Hello folks: Wondering if there's anybody out there who has taken a look at the possible relationship between Col. Ninian Bell (Beall) and Alexander Graham Bell. They have a lot of common denominators, the first being that both their branches of the Clan Bell come from Fife. Ninian's through Alexander Bell (b. 1565) and Margaret Ramsey in Largo parish; Alexander Graham Bell's through his ancestors in St. Andrews & St. Leonards parish in Fife. As you Beall researchers are no doubt aware, there's another Alexander Bell (born 1625) and Margaret Ramsay (note slightly different surname spelling) from St. Andrews & St. Leonards parish, many of whose children ended up emigrating to Maryland in the second half of the 17th century. And Ninian refers to those St. Andrews Bells (Bealls) as his "kin" in assorted land and court documents. I've never been able to sort out exactly how he's related to the St. Andrews Bells -- it could be that Alexander of Largo is the father or uncle of Alexander of St. Andrews, or they're cousins, the evidence just isn't there to explore any more. But the two towns are, after all, only 14 miles apart in Fife. Now, to get to Alexander Graham Bell and Alexander of St. Andrews: The earliest definite ancestor of Alexander Graham I've been able to find in St. Andrews are his great-great-great-great grandparents, James Bell and Janet Whyte who married in St. Andrews ca. 1680. Alexander of St. Andrews is the son of William Bell (born ca. 1595) a brabener, or weaver in St. Andrews. If William had a son named James, the connection to Alexander might just be there. An unidentified James pops up in the LDS IGI records: James Bell - (born ca. 1620 died? no parents listed) Married Janet Robertsone ca. 1640. (They're the best fit for parents of James (above, who married Janet Whyte). If James (born 1620) can be traced back to William and forward James Bell and Janet Whyte, the connection is made to Alexander of St. Andrews. That still leaves us to figure out the relationship between Alexander of St. Andrews and Alexander of Largo. Has anybody else been doing any work on this? If anybody wants my table of the telephone inventor's ancestry, I'd be happy to email it. Dennis Bell (of the Largo, Fife Bells) Burnaby, B.C. Canada