Early census or birth records record her as Mattie Evelyn Bell. She legally changed her name to Evelyn Malissa Bell as an adult after learning from her mother and sisters that her name was not Mattie but was Evelyn Melissa Bell. She was named after her mother. She greatly disliked the name Mattie and for some unknown reason had never believed it was her name. She finally asked elderly relatives and learned that Mattie was not her original name at birth. Thus, she learned after so many years (in her 80's) the name she always sensed was not hers, actually, was not her name. She was thrilled to learn that her senses had been correct. She was, in fact, Evelyn Melissa Bell, and she loved that beautiful name. She was so proud to be named for her mother. She proudly showed her new driver's license and documents with her birth name; however, she died not realizing that when she legally changed to Malissa (with an "a" instead of an "e") that Malissa was the name of her grandmother. "Mattie" was possibly a childhood nickname, while "Melissa" was forgotten over the years. Her mother had the nickname "Nannie" and many did not realize until her death that she was not "Nannie" but was Nancy.
Sources
Evelyn Bell in household of Joe Bell, "United States Census, 1920". [[1]]
Note: Others mentioned in the household of Joe Bell at age 33 are: Nannie M Bell, wife 30; Mattie C Bell, mother 65; Velma Bell, daughter 14; Ila Mae Bell, daughter 11; Veotria Bell, daughter 8, Llian Bell, daughter 5; W.J. Bell, son 3, which should be "N.J."; and Evelyn Bell, daughter 1.
Evelyn Bell in household of Joe Bell, "United States Census, 1930". [[2]]
Evelyn Carpenter in household of C C Carpenter, "United States Census, 1940. [[3]]
Evelyn Bell, "United States Social Security Death Index". [[4]]
Only the Trusted List can access the following:
Evelyn's formal name
full middle name (M.)
exact birthdate
birth location
exact deathdate
death location
personal memories about Evelyn (1)
private siblings' names
private children's names (4)
spouse's name and marriage information
For access to Evelyn Carpenter's full information you must be on the Trusted List. Please login.
Is Evelyn your relative? Please don't go away! Login to collaborate or comment, or contact
the profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Evelyn by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Evelyn: