JOHN WESLEY BELL (1852-1929)

[gnstill]

New Family Page: JOHN WESLEY BELL (1852-1929)

Please post comments and queries about this family hereunder.

[WDC]

Gary thanks for the information on John W Bell in the family section. It gives me details I did not know such as John having his middle name being the same as my first name, and dates and travel routes, amongst others.

Do you know the street and house number John and Eliza resided at in West St Paul?

In 1906, Wesley Roy Bell is listed as age 10 and in the 1911 census as age 15.
Wesley Roy Bell is listed in the 1949 Victoria Henderson's Directory as a gardner residing at his home - ss 800 block Vale (not sure what that means). According to B.C. Vital Statistics he died in Vancouver on November 11, 1972, single, age 76. In Etta's obit in 1948 he is mentioned as Etta being survived by one brother Roy Bell of British Columbia, and eleven grandchildren (not named).

[WDC]

Hi Gary,

Do you know what part of England John W Bell and his parents Phyllis and Archie Bell came from, and are Phyllis and Archie anywhere in the censuses?

Also, would you know what Etta Pearl Bell passed away from?

Thanks!

Wes

[gnstill]

Wes: I have updated the page for John Wesley BELL with the information you’re looking for. Again, it was our friend Greg who provided the tip (only their names); I had to do some more detective work to discover the other details.

Regarding Etta’s death: I haven’t seen her actual obituary, only a Memorium posted Jan 7, 1949 in the Winnipeg Free Press by her husband (LANDMESSER) and four daughters. She would have been about 54 years old when she died (cause unknown to me).
Gary

[WDC]

Thanks so much Gary for your great investigative skills!

May I contact you via email as well as this forum?

I do not have the memorium you mention, and if you would be so kind to let me know, I would much appreciate it.

I have the wording of Etta's obituary: January 8, 1948. "Mrs. Joseph Landmesser. Mrs. Pearl Landmesser, 58 of 1125 Aberdeen Avenue died Wednesday in Winnipeg General Hosptial. Besides her husband Joseph, she is survived by four daughters, Mrs. P. Bayley, Mrs. R. Steinke, and Mrs. Victor Goudrean (spelling error, I think), all of Winnipeg, and Mrs. R. Miller of Toronto; and eleven grandchildren, and one brother Roy Bell in British Columbia. The funeral, Service will be held at 3:30 pm Saturday in Kerr's funeral home, with burial in Brookside Cemetery".

Confusing thing these birth dates for Etta. Is it 1894 or 1889 (as on her tombstone, and indicated by her obit - age 58 at her passing, and on her death certificate - July 28, 1889.

I hope I am not bugging you too much with all the requests I have made, and now some more , but as I mentioned, I am really reluctant to join Ancestry, given my credit card experience with NewspaperArchive. How do you find Ancestry.ca/com?

I am unsure of when Richard Miller died or where or from what. Would you have any information? I do not know if this represents the same people, but in the September 3, 1955 edition of the Free Press, it says "Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Richard Miller, husband of Edna Miller formerly of Churchill Mb, please call 92-3587 during office hours".

Did Richard and Kathleen Edna have any children?

I am also looking for where Dorothy Goudreau nee Moore is buried.

This part perhaps might be better by email - How did Rosalie sustain such injuries? Perhaps I should have put this question under the Moore Family section instead?

Thanks!

Wes

[gnstill]

Wes: I have inserted that Memoriam into the Family Page for JOSEPH MOORE. Thanks for the actual obit. I will be sending you a personal Email shortly.
Gary

[gnstill]

Wes, regarding the ‘Wesley’ part of his name: I can’t seem to find where I got that. Now you have me wondering. He is referred to as John W. in several places and his son’s first name is Wesley, suggesting the W in his own name most likely refers to Wesley as well.

However, on review I just noticed a complication.
VitalStats: John BELL died Apr 13, 1929 in West St Paul (Middlechurch), age 76 (b-c1853). This death date agrees with Greg’s info, but no W or ‘Wesley’ in it.
Here’s the complication I discovered in Vital Stats:
VitalStats: John Wesley BELL died Jun 20, 1932 in Minitonas, MB, age 70 (b-c1862). Minitonas is east of Swan River, north of Duck Mountain Provincial Park. Of course this is obviously not our John Wesley but it does lead to some head-scratching.

[WDC]

Gary, I also am puzzled, esp. ages, birth dates of John W, Eliza, and Joseph Moor(e). In most of data, my grandfather Joseph does not have a middle name, then we have different birth dates (month, day and year), so I am not sure about Joseph Alphonse Roger Moor(e) being my blood grandfather.

But even more confusion steps in regarding John W Bell and Eliza Bell nee Dunkeld being in Middlechurch.

In the 1906 Census John W is age 50 which would give him a BD of 1856, and Eliza is 40 which would give her a birth date of 1866 - ten years difference in age between them. In 1911, John W is 59 with a stated BD of May 1852, and Eliza being 53 with a stated BD of January 1858, which equals six years difference. Also, if one considers the 1916 census data, John W is 64 and Ellen (Eliza) is 52, a 12 year difference. Could you post me the link to the 1916 census page with John and Eliza, or send me a jpeg of it (it is not surname search-able on Library and Archives Canada, and I have not been able to find it, but would like to see it). If it is not too much trouble, would you also give me the one Joseph and Etta in the 1916 census...thanks!

In Vital Stats and according to the information provided by Greg, John W passed away in 1929 at age 76, and Eliza passed away in 1931 at age 76. This means that there is only about a two year difference in age.

I understand that sometimes birth dates and ages may be off, but for John and Eliza, when comparing their age difference, we have first 10 years, then 6 years, then 12 years, and finally a 2 year difference.

So it begs the question, are these my great grandparents? Not so, if one goes by the 1906/1911/1916 censuses.

ETA: On Vital Stats, I found a John Bell who passed away in Minnedosa on April 20, 1926, age 69, DOB August 22, 1856.

Gary, do you think this could be our John W Bell? Minnedosa is not far from the Neepawa area where John W had his farm and the DOB fits the age stated in the 1906 Census.

Wes

[gnstill]

In the census records the ages recorded for individuals are frequently found to be erratic. Often, particularly with older folks, they either couldn’t remember for sure when or where they were born or the enumerator misinterpreted or miscalculated.

Here’s the link for the 1916 record regarding Ellen & John BELL at Neepawa. Let me know if this link works for you: JOHN BELL, 1816 CENSUS
John BELL was 64 years old then; Ellen 52 in that census. We are missing any information about them for the next decade and more.

Vital Stats indicates that they both died in West St Paul (Middlechurch); John in 1929 and Eliza in 1931. They both died at the age of 76. That’s pretty old, and suggests they had spent their last years in the Middlechurch Home (for seniors) that was located there. Ultimately, you will have to decide for yourself whether or not these were your great grandparents.

[WDC]

Gary, the link takes me to a join up page for Ancestry.ca. Can you post or send me the census page?

I just want to make as sure as possible that I have the right people. Right now I am cross-referencing various data to corroborate or nix possibilities, and I have been trying to put together residences and locations that took place to get some idea of the their lives. Thanks for the info regarding the names of John W's parents, it helped a lot.