The Beaubiens - Blanchet - Bourassa - Frigon Families: A Maple Hill Legacy

Some readers will recall that forty years ago, I wrote a local history column for The Alma Signal Enterprise and The St. Marys Star newspapers.   The column was called "Notes from Moundview Farm" and was dedicated to recording the history of Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and its people.   Between 1972 and 1978, I wrote some 50 feature stories and enjoyed the work immensely.

In a career move, my family and I left Maple Hill and began moving a great deal as I worked developing history museums in Kansas, Idaho, Wisconsin, Oregon and Indiana over the next 28 years.   I'm sure the two papers would have continued to publish articles had I written, but I was simply too busy with my family and career to continue.

One of the stories I always wanted and intended to write, was history related to the Beaubien - Blanchet - Bourassa and Frigon Families who were among the earliest settlers along Mill Creek in what became Maple Hill Township.  I began corresponding with members of the family, gathered a number of historic photos from them, continued to do research when I had the opportunity, but somehow I never seemed to have the time necessary.

I also knew that the information was too voluminous to include in one article and would require several, so one thing and another prevented me from attempting the task.   Now, with old age creeping up on me, I feel that I must go forward with what I have or simply give up.    I wish I could "fill in all the blanks" but it just won't be possible.    These family members I first corresponded with in the early 1970s are all dead, many without descendants.  My paternal grandmother, Mabel Rachel (Jones) Clark, who knew Mary C. (Blanchet) Beaubien, her children and grandchildren, is also deceased.   My mother passed away in 2011 at 89 and is no longer available to help with details.  So while this article may not attain the professional standards to which I should be held accountable, I'll do the very best I'm able to do.

This is a photograph of Mary C. (Blanchet) Beaubien with her great grandchildren, Bill and Ed Chapman.  Bill was several years younger than Ed and had a remarkable resemblance to his father, Edmund B. Chapman, Sr. while Bill resembled his mother's Sams family members.   The photo was taken in front of the Beaubien Hotel, which was a hotel and boarding house owned and operated by Mary C. (Blanchet) Beaubien.  She had it built in 1887 just across the road and to the north of the Rock Island Railway Depot at Maple Hill.  The lumber was cut on her farm along the banks of Mill Creek south of Maple Hill.  We "old timers" will remember the farm as that of Frank and Mattie (Dailey) McClelland, which was passed on to their children, Don and Hattie McClelland, and today belongs to Jerry and Carol (Arnold) Dinnen.   The logs were then sawed into dimension and finish lumber at the Blyton Mill, which was located on the south banks of Mill Creek near where the KH 30 bridge crosses Mill Creek on the way to Maple Hill.  Hotel customers could easily walk from the depot to the hotel for lodging and meals.   Bill Chapman looks to be about six in this photo which would make the year 1926 or 1927.    Mary C. (Blanchet) Beaubien died in 1929 at the age of 90.

I want to begin with some notes of appreciation.   Ed and Bill Chapman were young men who grew up in and around Maple Hill.   They were the children of Edmund Beaubien Chapman, Sr. and his wife Alberta (Sams) Chapman, the grandchildren of William W. and Mary Florence (Beaubien) Chapman and the great grandchildren of Edmund Augustin and Mary C. (Blanchet) Beaubien.  Both men were college educated.   Ed and his wife, Mary Ann (Stewart) Chapman, were well known in Kansas where he was a journalist, and served as secretary and special assistant to Governor Edward F. Arn, the 32nd Governor of Kansas, during the early 1950s.   They then moved to Texas and finally New Mexico, owning title companies in both states. Ed's brother, William Sams "Bill" Chapman, was a life-long journalist and businessman who wrote for Kansas Newspapers and later moved to Bastrop, Louisiana where he was an owner and co-publisher of The Bastrop Enterprise.  Bill was a pioneer in the use of computers in the newspaper industry.  Ed Chapman died in 2002 and Bill Chapman in 2009.  Ed is buried with his parents, Ed and Alberta (Sams) Chapman in the Old Stone Church Cemetery.  Both were very helpful in sharing family information and photographs.

Secondly, I want to thank Janet McCracken, the great great granddaughter of Edmund Augustin and Mary C. (Blanchet) Beaubien, for providing photographs and information.  Edmund and Mary C. (Blanchet) Beaubien had a son, Hector Edmond Beaubien, who was the father of four children.   One of those four was daughter Nell Beaubien Nichols, who was without a doubt, an internationally known pioneer in women's journalism, as well as the author and editor of dozens of articles, books and cookbooks for such companies as Better Homes and Gardens, Capper Publications, Double Day and Company, The Farm Journal Corporation, and many others.   Nell Beaubien Nichols, who earned a Master's Degree from the University of Wisconsin, was at first an authority on the nutritional properties of soy beans when no one else was even studying them.  She went on to write over 40 cookbooks and become one of the most well-known food authors and editors in America.   Her long and illustrious career spanned more than 60 years.

At the present time, I am planning to write about these pioneer families in 10 articles or fewer.   It always amazes me how much information and history there is about our early Maple Hill Families, when there isn't a single descendant living in the community today.    With those words, I shall bring this introductory article to a close.    I'm hopeful you, gentle readers, will enjoy the history of the Beaubien - Blanchet - Bourassa and Frigon Families.

Before I Continue With The Clarks---A Few Corbin Updates and a Couple of Maple Hill History Blogs

Dear Readers,

I hope this blog finds you well and enjoying a peaceful Sunday, whatever the weather might be like where you are.   We are having a fairly typical day of 70+ degree temperatures in Palm Springs.   I have done laundry, mixed enough humming bird food for the week, watered the outdoor cactus and potted plants, checked the guest room for brother Gary's arrival, made chicken vegetable soup---and having done all that, where do I find myself---at the keyboard writing a blog :)   I just can't help myself.   I love history and sharing history.

Before I dive into the history and genealogy of the Clark family, I want to share some updates on the Corbin family that I have received.   I also want to try and unravel the history of the Beaubien, Bourassa and Frigon families who were some of the earliest Maple Hill residents.    This is not a simple task.  

For instance, there were two distinct lines of the Beaubien family living in the area.   One was clearly French and Native American (mostly Ottawa and Pottawatomi) and the other was just French.   TwoFrench Beaubien brothers were born in Canada.  I appears one married a Native American and the other another French lady.    The two lines were fairly separate until they meet in Illinois and Kansas during the 1850s, 1860s and 1870s.    But more of that in a separate blog.

The Bourassa Family were definitively Native American and it is easily to document their ancestry since they were well-educated and highly placed within their tribes.   They arrive on the scene when the Pottawatomi Tribe was removed from the Great Lakes during the late 1830s and play prominent roles in Kansas, tribal and Maple Hill History during the 1840s through the early 1900s.    They in fact marry members of the Beaubien, Blanchet and Frigon Families which further complicates their genealogy.

Thanks to letters and documentation that survive in these families, we are going to be able to catch a glimpse of what pioneer life was like for these early families in Illinois and Kansas.   I find them particularly fascinating and I want to thank the survivors of William Chapman, a descendant of the Beaubien and Blanchet Families and his cousin, Janet Beaubien McCracken (granddaughter of Nell Beaubien Nichols) for their assistance and for sharing family photographs.  William Chapman and I exchanged correspondence and photographs several times during the 1970s and 1980s.   He passed away in 2009 and I will share his history and obituary later.  Nell Beaubien Nichols, in addition to literally being a Kansas pioneer, was also a pioneer in the field of women's journalism.   Over her long 40-year career, she attained both bachelors and masters degrees, wrote hundreds of published articles, and edited numerous cookbooks for a variety of publlishers, most notably The Farm Journal and Better Homes and Gardens.   Although she never spent a lot of time in Maple Hill after her youth, she is likely one of its most important native daughters.

I don't know exactly how many blogs it will take to reveal the family and community history of the Beaubien-Bourassa-Blanchet and Frigon Families, but I suspect six or eight.  I will try and make the text as readable as possible while remaining accurate to the materials.   It will not be a simple task but I'm going to do my best.
I hope if any reader has documentation for errors, you will share it with me.   Most of what I'm going to use comes directly from family members, from the Citizen Band Pottawatomi Library and Archive in Shawnee, Oklahoma and from Ancestry.com and other Internet sources.

Have a good day friends!







Nick Clark
Palm Springs, CA
January 12, 2014

The History of the Children of Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell

James Llewellyn Bell was the oldest child of Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell and was born on July 1, 1880 in Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska.  He lived in Adams County for a few years and then moved to Chillicothe, Peoria County, Illinois with his parents.

James learned the barbering trade when he was young and remained a barber his entire life.  When his parents returned to Ayr, Nebraska, James stayed in Illinois opening a barber shop at Farmer City, Illinois.  There he married Mayme Delores Keller, born in August 1881 to William Austin and Alice Elizabeth (Miller) Keller.   Mayme lived her entire life in Illinois.

James and Mayme Keller were married in 1903 and they lived their entire married life in Farmer City, Illinois.   They had no children.

James died on February 17, 1938 and is buried in the Farmer City Cemetery, Farmer City, Illinois.   Mayme (Keller) Bell died in 1956 and is also buried in the Farmer City Cemetery, Farmer City, Illinois.

A photograph of James Llewellyn Bell courtesy of his cousin, Betty (Nunemaker) Harris.






























Linnie Alice Bell was the second child of Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell and was born on April 19, 1883 at Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska.   Linnie grew up in Ayr, Nebraska and Chillicothe, Illinois.   She married Eddie Edgar Parsons on August 9, 1924.  She was a registered nurse and received her nurses training at Proctor Hospital in Peoria, Illinois.

In 1908, she returned to Hastings, Nebraska with her parents and united with the Christian Church there in 1909.  On the 1910 U. S. Census, she is shown living with her parents, Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell in Hastings, Nebraska.

Like so many others, Eddie Edgar Parsons moved west with his parents.   His father, Henry Harrison Parsons was born in Ohio in 1840 and moved west.   He joined the Union Army during the Civil War and served with Company B, 118th Illinois Infantry from August 1862 until October 1865.  He was married to Rachel Ann Mapes in 1867 at Hancock, Illinois and they lived there for over a decade before moving to Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska where they lived on a farm.   Henry Harrison and Rachel Ann (Mapes) Parsons were the parents of eleven children.

Another of the Parsons children, William Henry Parsons, married into the extended Corbin family, when he took Estella Mae Wilder as his bride in 1900.   Estella was the daughter of Loren H. and Mary Elizabeth (Corbin) Wilder and their story is found elsewhere in my blogs.

Unfortunately, Linnie Alice (Bell) Parsons died at an early age.   The Hastings, Nebraska newspaper carried the following obituary for Linnie on August 18, 1937:
Funeral services for Mrs. Linnie Alice Parsons, 54, of Rose, Nebraska who died here Wednesday, will be held Friday at 2:30pm at the home of her mother, Mrs. Edgar Bell, 846 South Denver.   The Rev. Dewey Meranda will conduct the services.   Interment will be at the Leroy (Blue Valley) Cemetery.   Vernon Wyman, Wilbur Parsons, James and Henry Ferguson, John and Frank English will be pallbearers.  Flower bearers will be Betty Nunemaker, Mrs. Jack Bell, Dorothy and Hazel Parsons, Martha Ferguson and Esther Thornberry.    Mrs. Parsons, who was born in Hastings and spent most of her life here, is survived by her husband Edgar, two brothers, Frank E. Bell of Hastings, and Llewellyn Bell of Farmer City, Illinois and a sister, Mrs. Sam Nunemaker of Fremont, Nebraska.

Eddie Edgar Parons lived the remainder of his long life in Hastings, Nebraska and died on June 11, 1973.  The following short obituary appeared in the Hastings newspaper:
Death: 
Jun. 11, 1973 Good Samaritan Village, Adams County, Nebraska, USA.

Mr. Eddie E. Parson, 93 years old of Good Samaritan Village. Passed away Monday. Surviving are a twin sister Effie Carpenter, of Lincoln, sister-in-law Mrs. Frank Parsons of Lebanon, Oregon, many nieces and nephews. Services will be Wednesday at 2 in the All Saints Chapel with Reverend H.W. Lebsack. Burial in Blue Valley Cemetery.


A Photo of Eddie Edgar Parsons (standing middle) and unknown friends.

A photograph of Eddie Edgar Parsons and his twin sister, Effie Jane (Parsons) Carpenter taken on their 90th birthday in 1969.

Both Eddie and Linnie (Parsons) Bell are buried in the Blue Valley Cemetery near Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska.

Hattie Bell Nunemaker was the third child of Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell and was born on January 21, 1883 at Wakarusa, Elkhart, Nebraska.   She took nurses training at the Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital in Hastings, Nebraska and worked as a nurse.  She was married to Samuel Calvin Nunemaker on September 12, 1912 at Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois.

Sam Nunemaker was the son of Jacob and Phoebe K. (Darkwood) Nunemaker and spent his early life in Elkhart County, Indiana where his father was a farmer.   Like so many other young men, Samuel moved West to Nebraska to seek a better life.   Samuel Nunemaker worked for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad his entire career.

A photograph of Hattie B. (Bell) Nunemaker in her nurses uniform.













Samuel and Hattie (Bell) Nunemaker were not able to have children and adopted a daughter, Betty Marie Bell.   Betty was born on July 31, 1922 at Junita, Adams County, Nebraska.   Betty grew up in Hastings, Nebraska where the family were members of the Assembly of God Church.

Samuel Calvin Nunemaker died on August 16, 1955 at Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska and Hattie B. (Bell) Nunemaker also died at Hastings.  Both are buried at Parkview Cemetery, Hastings, Nebraska but I have not found a death date for Hattie Nunemaker.

Betty Marie Nunemaker was raised from infancy by her adopted parents, Samuel Calvin and Hattie B. (Bell) Nunemaker.  She was born July 31, 1922 at Juniata, Adams County, Nebraska.   She was married to Rev. Merle Jennings Harris.  Rev. Merle Harris died in 1990.   Below is the obituary of Betty Harris, which provides additional details about her life and family:

Betty Marie (Nunemaker) Harris  July 31, 1922 - December 2, 2007

Betty M. Harris, 85, of Mablevale, Arkansas died on December 2, 2007. She was born July 31, 1922 at Hastings, Nebraska and adopted by the late Samuel and Hattie (Bell) Nunemaker. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Merle Jennings Harris. Mrs. Harris was a Pastor’s Wife, sharing God’s Word, at Winnebago Indian Reservation, Mullins, Nebraska; Ozark, Arkansas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Russellville, Arkansas; Administrator at Hillcrest Children’s Home, Hot Springs, Arkansas. She shared with Rev. Harris as past District Superintendent for the Arkansas District Council of the Assemblies of God. She was an accomplished violinist, loved children, had a joyful spirit and was known for her radiant smile. Survivors include her son; James Harris and wife, Linda of Mablevale; one granddaughter, Shannon Davis, and husband Chris of Mablevale; two beautiful great-granddaughters, Nicole and Casey Davis, and the many lives she touched at Hillcrest Children’s Home.

Betty M. Harris

The author is deeply indebted to Rev. and Mrs. Harris for providing much information for the Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell portions of the Corbin Family History and this blog.  They provided the only pictures of James and Cynthia Corbin and they had a diary kept by Mrs. Nancy Anna Bell Corbin which gave many dates of marriages, deaths, births and other information which has been utilized in these writings.

I spent two days with Rev. and Mrs. Harris in their home at Little Rock, Arkansas in 1979 and enjoyed a wonderful time and their fine hospitality.   Betty Harris was a lovely lady who loved her family and its heritage.   May she rest in peace.

The Merle Jennings Harris Family:  L-R:  Rev. Merle J. Harris, Betty M. (Nunemaker) Harris and son James Wesley Harris.

James Wesley Harris is the adopted son of Merle Jennings and Betty Marie (Nunemaker) Harris and was born on April 6, 1950 in Clinton, VanBuren County, Arkansas.  He is married to Linda Diane Dixon who was born on May 1, 1950 at St. Louis, St. Louis County, Missouri to Emery and Myrtle Mae (Tucker) Dixon.   James and Linda were married on October 6, 1973 at Hot Springs, Garland, Arkansas.   James W. Harris is a fireman.

A photo of the James W. Harris Family.   L-R:  James W. Harris, Linda Diane (Dixon) Harris and daughter Shannon Elaine Harris.

James and Linda Harria are the parents of Shannon Elaine Harris, b orn January 22, 1975 at Ft. Smith, Arkansas.   Shannon is married to Christopher Davis and they have two children: Casey and Nicole Davis.  James and Linda Harris and the Davis family all live in Mablevale, Pulaski County, Arkansas at this writing.

A photograph of three geneations:   Betty M. (Nunemaker) Harris, her mother Hattie (Bell) Nunemaker and James Wesley Harris, son and grandson of Betty (Nunemaker) Harris and Hattie (Bell) Nunemaker.

Frank Earl Bell was the fourth and last child born to Edgar and Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell on October 25,  1889 at Chillicothe, Peoria County, Illinois.  He was raised in Chillicothe and returned to Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska with his parents and family in the early 1900s.  Frank started working for the Hastings Ice Cream Company at an early age and continued to work there his entire career.

L-R:  Frank Earl Bell, John Edgar Bell and his mother Mary Margarette (Cooney) Bell.

Frank E. Bell was married to Mary Margarette Cooney and they lived in Hastings, Nebraska at 831 S. Denver Avenue.  Mary Margarette Bell was born on March 12, 1890 in Nebraska.  They were the parents of one son, John Edgar Bell, born on October 28, 1919 at Omaha, Nebraska.

John Edgar Bell was the only child of Frank Earl and Mary Margarette (Cooney) Bell and was born October 28, 1919 at Omaha Nebraska.  John was married twice.   His first marriage was to Sarah Adalaide Cook on May 17, 1937 at Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska.  John E. Bell served in the U. S. Army during World War II and his marriage ended in divorce.

Frank E. Bell was married a second time to Mary Marjorie Wieland on June 23, 1941.  They had two children:  Jerry Allen Bell born October 21, 1942 and Nancy Anna Bell born June 11, 1946.  This marriage ended in divorce.   Mary Marjorie (Wieland) Bell married a second time and her husband adopted Jerry and Nancy Bell, who took his last name.    There whereabouts is not known at this writing.

This is the last known photograph of Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell.   It was taken on her back porch in Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska by her granddaughter Betty Marie (Nunemaker) Harris.  Nancy Anna died on September 26, 1950 and was buried beside her husband Edgar Bell in the Blue Valley Cemetery, Ayr, Adams County, Nebraska.  The following is a short obituary from the Hastings newspaper.

Birth:	Feb. 2, 1860, Putnam County, Missouri, USA
Death:	September 26, 1950, Hastings, Adams, Nebraska, USA
Funeral services for Mrs. Nancy Anna Bell, age 90, were held Wednesday at 2:30 at the Assembly of God Church with the Rev. B.C. Heinz officiating. She was the youngest child of James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin, pioneers of Adams County.   A prayer service at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Samuel Nunemaker, preceded the funeral. Pallbearers were R.D. Shore, William Harms, Jack Bell, Ray Noble. W.H. Parsons and R.A. Nelson. Burial was in the LeRoy Cemetery. Livingston-Butler Funeral Home was in charge. 28 Sept. 1950 pg 13 Family links:  Parents:    James Corbin (1813 - 1891)    Cynthia Ann Casteel Corbin (1819 - 1903)  Spouse:    Edgar Bell (1857 - 1937) With the writing of the history of the Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell family, I conclude the recounting of the history of the children of James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin.  The writing of this history has entailed the posting of over 70 blogs on this site and with it, the fulfillment of a promise I made to my maternal grandmother, Mildred Mae (McCauley) Corbin, who gave me all of her old family photographs with the understanding that they would be shared with family members.   I have used all of her photographs and many, many others that I have copied or used from other sources.   I am grateful to all who have helped in any way with the writing of this history. I wish you Happy Trails!!!

Birth: 

Feb. 2, 1860, Putnam County, Missouri, USA

Death: 

September 26, 1950, Hastings, Adams, Nebraska, USA

Funeral services for Mrs. Nancy Anna Bell, age 90, were held Wednesday at 2:30 at the Assembly of God Church with the Rev. B.C. Heinz officiating. She was the youngest child of James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin, pioneers of Adams County.   A prayer service at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Samuel Nunemaker, preceded the funeral. Pallbearers were R.D. Shore, William Harms, Jack Bell, Ray Noble. W.H. Parsons and R.A. Nelson. Burial was in the LeRoy Cemetery. Livingston-Butler Funeral Home was in charge.

28 Sept. 1950 pg 13

Family links:
 Parents:
   James Corbin (1813 - 1891)
   Cynthia Ann Casteel Corbin (1819 - 1903)

 Spouse:
   Edgar Bell (1857 - 1937)

With the writing of the history of the Nancy Anna (Corbin) Bell family, I conclude the recounting of the history of the children of James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin.  The writing of this history has entailed the posting of over 70 blogs on this site and with it, the fulfillment of a promise I made to my maternal grandmother, Mildred Mae (McCauley) Corbin, who gave me all of her old family photographs with the understanding that they would be shared with family members.   I have used all of her photographs and many, many others that I have copied or used from other sources.   I am grateful to all who have helped in any way with the writing of this history.

I wish you Happy Trails!!!

Nancy Anna Corbin: The Last of the Children of James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin

With the next blog or two, I will conclude the long recounting of history and genealogy concerning the children and descendants of my great, great grandparents James and Cynthia Ann (Casteel) Corbin.  Their ninth child was Nancy Anna Corbin.   Of their nine children, eight lived to adulthood, the sole exception being Griffith Corbin, who died in infancy in 1839.

 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.

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.