, where they were living in September 1885 when daughter EMMA's marriage was recorded. VAN BELL was a Baptist minister. From the many churches which he served, it is apparent that, at least part of the time, he was an old-fashioned, "circuit rider" preacher and served several churches at the same time. history of Noah Georgia Baptist Association by J. W. Williamson lists V. A. Bell as an "early pastor" of Friendship Baptist Church, which was founded in 1853. He is also "among the earliest pastors" of Varnell Baptist Church, Whitfield Co., GA, which was founded between 1837-47. Other churches he served in Georgia are found in Walker County History by James Alfred Sartain. They are Friendship Baptist Church in Walker Co. and Lookout Baptist Church (third pastor) on the Chattanooga Valley Road. Baptist Association Records also list Van A. Bell as serving from 1876 to 1880 as pastor of Concord Baptist Church in the area that is now East Brainerd in Chattanooga, TN. According to an undated newspaper clipping in his daughter EMMA's scrapbook, he also served as minister at Second Baptist Church, Chattanooga, TN. Another such undated clipping in the scrapbook gives a view of the kind of living that was afforded ministers of that era: Rev. V. A. BELL is located at South Chattanooga, and has been there since last summer. He was at first joint missionary of East Tennessee General Association) and the State Board, but is now sustained by the State Board and his people there. The Board engages to pay him $150 per annum, and he is permitted to increase this sum to $500 by collections in the field. Of this sum the First Church [First Baptist Church Chattanooga, generously agrees to raise $100, of which she has paid him $20 already. Bro. Bell's family live in the country or he could not work for this salary. He is doing a good work, having increased the membership more than double in six months. VAN and his daughter Blanche taught school for a time in a small community named Alexis, which was across the Coosa River from Farill. The exact dates are not known, but his journal contains a notation "Opened School Jan. I st, 1895," and a list of the 29 children in attendance. The last record in the journal listed the number of males and number of females attending on 15 February 1897. Whether he continued to teach is unknown. Although not found in any other source, pages in the journal indicate that he preached at Mill Creek Church in January, February, and March of 1895 and at Round Mountain on "April 1st Sunday" and on "May 1st Sunday," (no year given). Locations of these two churches are unknown, but they were probably within a fifteen-mile radius of Farill, AL. The 1900 Cherokee County, AL, census lists VAN'S household, which included his wife, widowed daughter EMMA AULT and her son ROBERT AULT, and two unmarried daughters named Tessa (Terressa) and Blanche. Tessa was a talented artist and was listed in the census as art teacher. In her otherwise fine book The Bells in U.S.A. and Allied Families, Getha Gina Bell stated that the name of VAN's wife was unknown and endowed him with two children that were definitely not his. Having no personal knowledge of VAN or his descendants, the person contributing research (a descendant of VAN's brother Sullivan) found a "Vann Bell" in the census and assumed that he was the right one. A "Vann Bell" was also living in Anderson County near CHARLES BELL' s family in 1840, possibly the same man later living in Georgia and erroneously listed in the book. This author's father grew up in the home of VAN BELL, and recalls many facts her father related about members of his grandfather's family. She owns many BELL family pictures (labeled by VAN's daughter EMMA with name and relationship), scrapbooks, letters, etc. Possibly another reason Van A. Bell was hard to find was the fact that the 1880 Catoosa Co., GA, census lists him as "V. Archie Bell." That was the only time he has ever been found listed in anything in any way other than as "VAN A. BELL", and may have been due to the fact that a "Vann Bell" (possibly a relative) was in the same area at that time. REV. VAN A. BELL died on 16 February 1901, and his wife JOSEPHINE died in 1923. Along with daughters Terressa (Tessa) and Blanche, they are buried in the Hardman Cemetery near Farill, AL. He was a gentle, good man who was loved by everyone. Guarding his grave is a handsome tombstone "erected by his fiends," upon which they had the following engraved: Rev. V. A. Bell Born July 4,1832 Died February 16,1901 Servant of God Well Done Thy Glorious Warfare's Past His Battles Fought The Victory Won Soldier of Christ Well Done Praise Be Thy New Employ And While Eternal Ages Run Rest in Thy Saviors Joy