JANE BELL 1814-1905
BELL, EMMERSON, SANDERSON, SMITH
Posted By: L.K. Newby (email)
Date: 9/13/2006 at 17:18:06
Fort Madison Weekly Democrat– February 1905
Obituary—Jane Bell
Jane Emerson-Bell was born near Scarborough in Scalby Parish, Yorkshire, England, on April 14, 1814. She was the fourth daughter of William and Nanney Smyth/Smith EMMERSON in a family of eight children, three brothers and four sisters.
Miss Jane Emerson was married to John Bell in Hunmanby Parish, south of Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, on May 1, 1837, and on the 24th of the same month embarked on a sailing vessel which had just been launched and was bound for Quebec, Canada; they landed at Buffalo, N.Y., and thence proceeded to Portsmouth, Ohio, and from there to Morgan county, Illinois. After spending three years in Morgan county they crossed the Mississippi and purchased a tract of land upon which she has lived until her death at 2 a.m., February 3, 1905.
Two brothers and one sister who also immigrated to the United States have preceded her in death William EMMERSON of Macoupin county, Illinois; Michael EMMERSON, Marion township and Eleanor SANDERSON, Pleasant Ridge township of this county. Besides her parents and siblings, she was preceded in death by one son, Michael, who died at 4 years of age in 1846.
Mrs. Bell leaves a family of three sons; William Emmerson of Springfield, Illinois; Isaac Clyde and Robert Edward of this county; nineteen grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren, together with innumerable friends who will mourn the loss of one who has been a devoted mother, grandmother and friend to the last.
She enjoyed reasonably good health up until about one week before her death. Grandma Bell has made her home with her son Robert for the last fifteen years, since the death of her husband, John on April 8, 1889.
For a day or two previous to her death she talked a great deal about going home and often spoke of her husband coming for her and seemed satisfied at last that he had come and in this satisfied state of mind seemed to sleep away and died with the slightest struggle at the age of 90 years, 9 months and 20 days.
Early in life she accepted Christ and has been a devoted Christian ever since. At the time of her death she was a member of the Christian church at Big Mound. Funeral services were held at the Methodist Episcopal church at Clay Grove Sunday at 11 o’clock, conducted by Rev. C. W. Cochran of West Point, he using as his text, “Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth I me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” She was laid to rest in the cemetery at Clay Grove.
[This was transcribed for Lee county Iowa genealogy purposes, the news clipping was found among other family scrapbook items gathered by Mrs. J.M. Newby, 1882-1964.]
Clay Grove Cemetery
Lee Obituaries maintained by Sherri Turner.
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