Nancy Anna Corbin was born February 2, 1860 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri to James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin. Cynthia (Casteel) Corbin had her first child in 1838, beginning a long child-bearing period of 22 years. Cynthia was 41 years old when Nancy Anna was born, and the life expectancy for women in that year was 42 years-of-age. Both Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin and her husband James were raised in Clermont County, Ohio, then moved to LaPorte County, Indiana, Dodge County, Missouri, Putnam County, Missouri, northern Texas, then back to Putnam County, Missouri and finally to Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska---all in a span of 60 years---and we talk about our generation as being mobile!
Nancy Anna Corbin spent her early life in Putnam County, Missouri where James, her father, returned from the Civil War a partially disabled man. With the help of his sons and daughters, he and Cynthia were able to operate their farm and become fairly prosperous. About ten years after settling in Putnam County, Missouri James and most of his children and grandchildren moved to Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska where he and his sons took out 160 acre homesteads. The homesteads were proved up between 1872 and 1874, well ahead of the five years provided for in the Homestead Act. With alterations to the Homestead Act in the 1880s, they were able to add 80 acres of "timber" land which meant that they had to plant at least 40-acres of that 80-acres into timber. The timber could then be cut for firewood or milled into wood for commercial use.
In Adams County, the family continued do well and grow.
Nancy Anna Corbin was the youngest of James and Cynthia (Casteel) Corbin's children and was about 13-years-old when they removed from Putnam County, Missouri in 1872 and 1873. Her parents would have been nearly 60-years-old at that time, and had already lived 20 years beyond their life expectancy, so Nancy Anna would have had a great deal of responsibility for the women's work in their home. James and Cynthia lived well beyond their life expectancy. James died in 1891 at the age of 77 and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin died in 1903 at the age of 83. They continued to be surrounded by many of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren as the years passed and they are buried in the Blue Valley Cemetery, Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska.
While my great grandparents, George Washington and Sarah Ann (Todd) Corbin, (also children of James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin) did move to Adams County, Nebraska they stayed only for a short period, and the reason is not known. They returned to Putnam County, Missouri where George was a farmer in the West Liberty Community. They endured incredible hardships, loosing one child in Nebraska and three children to typhoid fever after returning to Putnam County, Missouri. The sorrow was too great for them in Putnam County, and they sold their farm and moved to southern Kansas where they remained the rest of their lives.
This photograph was taken in the 1920s. I don't know if it was taken in Ayr, Nebraska or in Hastings, Nebraska but I suspect in Ayr. I hope if any "cousins" know, they will contact me. L-R: Edgar Bell, Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell, their son Frank Bell, and Nancy's older sister, Mary Elizabeth (Wilder) Bell. I owe a large debt of gratitude to my deceased cousin, Betty (Nunemaker) Harris, granddaughter of Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell, for all of the photographs in this blog.
Nancy Anna Corbin was married to Edgar Bell on January 16, 1879 at Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska. She was 18-years-old and Edgar Bell was 21-years-old. Edgar was the son of Llewellyn and Sarah Elizabeth "Lottie" (Gallaugher) Bell and was born on March 7, 1857 at Richmonddale, Ross County, Ohio.
Llewellyn "Blue" Bell was born on May 18, 1829 at Ft. Ann, Washington County, New York. Sarah Elizabeth "Lottie" Gallaugher was born Marach 5, 1837 in Muskingum County, Ohio. He and Sarah Gallauger were married about 1855 in Ross County, Ohio. Llewellyn was a blacksmith and served as such in the Civil War. When he returned home, he and Sarah headed West where they settled at Chillicothe, Peoria County, Illinois. They became the parents of thirteen children, of whom their son Edgar Bell was the second. They remained in Chillicothe, Illinois their entire lives and are buried there in Chillicothe City Cemetery.
Edgar Bell was born March 7, 1857 at Richmonddale, Ross County, Ohio and moved West with his parents after the Civil War. I have not been able to find any of the Llewellyn "Blue" Bell family on the 1870 U. S. Census, including Edgar. However, by the 1875 Nebraska Census, he is living in Adams County, Nebraska. I have not been able to find Edgar Bell's name among those who applied for and improved a farm homestead.
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Records indicate that Edgar Bell and Nancy Anna Corbin were married on January 16, 1879 at Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska by Judge B. G. Smith. The 1880 Census records the young couple living on a farm at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska. The 1890 U. S. Census burned so we do not have those records, however the 1900 U. S. Census shows that they moved to Chillicothe, Peoria County, Illinois where many of Edgar's twelve brothers and sisters and their families lived. The Census lists his occupation as brick mason. Their granddaughter, Betty (Nunemaker) Harris, told me during a 1981 visit to her home in Little Rock, Arkansas: "Edgar and Nancy lived in Adams County for a while and then moved to Chillicothe, Illinois where he was a brick mason and also made and repaired shoes. He had been a blacksmith in his early days, learning the trade from his father. Edgar played the fiddle along with his brothers and they made lively music. They decided they'd had it better in Nebraska and moved back to Hastings where he lived for nearly 50 years."
Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell were the parents of four children: James Llewellyn Bell in 1881, Linnie Alice Bell in 1884, Hattie B. Bell in 1887 and Frank Earl Bell in 1889. In the next blog, I will talk about these four children and their families.
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