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Waddell, 1888 identifies three main lines of Bells in Old Augusta during the colonial period, though he is uncertain whether they were related or not. He distinguishes these lines according to where they lived:
- North Mountain,
- Stone Church, and
- Long Glade.
The following are extractions (with minor format adjustments, from Waddell, 1888:431 et seq for these three lineages.
North Mountain
The first of this family in the county was James Bell, who located on a tract of land one mile and a half east of Buffalo Gap, on a part of which his
descendant, John Christian, lives at present (1888). It was his dwelling that was raided by Indians, as related on page 30. His children were three sons, James, Samuel and Francis, and three daughters, Ann, Betty and Mary.
- I. James Bell, son of James, removed to Kentucky and located near Lexington. He was a near neighbor of Henry Clay, who consequently visited the Bells of Buffalo Gap several times on his trips to and from Washington.
- II. Samuel, known for many years before his death as Major Bell. He was a soldier in the Revolution, while quite young, and, witii many of his countymen, was with Morgan at the Cowpens. He lived on the farm recently owned by his son, Samuel H. Bell, and now by Archibald A. Sproul, a short distance west of Swoope's Depot.
Major Bell was married three times.
- His first wife was Nancy, daughter of James Bell, of Long Glade, and her children were : i. Sarah, wife of Robert Christian ; 2. James, who was a lieutenant in the war of 1812, and known for many years as Captain James Bell ; and 3. Nancy, wife of John Brownlee, of the Greenville neighborhood.
- The second wife of Major Bell was a Miss Cunningham, who had one child, a daughter, who died young.
- The third wife was Rebecca Hays, mother of Samuel H. Bell, de- ceased, and Francis Bell, now of Pulaski county.
- III. Francis Bell, son of James, married Sally, daughter of James Bell, of Long Glade, who had only one child, a son named James, who died in his youth.
- IV. Ann Bell, wife of Francis Gardiner, a soldier of the Revolution.
Their children were the late |ames and Samuel Gardiner, Mrs. Henry Sterrett, Mrs. Robert Wright, and others.
- V. Betty, the next daughter, was the wife of Benjamin Brown, and mother of Major Joseph Brown, a prominent citizen of the county for many years, who removed to Illinois in 1837,
and afterwards to Mis- souri. Major Brown's wife was a daughter of Jacob Swoope, the old merchant and Congressman.
- VI. Mary, third daughter of James Bell, died unmarried.'
Stone Church
There is some uncertainty in regard to the name of the ancestor of this family. It was probably Joseph, as a Joseph Bell purchased a lot in Staunton, in
1747, (see page 39). All that is certainly known of him is, that he was a married man and had children, one of whom was named Joseph, and that he and his wife were murdered. On a
certain Sunday, the year not known, the children of the family went to church, and upon returning home found that their parents had been killed in their dwelling. Two white
"indentured servants," a man and a woman, who had disappeared and were never heard of, were supposed to have perpetrated the deed.
Joseph Bell, son of the former, was born in Augusta, May 25, 1742, and died in 1823. His wife was Elizabeth Henderson. Their residence was on the present macadamized turnpike,
about four miles north of Staunton. The children of Joseph and Elizabeth Bell, who attained maturity, were three sons and two daughters. One of the daughters was the wife of the senior John Wayt, and the other the
wife of Dr. John Johnston.
- I. William Bell, son of Joseph, known as Major Bell, was for many years County Surveyor of Augusta. His wife was Margaret, daughter of Captain James Allen...
Their only son was the late William J. D. Bell. Their daughters were : 1. Elizabeth Allen, wife of Joseph D. Keyser, of Alleghany county; 2. Susan, wife of James Craig, of Mount
Meridian, Augusta; 3. Mary, wife of Addison Hyde ; 4. Mar- garet A., who married, first, John Crawford (he dying childless), and, secondly. Colonel James Crawford ; 5. Nancy, wife
of Zachariah McChes- ney; 6. ."^arah, second wife of John Wayt, Junior; 7. Rebecca, wife of Benjamin T. Reid ; S.Julia, wife of Alexander W. Arbuckle of Green- brier; and, 9. Jane,
wife of Rev. John A. Van Lear.
- II. James Bell, son of Joseph, was born in 1772. and died in 1856. He was long the senior Justice of the Peace in Augusta (see page 256) His first wife was Sarah, daughter of
Captain James Allen, whose ciiildren, leaving posterity, were the late Colonel William A. Bell, and Sarah, first wife of John Wayt, Junior. The last wife of James Bell was Margaret
Craig, and her children were, John J., David S., J. Wayt, and Henderson M. Bell, Mrs. Jane Arbuckle, of Greenbrier, Mrs. Bettie Kinney, and Mrs. Margaret Young, of Staunton.
- III. Joseph Bell, Junior, the third son of Joseph, Senior, resided during most of his life in Rockbridge county, near Gosiien. His wife was a daughter of Alexander Nelson (see page
225), and Nelson Bell, of Rock- bridge, and Johnston E. Bell, of Greenbrier, are two of his sons.
Long Glade
James Bell came from Ireland and settled on Long Glade, Augusta, about 1740. His wife was Agnes Hogshead. He is said to have been a school teacher, and
also a surveyor and scrivener. He probably was the James Bell who was one of the first county magistrates in 1745. His children were:
- I. John Bell married three times, successively. His first wife, a widow Young, and his second, Esther Gamble (sister of Colonel Robert Gam- ble), had no children. His third wife Elizabeth Griffith, had four sons and two daughters. He served two " tours " during the Revolution. The children of John and Elizabeth were:
- 1. William, and
- 2. Abel (both of whom went to Illinois);
- 3. James R. Bell, who married Mary J. Brownlee. He served in the Confederate army, Fifth Virginia regiment. Was taken sick at Swift Run Gap in 1862, and died in a short time. His son, Brownlee Bell, a member of Lilly's company, Twenty-fifth regiment, was taken prisoner, and died at Fort Delaware in 1863. Three daughters of James R. Bell survive.
- 4. Francis, died young, unmarried.
- 5. Mrs. Rebecca Curry, of Greenbrier.
- 6. Mrs. Nancy Whitmore, of Augusta.
- II. William Bell, son of James and Agnes, never married. Killed in battle during the Revolution.
- III. Francis Bell, married Polly Ervin. No children.
- IV. David Bell was in the military service during the war of 1812, and was called Captain Bell. His wife was a Miss Christian. He had five children, two of whom died young. The other three were —
- 1. James Bell married Sarah Coyner, and had seven sons, six of whom served in the Confederate army during the war of 1861-5, viz.: (1) Alexander, died of disease contracted in the army; (2) Addison, killed at Chancellorsville, 1863; (3) Luther, died of disease contracted in the army, 1862; (4) William, severely wounded at Kernstown, March, 1862, practicing medicine in Fauquier; (5) Daniel, wounded at Gettysburg, still survives; (6) Frank, wounded during war, survives. The first, second, fifth and sixth were members of Company C, Fifth Vir- ginia regiment, " Stonewall brigade " ; the third was a member of the Fifty-second regiment, and the fourth of the " Liberty Hall " company, Fourth regiment. Samuel, the seventh son of James and Sarah Bell, was not in the army, being quite young.
- 2. John Bell, son of David, married Sophia Ervin, and had seven sons and two daughters, viz:
- (1) David, Company C, Fifth regiment, died in military hospital at Lynchburg, June 24, 1863;
- (2) Elisha, member of Carpenter's Battery, wounded at Antietam, lives near F^-edericksburg;
- (3) William, Company C, Fifth regiment, wounded at Cedar Creek, 1864, survives;
- (4) Alexander, Company C, Fifth regiment, taken prisoner at Antietam, and died at Fort Delaware, September 24, 1863 ;
- (5) Hendren, Company C, Fifth regiment, severely wounded at Gettysburg, and afterwards courier for General John B. Gordon, lives in Augusta;
- (6) John, practicing medicine in Chicago;
- (7) Samuel, practicing medicine on Long Glade, Augusta;
- (8) Mary, married George H. Ervin ;
- (9) Margaret, not married.
- 3. Betsy, daughter of David Bell, married Bethuel Herring.
- V. James Bell, son of James and Agnes, went to Kentucky and died childless
- VI. Thomas Bell, son of James and Agnes, married Rebecca Robert- son, of Botetourt. He inherited his father's homestead, the present Dudley farm, and died in 1854, aged eighty-two years. His children were:
- 1.James, married Annie Blair, and had seven children, viz: (i) Thpmas M., Company C, Fifth regiment, mortally wounded at Chan- cellorsville, May 3, 1863; (2) James A., Company C, Fifth regiment, severely wounded at Kernstown and died in consequence. The remain- ing children of James and Annie Bell are daughters, all single.
- 2. Alexander R. Bell, son of Thomas and Rebecca, married Clara Hogshead, and had two sons and five daughters. His son, Thomas A., Fifth regiment, killed at Spotsylvania Courthouse in 1864, His son, James F., and three daughters survive. One of the daughters is the wife of Samuel Bell, son of Samuel, and another the wife of Moses Hutton, of Hardy county.
- 3. Samuel Bell, son of Thomas and Rebecca, married Sarah Eidson, and had seven children. His son, Thomas P., sergeant of Company C, Fifth regiment, was mortally wounded at Hatcher's Creek, Dinwiddie county, February, 1865. Another son, John V., served in Fitz. Lee's cavalry. Four sons and one daughter survive.
- VI. Nancy Bell, daughter of James and Agnes, was the first wife of Major Samuel Bell, of North Mountain.
- VII. Sally Bell, daughter of James and Agnes, was the wife of Francis Bell, of North Mountain
Of the descendants of James and Agnes Bell, eighteen were soldiers in the Confederate army during the war of i86i-'5 ; five were killed in battle or died of wounds, and six died of
disease contracted in the army.
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