A List of Thomas and Mary Bell's children from the Bell Family Bible

A piece of paper that was pasted into the Bell Family Bible with a list of all of Thomas and Mary Bell's children, including a previously unknown infant, who did not live long enough to be named. The note could have been written by Thomas or Mary Bell.

The exact date of this document is unknown, but based upon Hugh Bell's age of 10 and his birthdate of December 5th, the document  was written sometime in very late 1876 or sometime in 1877. It could have been written as early as  the last Christmas the family spent in Athol, Ontario, Canada or as late as before Christmas the following year. During the Spring of 1877, the family would head for prospector country in California. It would be a journey that would take them across a continent and to live in a new country.

The addition of the date of departure from Ontario and arrival in Greenville, CA would suggest this document was written after their arrival to California, but it could also have been added later. This is also the first time that Thomas has recorded the date of arrival in California. That same information is not listed in his diary or elsewhere. So it seems that it took the group 14 days to travel from Ontario, Canada to California. I have always suspected they took a train and now I am more convinced.

On a separate piece of paper neatly pasted on the bottom of the list was a quote attributed to the Mary, the mother of this clan.

"This is the day when dear ones come and gather around the hearth of home and winded wished fly to say God bless you all on Christmas day." Mary McIntyre Bell.

This inscription could have been any Christmas, but it is more likely to be 1876 or 1877 if it it was paired with this document.

I think from the two specimens, these are two different hands. After studying the handwriting in Thomas' diary, I can conclude with confidence that the note with the children's names and dates of birth is in Thomas' hand and the poetic text below is reasonably Mary's hand since it is attributed and different from the style of the main note.

 This list of Thomas and Mary Bell's children was pasted into a page of the family Bible. It lists each of the children including a previously unknown "infant" born after Donald, aka Danny Bell. The list was most likely written by Thomas with a poetic verse contributed by Mary on a pasted piece of paper. I did some Google searches and it seems that this poem may be original.[/caption]