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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Dumfriesshire => Topic started by: SandyD on Thursday 10 September 09 00:58 BST (UK)
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Hello,
Can anyone fill in some details for Hannah Bell's parents. Hannah Bell was born in Canonbie on January 12, 1804.
Her parents, I have as Adam Bell and Mary Armstrong.
I have Adam's parents listed as Francis Bell and Margaret Nicoll, can anyone confirm this info. and possibly provide some more info. Thanks,
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Hello Sandy!
Welcome to rootschat! I think we have a family connection. ;D
Is your Adam christened 31 Dec 1771?
I have something to attend to immediately so I will have to get back to you later with more details.
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;D Yes, December 31, 1771, would love to know more about the Bell side of the family. I've been researching my Graham line since last September (see my other posts).
I've always wondered about the Bell side. I heard that there is a possible Graham Bell link, not so sure about that. Then while looking at information passed along to me by a Graham relative, a letter from my great-grandfather John Calvin Graham (Sr.) he recounts to his niece Gladys Graham in this letter that his grandmother, an aunt of Alexander Graham Bell..would appreciate any information on this Bell line. Hannah (Bell) Graham is my GGGgrandmother.
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Ok I'm back for a minute or two, then I have to go out. Bit busy today which is annoyingly keeping me from the more interesting and important business of family history. :D
It's not actually me, but my brother in law who is your relative, but I've been spending so much time on the family that I feel like they are mine. ;) I am also in touch with a couple of other people researching the same line. I will give you their details via PM later.
Everyone else is a descendant of your Adam's older brother Francis Bell chr 17 Oct 1768. His father is Francis Bell and mother is Margaret Nichol. I have further information about the Nichols line but nothing more on Francis Bell. I will ask one of the other researchers if they have any more.
Well, the possible connection to Alexander Graham Bell is very interesting. I'd love to try to follow that up.
I'm afraid I have to dash out now, but I will be back again later.
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Thank you! :D
I love rootschat! I could spend all day researching family histories...anyways I've attached a bit of my Ggrandfather's letter where he actually mentions Hannah Bell, as an aunt to Alexander Graham Bell twice.
Great-grandfather John (‘Jack’) Calvin Graham writing to his niece Gladys May Graham (daughter of Joseph Franklin Graham) about the Grahams migration from Scotland to Canada (migration year 1852, letter typed on his Royal typerwriter, which I have).
[sic]
In regardws to my grand father willie graham he was borne in 1806 in Kareymoor Scotland and went to Dumfries to a place called Canabie and married Hannah Bell a ant to Alexander Graham Bell and came to Canada and came to Markham first then to Claremont on a farm called Curnbrogey I gess a name in Scotland then that farm was left to dick grahams oldest sun bob thay were cousins to our people thay the horse importers...
Another mystery to me is that all records we have about William Graham, he is born in 'Westerkirk' not 'Kareymoor' which I assume is Kirriemuir, Angus ???
I'm quite interested in the Bell connection and did not know that Adam had a brother, Francis. I know that Hannah was born in Canonbie but that's all I know about her.
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Hi SandyD,
I've just been trying to get this straight and have a few questions:
Who did Hannah Bell b 1804 marry?
Do you have any siblings for Hannah?
On the IGI there is a marriage for Adam Bell and Mary Armstrong on 7 Jun 1797 Canonbie. This is a submitted entry. Do you have this marriage entry from Scotlands People?
Who are the parents of John Calvin Graham?
I am just a little confused at the moment and want to double check that I've got this right, hence the questions.
Also, if you have any dates and places of birth and marriage for any of these people, could you please let me know. That way we can organize a 'timeline'. ;)
My initial thoughts are that the family of Alexander Graham Bell are of a different 'class' to the Canonbie Bells, but I am trying to keep an open mind and am looking forward to doing some serious researching. ;D
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Be prepared, I'm long-winded, bear with me ;D
Hannah Bell b. January 12, 1804 married William Graham b. July 20, 1803. They were married on September 23, 1792.
It is my understanding that Hannah Bell had a sister named Margaret but I have not found any record of her. The only other information I have on Hannah Bell is that her mother's name was Mary Armstrong, father's name was Adam Bell and that Adam's parent's were Francis Bell and Margaret Nicoll.
I did not know that there was a IGI marriage record for Adam Bell and Mary Armstrong on 7 Jun 1797 Canonbie, thanks! :D
Here's my tree:
GGGGGGgrandfather -- I have no idea ??? GGGGGGgrandmother -- I have no idea ??? but would really like to know dates for both of them and their names.
GGGGGgrandfather William Graham married Agnes Byers, I do not have birth, death or marriage dates for them.
GGGGgrandfather James Graham married Isobel Borthwick on September 23, 1792.
GGGgrandfather William Graham married Hannah Bell and had the following children (this is the William I refer to in my previous post about where he was born. I've seen records that state he was born in 'Westerkirk' and then others that say he was born in 'Kirriemuir' which is really strange -- I would love confirmation of which it is):
James Graham (m. Isabella Hope), b. 29 Mar. 1825
Isabella Graham b. 1829
Adam Graham (m. Mary Ellen Davis) b. 4 Feb. 1831
John Graham b. 1834 (m. Sarah Jane)
John Graham b. 1833 (twin, d. 1833)
Margaret Graham b. 1835
George Graham, GGgrandfather (m. Cinderella Avery/Annie Smith), b. 11 May 1840 (16 children -- my direct line)
Mary Graham b.
GGgrandfather, George Graham had 16 children, one of them John Calvin Graham, my Ggrandfather.
My great grandfather's letter mentions Hannah Bell as an 'ant' of Alexander Graham Bell. I've thought it can't mean 'aunt' in the sense that we use it, possibly a 2nd, 3rd, 4rth cousin? ??? -- I also believe that knowing a bit about my great grandfather, I don't think he was 'fibbin' in his letter to his niece. Graham relatives have taken a look at the letter and so far we've validated quite a bit, so the Alexander Graham Bell reference has peaked my interest in the Bell side of the family.
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Hi Sandy
I think you may have accidently put the date of James Graham and Isabel Borthwick's marriage instead of William Graham and Hannah bell's.
I have been looking at the 1851 census on the Dumfries and Galloway community historical archives site and William and Hannah are living at Limeycleuch in Canonbie.
I think a great many other members of this family are living at Rowanburn in Canonbie.
This includes several generations of Grahams (Alexander G and Agnes Tidwel among them), also Armstrongs and Bells, and Beatties.
http://www.dgcommunity.net/historicalindexes/census.aspx
Hope this helps
Kirsty
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With regard to the Alexander Graham Bell connection, there is a minimal family tree available here:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bellhtml/agbtree.html
As always I would recommend checking out the details yourself.
Kirsty
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Hi Sandy,
Thanks for clarifying your tree. I spent some time soing some research on Alexander Graham Bell's tree (thanks for posting that one Kirsty) to see where the connection with the Canonbie Bells might be, and I haven't found anything yet.
Yes, Kirsty you are right, there are a lot of Bells in Rowanburn. ;)
I have some doubts about the AGBell connection though, as online trees have his Bell ancestors originating in Edinburgh and going back through generations in Fife and St Andrews whereas ours are in Dumfires as far back as we know.
I realise that "aunt" could mean cousin or other distant relative, but unless we find one of our Bells on the East coast or one of their Bells on the west coast, I'm afraid I think there may have been a mix up somewhere. You only ned to search the IGI for Alexander Bell born any date and there are huge numbers of them. And of course the middle name of Graham was added when he was older.
However I will keep looking. I haven't done much research of siblings of the direct ancestors so perhaps one of them connects somewhere, though they all appear to be very humble folks, so I have my doubts.
My Francis Bell was chr 1768 in Lymiecleugh. ;) The family lived in the Canonbie area for generations. Kirsty is correct - you should check as much as you can yourself. On the IGI several of the children born to Francis Bell and Margaret Nichol are submitted records (your Adam is one such submitted christening). As they are not my direct line I have put question marks beside their names as something to investigate further, however they do have full dates so are probably accurate.
There are dozens of posts on rootschat where people are trying to prove family rumours of links to famous people - sometimes the rumour is proven true, but often not. :-\ Your ggrandfather may have been told and truly believed there was a link to AG Bell and passed on the information in good faith to his neice, but it still unfortunately may not be true.
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Kirsty
Thanks for catching the incorrect date, you're right I accidentally put James & Isobel's instead of William & Hannahs April 23, 1823.
I find the family tree incredibly challenging because not only are there so many relative's but the names keep repeating. I'm going to go out and buy tons of post-it note's and use one of my walls as a giant family tree and stick the names on the wall to get the 'big' picture -- I'm sure it will fill the wall.
Thanks again ;D for your assistance you've been a tremendous help in redirecting me to links and other posts.
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Message for Ruskie.
I notice you have a Margaret Nichol in your tree.
I have a Margaret Nichol born. circa 1781 who married John Armstrong around 1803
Is there any connection?
Big Ooms
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Welcome to rootschat BigOoms.
I'm afraid that we are talking about two different Margaret Nichols. Mine was christened in 1733. Thanks for contacting me anyway.
If you need any help with your research please start a new thread and I'm sure there'll be lots of people keen to help you.
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Than.ks for replying Ruskie.. I will post a thread re my research.