(1) Name: Margaret Fry BELL
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Birth: 1742 Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland
Death: after April 22, 1830 Clark County, Indiana [1] Age: 88
Burial: Ruddell’s Mills Cemetery, Bourbon County, Kentucky; Later, Battle Grove Cemetery, Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky
Father: Robert BELL (1700-1765)
Mother: Agnes FLEMING (~1716-1785)

Misc. Notes
Margaret (Bell) Shawhan, wife of Daniel (3), has been described as having "hair like the sunsets, filled with gold and red." Born in Virginia, she was the daughter of Robert Bell of County Tyrone, Ireland, and his wife Agnes (Fleming) Bell, of Edinburgh, Scotland, who had settled on land 4 miles Romney, Va. (W. Va.) on the south branch of the Potomac River. Robert Bell was "instantly killed when the breaking of the saddle girth threw him, when his mount 'Drednot' attempted to leap a brook." Her two elder brothers, James and John Bell, subsequently migrated west and surveyed/tomahawked (marked trees) land in the Chartiers Valley, St. Clair Twp., now Allegheny Co., Pa.; their mother and the remaining 10 children arrived in 1769. {R.T. Shawhan, p. 4}

Margaret's Birthdate 1742 {ES}
Eric Shawn claims that Margaret was born near Belfast. Ken Lindsay, (p. 26) claims that she was born in Romney, VA.
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April 22, 1830
State of Indiana Clark County
Pughs Heirs plaintive vs. John Shawhan defendant

The deposition of Margrit Shawhan
The deposition of Margrit Shawhan to be read as evadence (sic) in the Bourbon Circuit Court in the case whair in Pughs heirs is complainent and John Shawhan is defendant being of lawful age and duly sworn deposeth as follows:
My husband Daniel Shawhan moved to the State of Kentucky in May 1789. That summer he purchased one hundred and thirty acres of land from Reubin Rankin and moved to it in the month of October or November following and there he departed this life on May 1791. Sum six or seven years after his death my daughter Nancy Williams came to Kentucky and was thair Several weeks when she returned home I went home with her to Pennsylvania on our way thair the conversation came on with (word illegible) the Estate of her father’s (word illegible) Nancy Williams told me that her brother John was to have her part of the said one hundred and thirty acres of land by certain arrangements they had made between them selves and that they had closed thair contract but very shortly before she had left Kentucky but as to the particulars how it was as what she got or was to git I do not now recollect
Further the deponant saith not—
her
Margrit Shawhan
Mark
Taken sworn before us this 22nd of April 1830
(Illegible signature) Justice of the Peace


Spouses
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1: Daniel SHAWHAN Jr.
Birth: December 17, 1738 Kent County, Maryland
Military: Revolutionary War Veteran
Death: May 11, 1791 Bourbon County, Kentucky Age: 52
Burial: May 11, 1791 Ruddles Mills Grave Yard
Occupation: Whiskey Distiller
Father: Daniel SHAWHAN (1709-1770)
Mother: Jennett (~1713-)

Misc. Notes
Paris True Kentuckian dated November 11, 1874:
BOURBON WHISKEY When, Where and by Whom-First Distilled-How the name "Bourbon" Originated.

It was during the latter part of Washington's last Administration that the noted Whiskey Rebellion of Pennsylvania took place. At that time the mountain recesses of the Alleghanica, west of what is now known as Cumberland Valley, was the great whiskey district of the country. It was very sparsely settled. All the grains that were grown, save a scant supply for provender for the live stock, and food for the inhabitants wee distilled into whiskey upon what is known now as the "sour-mash" hand-made, copper-distilled" plan. Soon a large demand for these whiskies sprung up in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and the supply being limited a ring was formed a "corner" made, and the goods put at high figures. The National Government, then as now, was hard pressed for revenue. Repudiation was then staring it in the face, and it was without money at home or credit abroad. A happy thought struck the Congressional delegation from New England. It was-as it would not tax their constituents a dollar- to levy a tax of $500 on each still that was used for manufacturing spirits. Their ideas were enacted into laws. The following season revenue officers were sent out from Washington to assess and collect the tax. The distillers previously met, formed a union, and upon the arrival of the officers defied them to put their laws into force. The officers upon their arrival in the insurrectionary district, seeing that they could not execute the law, and fearing the loss of their lives, returned in haste to Washington. By this time the season was far advanced, and it was decided, upon the part of the authorities to await for the-beginning of the next season before again attempting to enforce the collection or the tax. The following Fall the officials backed up, then as now, by the ever ready "troops," set out on their mission again. They arrived at the anticipated scene of their troubles in due time, but they met with an unexpected disappointment. The distillers had decided that there was to be no more distillation until the law was repealed. The officers after having marched up the hill marched down again. Thus ended the rebellion.

Many of the old frontiersmen tired of being harrassed in front by the government and the rear by the Indians, determined to plunge boldly into the then unexplored wilderness beyond the mountains. Among this number was a man by the name of Shawhan. He had a large family, was well-to-do, and packing everything moveable that he had that was necessary for such a lifelong expedition into a wagon, he set across the mountains. He took along with him the cause of his removal, the "still". Two months later (this was about the Fall of 1796), he and his family, consisting of his wife and several children, were busily engaged in distilling in Bourbon county, Ky., on Townsend creek, erecting temporary cabins to shelter them during the winter. The country was full of wild animals, and still wilder Indians. It was twenty miles to the nearest fort.

By tact and skill they avoided coming in contact with the savages. When the long winter in the wilderness was over they, having in the meantime cleared a few acres, planted a patch of corn. An abundant harvest greeted their labor, The "still" having been erected, it was put into operation and then it was the first whisky ever manufactured in Kentucky, or in the Mississippi Valley, commenced.

In Pennsylvania they called whisky "Monougahela," it being called after the county in which it was manufactured. Shawhan, following the same example, called the whisky manufactured by him after the county in which his new home was situated, "Bourbon."

The third year out the father died, and it then devolved upon his son Joseph to carry on the business. He being industrious, their little farm was soon extended, and assumed respectable size. The excellency of his whiskies soon gave him a wide reputation, and the large emigration kept up a heavier demand than could be supplied. He though, bent his energies to his work, increased his capacity as a distiller, and "Bourbon" soon became a household word. Joseph Shawhan recently died at the age of 85. He left property valued at upwards of a quarter of a million of dollars.

(The emigrant from Pennsylvania was Daniel Shawhan, father of the late Joseph Shawhan, who died at the age of 90 years, from being thrown from a horse. At the time of receiving the injury he was quite vigorous, and in the enjoyment of good health, looking as if he might live many years. His relatives still produce the same quality of hand-made fire copper and Bourbon as originally. T.E. Moore, who married Joseph Shawhan 's granddaughter, in connection with his partner, H.C. Bowen, is largely engaged in the distilling business at Shawhan, Bourbon county, as is also Mr. J. Snell Shawhan, a grandson of Joseph Shawhan, and many others in Bourbon, which still maintains her reputation for distilling pure Bourbon and rye whiskies.-ED KEN.).
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Original Source Material
Bourbon County Court Will Book A, pp. 116-117
Inventory of Daniel Shawhan Deceased
1 Black Cow--2/15
1 Red Cow--3
1 Red Cow & Calf--3
1 Red Cow & Calf--3
1 Black Stear--1/10
1 red do--1/10
1 black do--1/10
1 heifer--1
1 stear 18p 1 do 20p 1 do 5p--2/3
1 Ewe 12p 3 ewes & 1 Lamb 36p--2/3
4 _____and a Ram--2/10
30 Hogs--6/6
one Chestnut Coloured Mare--12
one Grey Horse--9
one Bay Horse--9
one Black Mare--5
one Black Colt--5
one Still Wipels (?)--16
one Waggon--5
one grinstone--1/8
one loom & Tacking--2/10
4 ? chains & 4 Collars & Hames (?)--2/10
3 Spinning wheels--1/4
1 Big wheel & check (?) Reel--/8
4 pots Bake oven _amel Tongs & Sho____--4/14
one ___Chisels & Drawing Knife--/12
one plow & _adding--1/10
3 sickels 6/ 2 clivices(?) 3/ plow Irons 7/6--/16/6
one hand saw & old Iron--/15
one Gun 25/ pewter(?) 34/6--2/19
Tin Ware--/8
Books--
1 p pocket Hettiards(?)
1 Tea kettel and pepper Mill--/10
Earthen Ware--/6
3 p lards
1 frying and Flat Irons--/7
one X Cutt Saw--/12
one Saddle and Bridle--/16
one Saddle--/12
4 Bags
Bedtyche(?) & Sheets--/10
Wooden Vessels--/5
28 lots Wool--2/16
14 lots Do--1/18
Flax(?)--/7
cock Lock & Razor/7
Bedstead Bed & Furniture--/2/6
Bed & furniture--7/10
one chest--4/16
Table & chairs 25/ Knives & forks 4/ How Shovel & ____ 12/--2/1
cloaths 24p Silver Spoons 10p Woolen cloth £4 19/8--6/13
Ballance of a note 18/ a Bond £26:8--27/6/4
A Debt 24p one small trunk 1p one Lub(?) 3p
Asses 25p property ec’d by John Shauhan £33--34/5

Apl Court 1792
Wm McCune
Jacob Spears
Joseph Pew
Apprs

Recd & Recorded
John Edwards
A.R. Cure (?)
-----
Filson Club Publication No. 27, page 121––petition No. 57 a request of the inhabitants of Bourbon Co. for the establishment of a town at Bourbon C. H. lists the names of DANIEL SHAWHAN, Daniel Shawhan, Jr., and John Shawhan, July 1788. (NOTE: The Kentuckian-Citizen, Paris, Ky. Tuesday, March 28, 1944, p. 2.)
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DANIEL SHAWHAN, JR. was born December 17, 1738, in Kent County, Maryland, to Daniel Shawhan, Sr.(1709-1770) and Jennett (surname unknown). There is nothing known about Daniel ’s early years.Daniel moved with his family to Frederick County, Md., and then to Hampshire County, Va. It was here in 1762 that Daniel fell in love with and married the beautiful Margaret Bell, the daughter of Robert Bell (1710-1765) and Agnes Fleming (1707-1785). Family lore gives us a most wonderful expression of Margaret ’s beauty. It is said that Margaret "...had hair like sunsets filled with gold and red."

The Bell family had immigrated from County Antrim, Belfast, Ireland, in the early 1740’s. Margaret was born about 1742 either in Ireland or after the family crossed the ocean and settled four miles from Romney, Va., on the south branch of the Potomac river.From a recent family narrative, an interesting story is told about the Bells in this early period:

"Mr. Bell had many narrow escapes from the Indians of that forest. In company with two other young men, named Vaughan and Scisson, one day Robert Bell was in search of strayed horses, when the party was surprised by an Indian ambushcade on a branch of __augherty Run, Va. Vaughan was killed, a savage threw his toma- hawk at Bell and wounded him. Scisson turned on his horse and fled. After the fight Mr. Bell was able to get on his horse, but he only went a short distance when he fell off. Mr. Bell ’s horse arrived home before Scisson did and a party at once was formed to search for Bell. The party met Scisson at the Ohio River and he related what had happened to Mr. Bell. They supposed he was dead and returned to their homes. Within a week later they found Bell at Ft. Pitt, his wounds dressed by Dr. Knight, who figured conspicuously at the burning of Crawford.

"Robert Bell served in the expedition of 1754, during the French and Indian War, and was among the number who accompanied General George Washington on his first trip on the Kanawha. General Washington made a note in one of his diaries of those who accompanied him in his canoe.

"The Bells had eight sons and two daughters. Another Bell family tale involves their son, James Bell, Sr. Though the story is not directly related to our subject, it illustrates the all-too-precarious situation our ancestors faced in those early years. When James was a small lad of ten years, his father went to Patterson Fort for a wagon load of wood. James and his brother went along, their father wanted them to gather wood while he was hauling some home. The two boys were busy gathering wood when the Indians attacked them. They caught James but his brother ran and the Indians shot at him and he fell under a log, the Indians thinking he was dead; he was not hurt, however, and later went home and told that James was captured. The Indians took James to Indiana and kept him there till he was returned by treaty. When his father went after him he took two horses that James might ride home. When they met, James got on the horse but had ridden only a short distance when he saw a woman and some children who were also set free. James dismounted, letting the woman ride.

"When he arrived home it was at night. His mother, hearing the wooden latch lift with a string, called: ‘Is that you, James?’ and his father answered, , yes. It was a joyful meeting. James had many stories to relate of his capture. Among them, was that when the Indians took him the Ohio river they made a canoe and put him in it and they had nothing to eat save what they called ‘cush meat. ’ He always claimed they crossed into Pennsylva-- nia and came through Chartiers Valley, near Chartier ’s Creek. He told how they would have two lines of Indians and would make him run between the lines. And of an old Indian squaw who would be angry if they struck him, but he was a fast runner and did not get struck often. They pulled all his hair out of the top of his head and put rings in his ears. After he had been with them awhile the Indians got very friendly with him and when he left the old Indian squaw cried."

Sometime during 1765 while returning to Virginia after scouting for land in Pennsylvania, Robert Bell was "instantly killed when the breaking of the saddle girth threw him when his mount "Drednot " attempted to leap a brook. "After the death of Robert Bell, Agnes and her children, in about 1768, moved to present-day Allegheny Co., Pa.; at that time the area was being claimed by both Pennsylvania and Virginia. It is thought that this move prompted Daniel and Margaret to also migrate to the same locale, in the early 1770s; Daniel probably received Virginia land warrants. It is recorded that Daniel purchased 640 acres six miles out of Ft. Pitt, in the vicinity of the Old Mt. Lebanon Presbyterian Church, a section now called Carnegie, Pa. but then called St. Clair Twp.

Daniel was a farmer and a whiskey distiller in Pennsylvania, both very popular occupations in Western Pa. during this time. He developed his brand, called "Monongahela Red ", named after the Monongahela Valley in which he farmed.

Daniel served in the American Revolution with the Maryland Flying Camp, then with the Maryland 2nd Regiment, and later with the 7th Co., 5th Bn., of the Washington Co., PA Militia in defense against the Indian raids staged at the instigation of the British during that War.

Daniel finally returned home to resume his life as a farmer and whiskey distiller. In 1787 the "House of Daniel Shaughan, on Chartiers Creek . . was designated as a place for holding elections ". However, on the horizon events were conspiring that would change the course of his life. The events in question are what the history books call "The Whiskey Rebellion " and it is an ugly chapter in the first difficult years of the newly formed United States. The presenting problem was the call by some legislators for an excise tax to be placed upon the sale of whiskey. The western states, particularly western Pennsylvania and the Allegheny region of Virginia, did not take kindly to what they considered unfair taxation. However, as is always the case with volatile issues of this sort, much deeper problems lay beneath the surface. For these westerners, life on the edge of the frontier was, at best, dangerous and, at worst, a matter of sheer survival. For us today, it is difficult to imagine the terrible conditions under which the early settlers endured. It is easy to understand why the average Pennsylvanian had little sympathy for the new government ’s need to collect revenue. From his perspective, the government was doing little to protect its citizens on the frontier and, to add insult to injury, it sought to tax one of the few profitable commodities produced in the wilderness. The so-called Whiskey Rebellion reached a head in 1794 when President Washington sent in troops to quell the opposition. Ironically, the excise tax was overturned several years later by President Thomas Jefferson.

By 1788, Daniel had had enough and he and his family, joined by others, took a fleet of flatboats down the Ohio River to Limestone (now Maysville, KY) and made their way inland to the vicinity of Ruddles Mills, within the Kentucky District of Virginia — he brought his copper stills and his secret whiskey recipe with him. . He soon purchased 130 acres from Reuben Rankin, and began building a cabin to live in and a stillhouse, made of native stone, taking advantage of the natural limestone water of the area as a key ingredient for his whiskey. Soon his product, which he called "bourbon ", was well known for its smooth taste The Shawhan brand of whiskey continued to be distilled through the 1970s, when a Shawhan Distillery was located in Bardstown, KY, producing a brand called "Old Miner ." The little town of Shawhan, KY, a still existing hamlet near Paris, KY, was established in the early 1800s as a shipping point for the whiskey produce of the area.

Family legend has it that the family stopped over night at a spot near Townsend Creek, located about 6 miles north of present day Paris, Kentucky, and just behind the present day Mt. Carmel church. Daniel drank from a limestone spring and declared to his wife that the water was good for distilling whiskey. Family tradition (bolstered by some Bourbon County newspaper articles written in the mid-1800 ’s)also claims that Daniel Shawhan was the originator of Bourbon whiskey.

This claim, while making for great folk-lore, is probably not true. c What is true, however, is that Daniel Shawhan can rightly claim to be among the first generation of whiskey distillers to produce the distinctive liquor called "Bourbon. "

Unfortunately, Daniel did not live long enough to reap the rewards of his efforts; he died at the age of 52 on May 11, 1791, leaving no will. He is buried in the Old Stoner Presbyterian Cemetery, Ruddle ’s Mills, Kentucky.

We are left with very little information on the fate of Daniel Shawhan ’s wife, Margaret. Records indicate that Daniel ’s son John lived on the 130 acres of land of his father Daniel, taking care of his widowed mother Margaret (Bell) Shawhan, his sisters and young brothers. He cleared the land about the house and made improvements and raised crops toward their support. Shortly after 1809, his mother and youngest brother Joseph went to live together near an improvement set up by John ’s brother Daniel, after John married and had several children of his own. e We have no record of her death or where she was buried. Presumably she was buried next to Daniel in the Stonermouth Presbyterian cemetery. (NOTE: Margaret may have died in Pennsyl- vania or Indiana. Recent information from William Hill ’s records indicate that Margaret removed to Pennsylvaniawith her daughter Nancy. A deposition from Margaret, dated October 9, 1827, shows her living with daughter Jane Shawhan Beckett, in Clark County, Indiana. --REF)
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Shawhan is a Bourbon county community on what was once the Covington and Lexington Railroad near Townsend Creek. A Townsend post office (named for the creek, which was named for John Townsend) opened in the area in 1854 and moved to the new tracks the next year. The station and post office were known as Lilley's Station, named for George Lilley, the postmaster. In 1857 they were both renamed Shawhan to honor pioneer Daniel Shawhan. The post office closed in 1955.
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EARLY BROOKLINE HISTORY PROVES VERY FASCINATING
(Reprint from "The Liberty Ledger")

The community of Brookline, a residential district of the city of Pittsburgh, is made up from parts of old West Liberty Borough, former Lower St. Clair Township, and part of Baldwin Township. Baldwin Township was erected in 1814 from parts of Upper St. Clair, Lower St. Clair, Jefferson and Mifflin Townships. West Liberty Borough was erected from the Villages of Bandi, Belleville, and Boggsville, and parts of Lower St. Clair Township in 1876. Brookline was never incorporated as a separate and distinct municipality but was merged with the City of Pittsburgh in 1907, and was made part of the original 44th Ward of same. At present, it comprises the 21st to the 27th election districts of the 19th Ward, having 8500 registered voters and an estimated population of 18,000. (NOTE: It now comprises part of the 19th and 32nd Wards of the City of Pittsburgh, and is made up of W. Liberty, E. Brookline, Ebenshire Village, and Brookline-although the name "Brookline" is now assigned to the entire area.)

Prior to the erection of Allegheny County in 1788, the district was part of Washington County, and civic-minded citizens had to travel long distances over poor roads in order to cat their ballot on election days. The earliest voting place was at Shawhan's (later Colonel Espy's) at Pioneer and West Liberty Avenues. After 1788, they voted at Obey's place on Carson Street, where the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company station now stands. This was termed the lower district of St. Clair, which gave the township its name.

In 1763 (during the French and Indian War) the Indians went on the warpath burning all cabins and killing all whites except those who escaped to Fort Pitt. A track of 395 acres, patented in 1786 to David Strawbridge, in pursuance of Virginia Certificate was called "Castle Shannon." The first permanent settlers, up to the year 1800, were farmers who migrated from southeastern Pennsylvania and Maryland. Many of these hardy pioneers were veterans of the American Revolution. A search of old records reveals the family names of Strawbridge, MacKay, Shawhan, Kennedy, McDermott, Hughey, Broddy, and Brison. Early in the 19th Century, we find such families as Espy, Plummer, Sylvester, Fetterman and Knowlson. The area was a prosperous farming district.

Marriage: 1762 Hampshire County, Virginia.
Children: Robert (1764-1833)
Daniel (1765-1840)
Agnes (Nancy) (1767-)
John (1771-1845)
Jane "Jennie" (1775-1863)
Elizabeth (1779-1853)
Joseph (1781-1871)


Sources
1. According to Suit-File Box 733, Bourbon County Circuit Court (abstracted by Julia Ardery), Margaret lived with her son, John, on 130 acres of her late husband Daniel’s land. It may be she that is listed on the Kentucky 1810 census under John’s name as “one female over 45 years.” She moved to Pennsylvania to live with daughter Jane. In 1814, she moved back to Bourbon County and lived on 50 acres of land with son Joseph and later returned to live in Pennsylvania. As of October 9, 1827, Margaret was living with her daughter Jane Shawhan Beckett. She was originally buried beside her husband at the old Stonermouth Presbyterian cemetery, Bourbon County, Kentucky. Her remains were reinterred (along with her husband) in 1870 at Battle Grove Cemetery, Harrison County, Kentucky.--REF

Name: Robert BELL [1]
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Birth: March 8, 1795 Bourbon County, Kentucky

Misc. Notes
BELL, ROBERT, was born March 8, 1795, in Bourbon county, Ky. His father was born in Ireland, and had but four children, Robert, and three sisters. After his sisters were married, he had no knowledge of any relative in America, bearing his family name. He was a soldier from Bourbon county in the war of 1812. Robert Bell and Susannah Baker were married Feb. 12, 1818, in that county, and moved to Nicholas county, and from there they moved with their three children to Sangamon county, Ill., arriving in the fall of 1830, and settled four miles south of the present town of Rochester, where they had six children. Of their nine children--

ISAAC B., born June 25, 1820, near Carlisle, Nicholas county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, March 28, 1840, to Susan Stokes. They had six daughters in Sangamon county. CAROLINE M., born April 18, 1842, married March 29, 1868, to Lawson H. Smith, who was born Feb. 20, 1831, in Carlisle, Ky. They have three children, CORDELIA A., WM. RILEY and ANNA BELLE, and reside three miles southeast of Rochester. LOUISA J. resides with her parents. MARGARET A., born Sept. 30, 1846, married Jonathan G. Crouch. See his name. MARY E., EMILY T. and DEBORAH S. reside with their parents, one and a quarter miles west of Clarkesville.

JAMES H., born Nov. 30, 1822, in Nicholas county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, May 7, 1843, to Milla Dotson, who was born Nov., 1822, in Loudon county, Va. They had four children. JOHN W., the second child, died under two years. ELIZA A., born Feb. 25, 1844, married Sept. 4, 1864, to Benj. C. Gray, who was born August 12, 1832, near Hopkinsville, Ky. Mr. Gray has one child, CHARLES Y., by a former marriage. Mrs. Gray died Dec., 1874, and B. C. Gray resides near Clarkesville. HIRAM F., born Dec. 17, 1852, resides in California. JAMES M., born August 6, 1836, lives with his father. Mrs. Milla Bell died March 16, 1870, and James H. Bell resides in Springfield.

MARY J., born June 6, 1828, in Nicholas county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, August 31, 1847, to John S. Dickerson, who was born April 2, 1824, in Nicholas county, Ky., and came to Sangamon county in 1851. They have six children. JAMES H., born June 24, 1848, in Daviess county, Ind., raised in Sangamon county, graduated at the Eclectic Medical College of Philadelphia, and is a practicing physician near Taylorville. Dr. Dickerson was married in 1875 to Miss Humphreys. See Humphreys' family sketch. ISAAC S., born August 28, 1850, in Daviess county, Ind., married March 11, 1873, in Sangamon county, to Mary E. Bomhoff, who was born Sept. 20, 1848, in Sangamon county. They have one child, SINAI, and reside one mile west of Clarksville. ROBERT P., born Dec. 4, 1852, SARAH E., born Nov. 14, 1854, MARY S., born Nov. 2, 1856, and ALMARINDA, born Jan. 29, 1859, the four latter in Sangamon county, reside with their parents, one and a quarter miles west of Clarksville.
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Nicholas County Kentucky Marriages 1799-1855; comp Selby, Robert and Phyllis 1982 (976.9412 V28e)
Robert Bell - Susan Baker 12 Feb 1818

Probate, Wills and Death Records

Nicholas County, Kentucky, County Court Clerk's Office, Will Book A 1800-1806 (Film 0252377)
p 46
"In the name of God, Amen; I Robert Bell of the County of Nicholas and State of Kentucky being in a low state of health and sick in body, yet perfectly sound in judgment and memory, thanks be to God for all his mercies, But calling to mind the mortality of by body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to Dye, I do make and ordain this my last will and Testament that is to say first of all I do recommend my soul to God who give it and my body to the Earth from whence it came, and to be buried in a decent manner in hopes it shall be restored at the resurrection, and as touching such wordly effects as it has pleased God to bless me with in this life, I do give and bequeath as followeth, first of all I do allow all my lawful debts to be fully discharged - second to my wife Jane Bell, I do allow and bequeath the one third of all my Real and personal estate with the one thrid all bills, bonds, notes, goods and thattles during her life and also the sorrel mare named Bon and saddle with all her own clothing and head and cloathing to do with them as she sees cause during her life. Thirdly I do allow all the rest of my estate Real and personal to be divided Eaqually between my four children, that is to say, Jane, Sally, Polly and Robert Bell. But let it be remembered that there is one year old colt and one cow to be taken out of my daughter Jane's part, and I do allow to David Brown, my andeen Jackett and Breeches, and all the rest of my wearing apparrel I do allow to my brother Samuel Bell and also if comes here I do allow him six acres of cleared land to work rent free for one year, and also four barrels of Flower. And I also do allow the legatees to sell the plantation if the [sic] see cause and the money to be put to Interest 'til thy come of full age. But this is not to be done only with the advice and consent of the Guardians. And I do also make and appoint David Brown and James Ardery the sole Executors of this my last will and Testament and I do utterly disallow Revoke and ? all and every other former Testament wills or Legasyes and to Testify this and no other to be my last will Testament. In Witness whereof I have set my hand and affixed my seal this fifteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three 1803.
Signed , sealed, vocally acknowledged Robert Bell
In prescence of us
James Graham
Alexander Clarke"
Copy on File

p 48 May Court 1803
The last will and Testament of Robert Bell, deceased was produced in court by oaths of James Graham and Alexander Clarke.

P 48 An Inventory of the estate of Robert Bell, deceased
"Totalled up to £128017-94

Appraisment done by Samuel Kincaid, Nathan Nesbit, Francis Ray, Alex Hamilton, 12 May 1803.
Complete inventory on copy


Record of Wills of Nicholas County Kentucky; Bell, Annie (Film 0156898 it 3)
Will of Robert Bell
Wife - Jane
Ch. Jane Bell, Sally Bell, Polly Bell, Robert Bell,
Mentions a David Brown in the will
Samuel Bell - brother
Executors: David Brown, James Ardery
Wit: James Graham, Alexander Clarke
Probate April Court 1803
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From: Pam Shelton-Anderson <pshelton@aros.net>
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 12:28:15 -0700
To: BELL-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: [BELL-L] Robert and Jane BELL of Nicholas co KY

I am trying to determine the origins and parents of Robert BELL who died in Nicholas co KY in 1803. He may have been born in Ireland according to a bio of his son Robert M BELL. Wife's name was Jane (maiden unknown, marriage date and place unknown), children were:
Sarah W Bell, (born about 1782 in KY, died after 1870 in Ripley co IN. Married 1. Parker BROWN 2. Samuel RUBY)
Jane Bell married David BROWN. I would like to find out what happened to them.
Mary Bell
Robert M Bell married Susan BAKER in 1818 in Nicholas co KY. They ended up in Sangamon co IL
Robert Bell Senr was an early settler of Bourbon co KY by 1791 in an area that eventually became Nicholas co KY. Robert senior had one known brother Samuel BELL of Bourbon co who was listed in Robert's will.
Any info on these Bells would be much appreciated.

Pam Shelton-Anderson
pshelton@aros.net


Spouses
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1: Susannah BAKER
Marriage: February 12, 1818 Bourbon County, Kentucky
Children: Isaac B. (1820-)
James H. (1822-)
Mary J. (1828-)


Sources
1. History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois. Author: John Carroll Power

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Last Modified: March 18, 2002
Created: February 28, 2003