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Looking for parents of John Bell of Muskingum Ohio
John Bell (middle name possibly Bevan or Belvin) was born in 1812 (unsure of actual birthplace) and died 27 December 1865 in Rich Hill, Muskingum, Ohio, USA. No one seems to know his ancestry or immediate parentage. He had a wife, Rebecca McVicker (1814-1842)and they had 3 children Drusilla,Eliza and John Milburn. His second wife was Elizabeth McComas (1915-1902)(my husband's grandmother) they had 5 children. John and Elizabeth's children were:Sarah Camelia; William Edward (our Bell line) who married Alta West {this is a very famous line}; Elcy Elizabeth; Violet; and Elmira.
It does not really seem to bear out that John was John Bell the statesman from Maryland. There was a ship's captain that carried slaves, but the dates don't really match him either. One record seems to show a John and Elizabeth Bell as indentured servants perhaps, but the information is very minimal (just a list)but the dates and place names match.
In 1860 in a census we find him living with John Milburn. I think it is possible that our John was related to the Beals that came from Largo, Fife, Scotland [Col.Ninian Beal b 1625]See his story at the bottom of this post. FYI, Alexander Graham Bell went to Scotland and researched the history of the Bell family origins, he found that all Bells originated in Scotland and the Beal line came from Bell and was changed to Beal but no one knows why.
Col.Ninian Edmonston Beal had 3 wives and many children. The lines that came from him did seem to connect directly to our John's line but then the dates did not quite match and I could not prove the same names and childre so another dead end. Perhaps I have not been patient enough, but I could not tease out an actual connection.
Our Bell family is related directly to the Beals from Hannah (Beal) Deaver. Col. Ninian was her father, her son was Antil Deaver; his daughter Hannah married William McComas the great grandfather of Elizabeth McComas.
Here is part of Ninian's story if you are interested.
Ninian Beall was buried on his own property and when the city of Washington, DC was laid out and Gary Street put through, his remains were dug up and found in a perfect state of preservtion, his red hair having grown to his shoulders.
From Colonial Families of the United States, by George Norbury Mackinsie (Vol. 11, page 66) "Ninian Beall was born in Largo, Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1625. He held a commission as cornet in the Scotch-English Army, raised to resist Cromwell. He fought in the battle of Dunbar, September 3, 1650 against Cromwell. He was made prisoner oat that battle and sentenced to five years servitude. He was sent with 150 other Scotchmen to Barbadoes, West Indies. About 1652 they appeared in the Province of Maryland. Ninian Beall served his five years with Richard Hall, planter of Calvert County. It seems that these military prisoners were entitled to acres of public land after completing service."
In Liber II, folio 195 - Maryland Land Ofice, is the follwoing: "16 Janurary 1677 - Then came Ninian Beall of Calvert County, planter, and proved his r ight to 50 acres of land for his time service performed with Richard Hall of name County. This servitude which came to him not on account of crime but through fortunes of war, was an honor. Ninian Beall's military ability in the Scotch-English Army seems to have been made good use of the Province of Maryland, as shown by the following notations: 1688, records of Annapolis, dated 31 October call him Lieutenant Ninian Beall. 1676, commissioned Lieutenant of Lord Baltimore's yacht of war Loal Charles of Maryland, John Goade, commander. 1684, Deputy Surveyor of Charles County. 1688, Chief Military Officer of Calvert County. 1692, High Sheriff of Calvert County. 1694, Colonel of Militis, by the Assembly, 30 July 1694. 1697, on a commission to trat with the Indians. 1697-1701, member of the General Assembly. 1699, the General Assembly passed an "Act of Gratitude for the distinguished Indian services of the Colonel Ninian Beall."
"His signatures to official papers are bold and free. As he signed his will (January 1717) by witnessed mark, it would indicate he must have been in very feeble condition of body at the time; he was then ninety-two years old.
"He seems to have identified himself with the Presbyterian Church in 1690. During that year 200 Presbyterian emigrants came over from Scotland under his supervision. He located them along the Potoma River and called the settlement New Scotland. These emigrants brought with them Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, who received a deed of gift from Col. Ninian Beall on land in upper Marlboro, upon which to build a church.
"In 1707 Col. Ninian Beall presented the church a costly silver communion set made in London (a portion of this set is now in the Presbyterian Church at Hyattsville, MD."
My journey to find my family
I started looking into my family history partly to help my mom with her project. I was very surprised to find out how much it mattered to me. Family members I never knew suddenly became real people to me and I found myself more and more intrigued. I also began a new interest in history; which always seemed something I could not warm up to, it was just dull and dry. But as events in history began to be intermingled in my family's stories, I couldn't get enough! I have been able to trace my father's maternal line back to nearly 900 AD with reasonable surety. I am related to John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley on my father's maternal line. They came over on the Mayflower and were married shortly after. My great grandmother was Laura Luella Howland. I was really excited about that, because that was one of my history lessons I actually paid attention to and I remembered their story.
Elizabeth Tilley and John Howland were Quakers and they came to America for religious freedom. Elizabeth came with her parents who died shortly after arriving. She then became a ward of the Carvers until she married John Howland.
I have met a complete road block with my father's paternal line however. But, I still know tons more about my father and his father's family than I did before. When I started searching, I only knew my grandfather's name was Byron Davis. Family lore was that he was from Wales. He supposedly married my grandmother, they had a son Allen (my dad) and then left shortly after never to be seen again. No one was really certain of the legality of this relationship. I have one photo that is so bad, a face can't even be distinguished. Other than that, my father thought that his father was born and died in Montana.
So imagine my excitement when I found a marriage certificate for my grandparents, Byron Davis and Florence M. Yeager! It was hard to find because it was filed under Dorris instead of Davis. I would have missed it completely had it not been for my grandmother's name and Spokane being visible on the hint. It had all the usual information, but it also listed both of their parents...yeah! His father was Adam Davis and his mother was Belle White from Vermont. Since then I learned Byron's birth date (same day as my daughter) July 6th 1894 and that he died July 14th 1952 in a tragic car accident. His wife and one of his children died within a few days of him, all due to a drunk driver. He was being a good Samaritan; helping someone change a tire. He seemed a long time and respectable member of the community from the news articles I read. I was also able to find where he was buried and visit his grave recently. It blessed me more than I ever would have imagined.
I also had some great surprises on my mother's side as well. I will leave that story for another day.
If anyone has any information about my family from Avon, Montana I would be so thrilled.
Blessings, Alicia
Looking for Adam Davis orignally of Scotland then Montana
I would appreciate any information regarding Adam Davis or Belle White. My great grandfather was Adam Davis born about 1860. I found an Adam Davis Jr. born about the right time but have no confirmation that he is the one I am looking for. Here is what I know: My grandfather Byron Allen Davis was born July 6th 1894 in Montana and died in a tragic accident in Montana 13 July 1952. He married my grandmother Florence Mildred Yeager 14 March 1923. They had one child, Allen LeRoy Davis. This was his second marriage. I have not been able to discover the first marriage. The marriage certificate to Florence confirms Byron's parents as Adam Davis from Scotland and Belle White from Vermont. Family oral history is that great grandfather ran freight wagons or was a stage driver. Belle may have been Native American. She spoke a native language that sounded like Yaqui to my father who used to listen to recordings of the language trying to find out what people group she was from. Byron later married Mary Seter, they had 5 children: Byron, Frank, Andrew, Peggy and Warren. I would appreciate any information. Thanks.
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