John Bell

The land John inherited appeared to be in Lancaster County, but at some point he relocated to Northumberland and all remaining records refer to him there. A marriage bond was issued on November 22nd, 1790 to John Bell, widower of Lancaster County, and Elizabeth Toff, also a widower. John Cornish provided security (John Bell's brother Charles appears to have married Caty Cornish in 1796) and Zephaniah Bell was listed as a witness. I have not found a marriage record for John in Lancaster County, and do not know if he had children from that first marriage.

John wrote his will on August 6th, 1820. He left one slave and a gun to his daughter Elizabeth Y. Bush. He directed that the rest of his estate be sold and proceeds divided between his remaining four daughters with provisions set aside for his widow, Elizabeth. His will was proven on September 11th, 1820. In the will Elizabeth Y. was singled out from his other children, she seemed to receive less inheritance, and she was the only one mentioned with a middle initial, for those reasons I question if she could have been a child from John's first marriage. Maybe she had received an inheritance from her mother's parents already.

An appraisal of John's estate was returned to the court on February 12th, 1821. The value was totaled to $506.06. The highest valued items listed were; two slaves, a crop of corn and fodder in the field, livestock, and household furniture. Other items mentioned included; a parcel of old books, four sides of leather, a spinning wheel, and a "garden of greens."