Z 2045.000 Bell (Joseph) and Family Papers

Z 2045.000
BELL (JOSEPH) AND FAMILY PAPERS

Joseph Ephriam Bell was born in Tennessee about 1811. He had moved to Louisville, Winston County, Mississippi, early in 1836. Bell had organized the Cumberland Presbyterian church in Louisville, and he was mayor of that city by May of 1836. He married his first wife, Harriett, formerly of Georgia, around 1836. The couple had several children, including Mary S. (b. ca. 1837), Louisa E. (b. ca. 1838), and Jefferson M. (b. ca. 1848). Bell was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1839, serving for three years. He was elected to the Mississippi Senate in 1842, serving for three more years. Bell became probate judge of Winston County on March 26, 1849. Mississippi governor John A. Quitman appointed Bell as secretary of state in 1850. However, within two years the governor had resigned, and the terms of the secretary of state and senate president had expired. Nevertheless, Bell called a special legislative session to elect a new senate president who would carry out the duties of governor until the inauguration of Governor-elect Henry Stuart Foote. Governor John J. McRae appointed Bell to the first board of trustees of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Jackson in March of 1856. Bell married his second wife, Martha (Mattie) Heart, in 1865. She was from Pickens, Holmes County, Mississippi. It is not known when Joseph Ephriam Bell died, but he is thought to be interred at Round Tree Baptist Church Cemetery in Athens, Limestone County, Alabama.

This collection consists of personal correspondence and legal records of Joseph Bell, as well as miscellaneous Bell family papers. The personal correspondence of Bell includes letters from sister Martha Ann Bell entreating Bell and his family to visit her, and letters from brother-in-law John Heart, Jr., offering news of family and friends. There are letters from J. N. Rauch soliciting money for Bethel College in Tennessee. There is also a double letter from William Swann. The first part is addressed to the Reverend Bell thanking him for his hospitality; the second part is addressed to Martha (Mattie) Heart Bell thanking her for introducing Swann to a female acquaintance. Of interest is a letter signed by J. H. Haralson, John Marshall, and F. S. Swann, members of the Jackson Democratic Association, discussing organizational business and the upcoming election. Among the legal records are Bells commissions for various public offices in Mississippi, including registrar of land patents, mayor of Louisville, probate judge of Winston County, judge of the ninth judicial district, and secretary of state. Perhaps as a result of his duties as registrar of land patents, a land grant for Jedediah W. Craddock is included in the miscellaneous papers. A newspaper advertisement concerning the Joseph Bell home in Jackson and a transcribed history of Heart Town, Mississippi, are also included. There is also a photocopy of a letter to Elizabeth M. Vickers discussing Bell family genealogy.

1. Correspondence (Personal). 1847-1866. 6 folders.

   Box 1, folders 1-6

2. Legal Records. 1836-1869; n.d. 11 folders.

   Box 1, folders 7-14
   Box 2, folders 1-4
   Miscellany. ca. 1940; 1988; n.d. 5 folders.
   Box 1, folders 15-19