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Elizabeth (Todd) Bell (1689 - 1771)

Elizabeth Bell formerly Todd
Born in Western Isles of Scotlandmap
Sister of and
Wife of — married 1712 in Ulster, Irelandmap [uncertain]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 82 in Londonderry, Rockingham, New Hampshiremap
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Profile last modified | Created 18 May 2011
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The Birth Date is a rough estimate. See the text for details.

Biography

Elizabeth (Todd) Bell is a member of Clan Bell.

Elizabeth was born about 1689.

Gen & Pers Hist of Fayette Co PA, p.252:
John settled in New Hampshire, 1719, died in Londonderry, New Hampshire, July 8, 1743. He married, in Ireland, Elizabeth Todd, of Scotland. He was the ancestor of three governors of New Hampshire, three United States senators, one representative to congress and two judges of the New Hampshire supreme court.

John Bell of Londonderry, pp.2-4:
His wife, Elizabeth Todd, was the daughter of James Todd and Rachel Nelson, and was born in the Western Isles of Scotland. Her family was evidently of substance, two of her brothers being graduates of Edinburgh University. By tradition she was a woman of great energy and capacity, blonde, with the conspicuously red hair associated generally with Keltic blood, and which has come down now to the fifth generation of her descendants. The story is told of her that on this voyage over in 1722 the Captain of the ship got drunk and went into delirium tremens. In this emergency Mrs. Bell, who was the only other person aboard who knew anything of navigation, performed the then somewhat slender duties of navigating officer for the remainder of the voyage.

Four children were born to John and Elizabeth Bell, after their settlement in Londonderry; Samuel, September 28, 1723; Elizabeth, December 28, 1725; Mary, January 25, 1727-8; and John, August 15, 1730. . . .

John Bell, the immigrant, died July 8, 1743, leaving his extremely efficient widow, who survived until 1771, and her two young sons to carry on the homestead. The four daughters, growing up, all married Duncans, three of them brothers.

Tradition has it that after acquiring three Duncan sons-in-law the widow Elizabeth felt need of a change; and when her youngest was swung upon a pillion by the last available Duncan and they bolted for the parson's, Mrs. Bell saddled her horse and set out in furious pursuit. The fugitives, however, got around a turn of the road, jumped their horse behind a friendly wood-pile, and, after the irate mother-in-law-elect had passed, doubled on their course and were married, quite probably by the Rev. Ebenezer Flagg of Chester, who had a wide reputation for assisting in such impromptu nuptials. A genial and hospitable Dominie, doubtless, was the Rev. Ebenezer, since in an old account book of the Chester village store I found him charged with twenty-eight quarts of "Rhom" (W.I. & N.E.) within the short space of thirty days.

The Bell Family in America, pp. 6:
John Bell the youngest son of Matthew Bell of Scotland and Ireland was bom in Ballymoney, county Antrim, province of Ulster, Ireland, in 1679, and married, about 1712, Elizabeth Todd, daughter of John and Rachel (Nelson) Todd, and sister of Andrew Todd; she was born about 1689.

Sources

  • Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County Pennsylvania, Volume 1, John Woolf Jordan, James Hadden, Lewis historical publishing Company, Fayette County (Pa.), 1912. [1]
  • John Bell of Londonderry and His Scottish Ancestry, Louis Bell, 1920. [2]
  • The Bell Family in America, Lyman Horace Weeks, 1913. [3]




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth:

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Comments: 1

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Todd-4515 and Todd-704 appear to represent the same person because: trying to sort out the Bells with separate WikiTree profiles based on Weeks isn't working. These duplicates need to be merged. Thanks!
posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett

Rejected matches › Elizabeth (Todd) Donnell (1690-)

T  >  Todd  |  B  >  Bell  >  Elizabeth (Todd) Bell

Categories: Estimated Birth Date | Scots-Irish Immigrants to America | Clan Bell