Notes for James Bell: James Bell came with his brother Thomas to Austin's Colony 1821-22 from Florida. They bought and sold much land in Austin County. Together they donated land to form the town of Bellville as the county seat of Austin County after the former county seat of San Felipe had been burned during Santa Anna's march toward Harrisburg from the Alamo.
James married Margaret Grimes Ray and settled in what is now Waller county on his league of land. At his death, Bell had 16 slaves and 8888 acres of land (7777 was all in one tract in Austin (now Waller & Grimes Counties). The land was on the east side of the Brazos River and stretched southward from the small town of Courtney. His neighbors were Jared Groce to the North East (Father of Cotton in Texas) and James Bell Stephenson to the east.
Bell died in 1859 and his will is located in the Austin County courthouse.
The 1850 census shows James Bell either 54 or 59 farmer NC (This fits in with other censuses for instance the 1830 census of Austin shows him to be 38 years old. which would put his birth date at 1792.) Living in this household are Margarette (Grimes) 36 TN, Rebecca 17 born TX (all children born TX) Dicey 16, Jane 14, Thomas 12, Margarette 8, Mathew 6, Elijah 3, Elizbeth 1 and Neveret Cloyd 28 a farmer from Alabama.
CEDAR CREEK CEMETERY WALLER COUNTY, TEXAS
The Cedar Creek Cemetery in Waller County, Texas is located on property that once belonged to James Bell. Bell received title to this land in the form of an original grant, three quarters of a league of land from the Mexican government in 1831. According to Stephen F. Austin’s 1830 Register of Families, James Bell, age 38, came to Texas in 1824 and took the oath in 1829. James Bell was born in North Carolina circa 1790. According to a history written by Judge John P. Bell in the early 1900’s entitled A History of Bellville, Texas 1898 to 1906, James and his brother Thomas Bell came to Texas from Florida in 1822 and were among the first twenty five families to come to Austin’s colony. W A Trenckmann, editor of the German newspaper, The Bellville Wochenblatt wrote in 1899, “ The first settler in this area was Joel Lakey, who settled on Caney Creek 75 years ago. Not long after, James and Thomas Bell settled on the spot where Cochran now stands.” The statement about settling in Cochran is substantiated in this quit claim recorded in 1860 at the Austin County Courthouse Record Book K, p 388-400 #334 “Margaret Bell granted to William W. Cochrane a quit claim…widow of James Bell, deceased…1/4 league of land situated on the West side of the Brazos River in said county and known as the upper of the two middle quarters of the league of land originally granted to William Smithers sold to James Cochrane by my deceased husband, July 30, 1837…” It is believed that this is the same land west of the Brazos River where Sam Houston camped and trained his troops prior to the Battle of San Jacinto. Bell’s wife was the former Margaret Grimes who came with her family, George and Eurydice Grimes to the colony in 1827 and is also listed in Austin’s Register of Families. She was 14 at the time and married to Robert Ray of New York who came to the colony in 1824. Margaret Grimes Ray married James Bell in 1831 in Washington County Texas. Thomas Bell married Margaret’s sister Abigail Grimes in 1828 by marriage bond. The two Bell brothers bought land from Nichols and later donated part of that land to form the town of Bellville when the Austin County seat was moved from San Felipe in 1848. Up until 1873, Waller County was part of Austin County. In 1831, James Bell received title to this land in northern Austin County. Bell later purchased an additional league from McLin Bracey. It is recorded in the deeds that his neighbor to the northeast was Jared Groce who was renowned as the Father of Cotton in Texas. It was also upon Groce’s land that Sam Houston moved his troops in 1836. James Bell’s son-in-law Newitt Cloyd who was found living on Bell’s plantation in 1850 became the manager of the Groce Plantation. Newitt Cloyd was born in 1821 in Clarke County Alabama. He came to Texas in the 1840’s with his wife Elizabeth and daughters Mary and Ophelia. Elizabeth died shortly after, and Newitt married Rebecca Bell, James Bell’s daughter. Betty Smith Meischen, discovered an ancient tombstone at the Cedar Creek cemetery that said Elizabeth Cloud on it. It is totally illegible today (2007) and has yaupon growing around it and another. Relatives told Betty that they visited the grave of James Bell at the Cedar Creek Cemetery in the 1950’s and found his tombstone. James Bell died in 1859 and he was buried on his homeplace in the Cedar Creek Cemetery. At the time of his death, Bell’s plantation was 7777 acres, stretching from the Brazos River east of present day Highway 6, and north just beyond Beason Creek below Courtney. It extended beyond Donoho Creek to the south. There is another old stone next to Elizabeth Cloud and it MAY have been that of Newitt Cloyd who was shot and killed in Hempstead in 1868. Newitt served as sheriff of Austin County in 1865. On the old hand carved wooden sign in the Cedar Creek Cemetery is the name of Thomas Norris veteran of the Texas Revolution. Thomas Bell b 1838, son of James and Margaret Bell, married Elmira A Norris, daughter of Thomas Norris.
1850 United States Federal Census
Name: James Bell Age: 54 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1796 Birth Place: North Carolina Gender: Male Home in 1850(City,County,State): Austin, Texas Household Members: Name Age Dicy Bell 16 Elijah Bell 3 Elizabeth Bell 1 James Bell 54 Jane Bell 14 Margarette Bell 36 Margarette Bell 8 Mathew Bell 6 Rebecca Bell 17 Thomas Bell 12 Neveret Cloyd 28
Living next to the family of William O Wilson SC where Mary & Ophelia Cloyd, daughters of Newitt (Neveret above) were living.
More About James Bell: Date born 2: 1789, NC.133 Date born 3: 1789, NC.133 Date born 4: 1789, NC.134 Date born 5: 1790, NC.135 Date born 6: 1790, NC.135 Date born 7: 1796, North Carolina, North Carolina.136 Date born 8: 1796, Randolph, North Carolina, USA.137 Date born 9: 1796, Randolph, North Carolina, USA.137 Date born 10: 1796, Randolph, North Carolina, USA.137 Date born 11: 1796, Randolph, North Carolina, USA.137 Died 2: 1859, Austin Co, Texas. Died 3: 18 Oct 1859, Austin, Texas, USA.137 Died 4: Oct 1860, AUSTIN CO., TX.138 Died 5: Oct 1860, AUSTIN CO., TX.138 Residence: 1850, Not Stated, Austin, Texas.139
More About James Bell and Margarette G Grimes: Marriage 1: 1832, Washington County TX.140, 140, 140, 140, 140 Marriage 2: 1832, Austin, Texas, USA.141 Marriage 3: 1832, TX.142
Children of James Bell and Margarette G Grimes are:
+Rebecca Bell, b. 1832, Austin Co, Texas, d. Aft. 1900, Hempstead, Texas, USA143.
James Bell (b. Bet. 1789 - 1796, d. 18 Oct 1859)
Notes for James Bell: