Bell Family Network
Several members of the Bell family utilized the courts to obtain their freedom. Mary Bell and her children later tried to use the courts to uphold their manumission, but when the legal system failed them, they turned to the Underground Railroad and became involved in the Pearl Incident in 1848. Several members of the family were enslaved by the Greenfield Family.
For more information on the Bell family and their many attempts at seizing their freedom, see Emancipating the Bell Family: An Inquiry into the Strategies of Freedom-Making.
- Lucy Bell - b. abt 1763, Md.; d. June 8, 1862, Washington, D.C. - enslaved by Gerrard T. Greenfield, bequeathed to his wife Ann; then to Walter Greenfield in 1810 as a part of Ann's estate - obtained her freedom by 1850, perhaps as early as 1820
- Daniel Bell - b. abt 1802/04, Prince George's County, Md.; d. March 1877 - bequeathed by Ann Greenfield to son Gabriel P. T. Greenfield in 1810; later jailed prior to being sold away in 1835 - arranged to purchase his freedom from new owner; free in 1846/471
+ Mary Bell - b. abt 1795/1802; d. bet April-August 1884 - to be freed upon the death of Robert Armistead, but later claimed by his widow - lost her freedom suit in December 1847; attempted to flee enslavement on board the Pearl with her eight children and two grandchildren in April 18482 - Andrew Bell - b. abt 1824 - to be freed in 1864
- Mary Ellen Bell - b. abt 1827 - to be freed in 1857 - apparently sold to Mississippi in 1848 following the Pearl Incident2
+ Jordan Dawley - b. abt 1818, Sunflower, Miss.; d. January 20, 1864, Vicksburg, Miss. - Caroline Dawley
- Lucy Dawley
- Jacob Dawley/Dolly
- Isaac "Ike" Dawley/Dolly
- Caroline Bell - b. abt 1829 - to be freed in 1859
- Catherine
- John
- George W. Bell - b. abt 1831 - to be freed in 1866
- Daniel Bell - b. abt 1833; d. bef 1900 - to be freed in 1868 - apparently sold to Louisiana in 1848 following the Pearl Incident2
+ Louisa Franklin - b. abt 1838, Louisiana - Marie A. Bell
- Daniel Bell
- Josephine Bell
- Louisa Bell
- William Bell
- Lucretia Bell
- Joseph Bell
- Caroline Bell
- Harriet Bell - b. abt June 1835; d. bef 18753 - to be freed in 1865 - petitioned for freedom against Susan Armistead in 1846
+ Thomas Snow - Mary Snow
- Arnold Snow
- Harriet Snow
- Daniel Snow
- Eleanora 'Nora' Bell - b. August 3, 1839; d. bef 18754 - did not win 1849 freedom petition against Susan Armistead - gifted to Sarah Jane (Armistead) O'Brien in February 1862; emancipated in April 18625
- Caroline "Carrie" Bell - b. abt 1861 - gifted to Sarah Jane (Armistead) O'Brien's daughter, Mary Catherine, in February 1862 - emancipated in April 18625
- Thomas Bell - b. abt 1845; likely died between 1860-1875
- Ann Bell - b. abt 1795, Maryland; d. abt May 1873, Washington, D.C. - bequeathed by Gerrard T. Greenfield to his son Gabriel in 1796; then by Gabriel to his sister Maria Amne who bequeathed her to her nephew Gerard - successfully petitioned for freedom in 1840
- Daniel Bell - freed 1840
- David Bell - freed 1840
- Caroline Bell - b. abt 1811, Prince George's County, Md. - bequeathed by Ann Greenfield to daughter Ann Truman Beall in 1810; Susan G. Beall obtained title to Caroline through her mother's estate after 1810 - petitioned for freedom in 1850; outcome unknown + William Butler - b. abt 1805, Washington, D.C.; d. Feb 1870, D.C.
- Harriet Bell - d. aft 1871 - bequeathed by Ann Greenfield to son Gabriel P. T. Greenfield in 1810; then likely to sister Sabina in 1815
+ James Ash(e) - very likely the same James Ash formerly held by Gerard T. Greenfield and freed by petition in 1843 - Albert Anthony Ash(e) - b. abt. 1840
- Catherine "Kitty" Bell + ____ Carroll
- Eleanor Bell - d. aft 1871 + ____ Tyler
- Priscilla Bell - mentioned only in the will of Ann Greenfield, bequeathed to Maria Amne T. Greenfield; possibly the same person as Eleanor
Notes
The Bell Family Network has been gathered from court, probate, census, burial, and Freedman's Bank records by Kaci Nash.
1. Daniel appears as the "next friend" of his daughter Harriet for her petition for freedom in July 1846, which would suggest that he was free by that time. An article that circulated in papers around the eastern states in late 1848 stated that Daniel "got his freedom papers complete only some time last year." See, for example, "Beauties of the Slave System," The True Wesleyan [New York], September 23, 1848. [back]
2. For more on the Pearl Incident, see Mary Kay Ricks, Escape on the Pearl: The Heroic Bid for Freedom on the Underground Railroad (New York: HarperCollins, 2007). [back]
3. In his will dated December 27, 1875, Daniel bequeathed one fifth of his estate to "the sons and daughters of my deceased daughter Harriet." [back]
4. In his will dated December 27, 1875, Daniel left one fifth of his estate to Caroline, "the daughter of my now deceased daughter Norah." [back]
5. Norah and her daughter Caroline were emancipated in April 1862 under the Compensated Emancipation Act. In her petition, Sarah Jane O'Brien described "Ellen Nora" as about 25 years old, "Dark Colour, about 5 feet 3 or 4 inches in Height very Healthy, and Good Worker. Caroline is aged 6 months a Mulatto, Good health." Sarah reported that Norah was a "Good Cook Washer and Ironer and Good Worker Generally." See Petition of Sarah Jane O'Brien, 5 May 1862 in Civil War Washington. For the Bills of Sale transferring Nora and her daughter from Susan Armistead to the O'Briens, see District of Columbia, Recorder of Deeds, Liber JAS 215, pp 389-391. [back]
