In January of 1913 George Bell (son of Silas Bell and Mary Ellen Caylor) was ordained a minister of the Baptist faith. Affectionately called "Preacher George" he ministered to members of the Bell Hill Baptist Church for several decades. During these years at Bell Hill Church, Rev. Bell kept personal diaries of happenings within the county. In his ledger books he began recording the deaths of church members, neighbors, friends, and family beginning in 1905, several years before the State of Kentucky required death certificates to be issued. Rev. Bell continued to record deaths in the county until his own death in 1962 when his sister, Liza Bell Bennett took over the practice. Rev. Bell and his wife Ernie (Bertram) are buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery near Sunnybrook, KY. These records kept by Rev. Bell are priceless and we are so fortunate that they survive today. Together with Eileen Mullins (a Bell descendant) we have transcribed two of the books kept by Rev. Bell. We have sorted these records in alphabetical order rather than by date for easy searching. Some of the entries include the person's age at his or her death, maiden names are sometimes included for married women, and occasionally the cause of death is listed. There may be some date discrepancies, but usually within one day. Please note that if a person was accidentally killed or murdered by someone, that person's name was also written down. We feel that this information is important and because these deaths happened over 40 years ago we have chosen to include those names as well. To protect the privacy of the individuals who now own the books, we will not give out their names or forward inquiries. Below is an example of what you will find on our new web page. Books are divided by years 1904-1943 and 1944-1962. (Please note: We have no further information than what is already listed here.) -A- (--?--) Maggie (Mrs.) 9-24-1942 65 yrs Abbott J.S. (Rev.) 3-02-1921 Abbott Jode 3-28-1932 Albertson Nicholas (Rev.) 4-06-1939 88 yrs Alexander Joe 2-26-1937 76 yrs Alexander Mollie 3-21-1939 74 yrs Anderson Cansada 7-11-1927 Anderson Elton 1-14-1929 Anderson Felie 2-11-1929 Anderson General 8-21-1936 killed by Herman Clark Anderson James R. 2-15-1929 Anderson Jane 6-29-1924 Anderson Linda 8-03-1926 Anderson Luke 11-21-1928 Anderson Manuel 2-06-1932 Anderson Melvin 3-21-1929 Anderson Shade 5-13-1922 Anderson Willbern 3-07-1920 Arnold Booth 4-18-1941 Asberry Daisy 3-02-1942 http://www.rootsweb.com/~kywaycem/georgebelldeathrecords.html We are looking for pictures of Rev. Bell and/or his congregations. Please contact me if have photos to share. - Marilyn ===== Marilyn Gregory Fisher, CC Wayne Co, KYGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~kywayne/wayne.html Wayne Co, KY Cemetery Project http://www.rootsweb.com/~kywaycem/index.html Gregorys of Wayne Co, KY http://www.geocities.com/hoosierma/ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail