The family of Robert Bell 1753-1837

 At last, I am on firmer ground with Robert Bell and his family.  Although I can't identify his mother, and I'm not sure about one of the children sometimes listed as his, I can more or less trace his life and his journeys, and I've visited his grave in Bellville, Ohio.  I've written about him previously, so now we will follow the family of this Revolutionary War veteran.

Robert was born in 1753 in Sussex County, New Jersey, the son of Isaac Bell and- take your pick of several candidates for mother.  (In my previous blog post, I mentioned several names but I am not sure that any of them are correct.)  Sometime after his children were born, he headed west.  He may have been in Washington County, Pennsylvania for a few years, and then went to Belmont County, Ohio, soon after it seemed "safe" to do so.  After spending a few years there, he purchased land and moved to Richland County, Ohio, where he spent the last 25-30 years of his life.  He married Mary Yost, the daughter of Nicklaus and Eva or Anna Catherine Clason (various spellings) Yost, and she was the mother of his children.

Sarah was born about 1778, and married Josiah Philips, the son of Joseph and Mary Hughes Phillips.  Their children are Mary, David, Joseph, Robert, John, Elizabeth, Sarah, Nancy, and Josiah.  Sarah died in 1820 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  

Catherine was born next, in 1779.  She married Thomas Pyatt (various spellings), the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Dunham Pyatte.  Their children are John, Jacob, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Nancy, and Thomas.  Mary, or possibly Sarah, or both, used the nickname Polly.  Catherine died in 1830 in Richland County, Ohio.  

John was their first born son, arriving in 1781. He married Hannah Finch, the daughter of Jesse and Hannah (maiden name still a mystery!!) Finch, and died in 1867 in Huron County, Ohio, about 25 miles from Bellville.  Their children are Robert, Jesse, Anna, John, Hannah, Enoch, David, Joseph, Nathaniel, and Stephen.  I will follow this family in my next post.

Jabez/Jabesh is the questionable child.  He was born in 1783 and died in 1851 in Wood County, Ohio.  The reason I question him is that he is not mentioned in his father's will, nor in any of the brother's wills that I have found.  That is not a reason to totally rule him out, but neither is there proof that I know of, that states that his parents are Robert and Mary.  He married Gertrude Nichols, and their children are Abraham, Ann, David, John, William, Abigail, Sally, Permelia, Charlotte, Simon, Susan, Gertrude, Jabesh, Phoebe, and Hulda.  His second maarriage was to Anna King, later in life.

Robert was born in 1785 and died in 1861 in Bellville.  He married Elizabeth Lash, the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Yost Last.  (I have not been able to trace Elizabeth, but she may be some sort of relative to Mary.  Research continues.  Their children are John, William, Zephaniah, Sarah, Mary, Peter, Robert, John, and Aaron.

Zephaniah was born in 1785 and died in 1876 in Whitley County, Indiana, as a Methodist minister.  He married Margaret Smith, who is so far not further identified.  Their children are Robert, William, Mary, Jane, Catherine, Elizabeth, Enoch, Nancy, and Ruth Ann.  His second wife is Mary Ann Morrow, and again this was a later in life marriage.Zephaniah served a six month enlistment during the War of 1812, and I suspect the other men from this family also did, as almost every able bodied male in Ohio is said to have been in either the army or the militia.  

Elizabeth was born in 1791 and died in 1847 in Perry County, Illinois.  She married George Yearian, the son of Frederick and Anna Maria Dorn/Thorn Yearian.  Their children are Frederick, Robert, John, Mary, Thomas, George, Sarah, Jacob, Nancy, Joseph, and William.  

I should admit that I am not absolutely sure all of these children are assigned to the correct parents, but those that I could find sources for are correct.  With some of these names being used in the majority of the families listed, separating all the Johns and Roberts and Sarahs and Marys is quite a chore.  I believe I counted 72 grandchildren for Robert and Mary, a large family indeed!