| Name |
Joab (of Geo & Leah) Bell [1] |
| Birth |
Abt 1730 |
Marionville, Northampton Co, Virginia  [1, 2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Biography |
- Joab Bell would have been in his late teens in the early 1840's and may have begun farming with his father, who would have been around fifty years old at this time. We know that in 1766, when Joab was forty-two years old, he purchased a 130 acre plantation on the seaside road in Marionville from William and Peggy Sturgis for a sum of 245 pounds. This plantation became his home and was where he and his wife lived at the time of his death in 1794. This is thought to be the land that is the Margaret Wood farm in 1995.
Joab Bell married Kiziah Brickhouse and they raised four daughters, Sarah, Adar, Abigail and Ann, and three sons, Isaac, William and George (III). We don't know the church affiliation of Joab and Kiziah or of their children. They could have been Anglican, their grandfather's church, Quaker, their grandmother's church, or even Presbyterian, a third church on the Shore at that time. Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia documents that Bell families were vestremen and members of Hungars Parrish and members of Accomack Parishes after 1712. The full names of the individuals, however, were not preserved.
While many Quakers were forced to leave the Eastern Shore under the 1659-60 "Suppression of Quakers" Act, Ames notes that "Some Quakers remained on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, holding to their beliefs with a quiet tenacity, and with occasional clashes with local authorities". Over time the hostility subsided and the people of the Shore came to accept and respect the Quakers, as well as the Presbyterians. The English Tolerance Act of 1689 gave freedom of worship to Protestant dissenters, but that act was not applied to Virginia by the General Assembly until 1699. It was not until 1705 that the acts concerning Quakers were repealed by the General Assembly and Quakers were given their full religious freedom. The Anglican Church, nevertheless, remained the dominant church on the Eastern Shore during the first half of the eighteenth century. Ames notes that the church "held it commanding position until it was undermined by the Baptists and Methodists dissenters of the Revolution Era."
Joab Bell was a part of this religious dissent and was converted to the Baptist religion. Elijah Baker, a Baptist preacher from Lunenberg County, came to the Eastern Shore and established some ten Baptist churches. Red Bank Baptist Church at Marionville, established in 1783, was the third Baptist church established on the Shore. Joab must have been a devout Baptist and a leader in establishing the new church since in his will he left "one-half acre of land where the meeting house now stands to the use of Baptist preachers for their use to preach forever and for no other purpose whatever." Red Bank Baptist Church stands on this land today.
Joab died in 1794 at the age of seventy. In his will, he left to his wife, Kiziah, the use of the home plantation for her life or widowhood, and no longer, and the use of one-third of the land "at the marsh" where son Issac lived. He further left Kiziah the use of all of his movable estate and she was left the Negro Pleasant forever. To son Issac, he left 100 acres where he lived. To son George he left the home plantation where Kiziah now lives, effective after her death or marriage. George was to pay Joab's debts, up to 20 pounds and he received one gun. To William he left land that he recovered from John Major, effective after the death or marriage of Kiziah. After the death or marriage of Kiziah, his moveable estate was to be divided between his daughters Abigail Dalby, Sarah Matthews, Ann Bell and Adar Gleson. His wife and son George were appointed executors.
Joab lived on the plantation adjoining the present Red Bank Baptist Church in Marionville, and this was passed on to George (III). It seem likely that the 100 acres "at the marsh" where Issac lived is the same 100 acres on Phillips Creek that Joab inherited from his father. The location of the John Major land left to William is unknown. Joab owned only one slave at the time of his death, compared to the seven owned by his father when he died 22 years earlier. This at a time when the slave population of the colony was still increasing.
|
| Will - Named in Father's will |
28 Dec 1771 |
Northampton County, Virginia, USA [1] |
- In his will George Bell Sr. gave to wife Leah loan of entire estate (except n. boy Peter) including 100 A. I dwell on. After wife's death the aforesaid plantation to my son Joab. To son Robert after his mother's death, n. fellow Jack. To dau. Rachel Isdall n. woman Jane. To dau. Anne Scott n. girl Esther. To dau. Elizabeth Bell n. woman Bridget. To dau. Hannah Bell n. girls Comfort and Patience. Negro boy Peter to be sold. Daus. Elizabeth and Hannah resid. legatees and extrxs. Trusty friends John Brickhouse and Hezekiah Brickhouse trustees. Witt: John Brickhouse, John Pettitt, Joseph Scott.
|
| Record ID |
75917 |
| Will |
27 Oct 1794 |
Northampton County, Virginia, USA [4] |
- In his will Joab Bell gave 1/2 A. where the meeting house now stands to the use of the baptist preachers for their use to preach. To my loving wife Keziah during her widowhood the use of all the land where I now live, 1/3 of all the land at the marsh where my son Isaac now lives, and n. Pleasant forever. To my son Isaac the 100 A. where he now lives. To my son George the land where I now live after wife's widowhood. To my son William all the land that I recovered of John Major. After wife's widowhood moveable estate to be div. by my four daus. Abigal Dolby, Sarah Matthews, Ann Bell and Ador Gleson. Wife, son George, and Rickards Dunton extrs. Witt: George Brickhouse, Jr., Daniel Scott, Thomas Smith.
|
| Death |
Bef 9 Dec 1794 |
Marionville, Northampton Co, Virginia [2, 4] |
- It was on this date that his will was probated.
|
 Siblings |
1 brother and 4 sisters |
| + | 1. Joab (of Geo & Leah) Bell, b. Abt 1730, Marionville, Northampton Co, Virginia d. Bef 9 Dec 1794, Marionville, Northampton Co, Virginia (Age < 64 years)
╚═Keziah 'Kazia' Brickhouse, b. Abt 1730, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Bef 12 Oct 1812, Marionville, Northampton Co, Virginia (Age < 82 years), m. Abt 1750
| | | 2. Robert (of Geo & Leah) Bell, b. Abt 1732, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown | | | 3. Rachel (of Geo & Leah) Bell, b. Abt 1734, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown
╚═(--?--) Isdell, b. Abt 1730, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown , m. Abt 1755, Northampton County, Virginia, USA
| | | 4. Ann (of Geo & Leah) Bell, b. Abt 1736, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown
╚═(--?--) Scott, b. Abt 1735, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown , m. Abt 1760, Northampton County, Virginia, USA
| | | 5. Elizabeth (of Geo & Leah) Bell, b. Abt 1740, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown | | + | 6. Hannah (of Geo & Leah) Bell, b. Abt 1750, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown
╚═William Gibb, (alias McDonald), b. Abt 1750 d. Bef 25 Oct 1824, Accomack County, Virginia, USA (Age < 74 years), m. 1 Jul 1773, Northampton County, Virginia, USA
|
|
Origins |
|
| Patriarch & Matriarch |
Robert Bell, b. Abt 1580, England d. 1657, England (Age 77 years) (2 x Great Grandfather)  Leah (--?--), b. Abt 1710, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Aft 28 Dec 1771, Marionville, Northampton Co, Virginia (Age > 61 years) (Mother) |
| Person ID |
I75917 |
MilesFiles23 |
| Last Modified |
8 Dec 2021 |
| Family |
Keziah 'Kazia' Brickhouse, b. Abt 1730, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Bef 12 Oct 1812, Marionville, Northampton Co, Virginia (Age < 82 years)
|
| Marriage |
Abt 1750 [4] |
| Children |
| + | 1. Isaac (of Joab) Bell, b. Abt 1750, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Bef 9 Oct 1815, Northampton County, Virginia, USA (Age < 65 years) |
| + | 2. Sarah 'Sally' (of Joab) Bell, b. Abt 1752, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 3. Abigail (of Joab) Bell, b. Abt 1756, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 4. Ann (of Joab) Bell, b. Abt 1760, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Bef 10 Sep 1838, Northampton County, Virginia, USA (Age < 78 years) |
| + | 5. Cpl. George (of Joab) Bell, b. 11 Mar 1760, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. 21 Apr 1834, Northampton County, Virginia, USA (Age 74 years) |
| | 6. Adah 'Ador' (of Joab) Bell, b. Abt 1765, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Yes, date unknown |
| + | 7. William (of Joab) Bell, b. Abt 1765, Northampton County, Virginia, USA d. Bef 9 Apr 1810, Northampton County, Virginia, USA (Age < 45 years) |
|
| Last Modified |
13 Mar 2023 |
| Family ID |
F24842 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Abt 1730 - Bef 1794 (< 64 years)
