Should it be an "A" or Should it be a "W"?

      John Andrew Bell was the son of John Richard Bell and father of John Fletcher Bell. All three live in Labette County, Kansas in 1775¹.  

      But wait a minute.  That 1775 Kansas Territorial Census shows the name John W. Bell.  How do I know that this is my John A. Bell?  This John Bell was born in Indiana and lived in Indiana prior to coming to Kansas. That is what I expected.  He was married to Amanda who was born in Kentucky.  He had a son named John Fletcher Bell.  The ages are about what I would expect.  If we examine land records, a John W. Bell owns land adjacent to a Benjamin F. Jones and near John R. Bell and Mildred Bell.  Benjamin Fletcher Jones is the father-in-law of John A. Bell. Mildred Bell was his mother.  I am convinced that this John W. Bell is the same person as my John A. Bell.

     For some reason all records that I have found prior to Labette County refer to a John Bell.  In Labette County the records refer to our John A. Bell several times as James W. Bell and then in 1885 as John H. Bell³.  When the family moved west to Comanche County for a few years, land records referred to him as John W. Bell.  

     After the family arrived in Stevens County, John A. Bell was the name used.  It was used in court records, land records, tombstone, and a published county history.  For now I am leaving the name, John Andrew Bell, in my records, but  . . .
     Why did the name change?  Was it intentional or accidental?  I would love to know the reason.


1. Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1875 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: ks1875_10; Line: 75  Ancestry.com. Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.
2. "HistoryGeo.com" 14 July 2015 <https://www.historygeo.com/>
3. Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1885 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: KS1885_69; Line: 1  Ancestry.com. Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

Small Town Americana

The Gazebo at Old Town Poway Park

     Yesterday, we drove a few miles down Interstate 15 in order to listen to the Shoreline Symphonic Winds play at the Pomerado Community Band Festival in Poway.  The band set up in the gazebo of the Old Town Poway Park.  As I was enjoying the band play, I was reminded of images of Small Town Americana. 

     The music was great and in spite of the recent nearby fires, the sky was clear and weather was great.  

     As the band played I though back to our ancestors who played in community bands like L. J. Kilbourn and J. F. Bell in Hugoton, Kansas¹.  It is too bad we can't go back in time to listen to them play.

     

         Why did we drive for an hour to listen to an hour of music?  It might have something to do with our son, Luke, who played the baritone sax in the Shoreline Symphonic Winds.

1. "The Early 1900s." The History of Stevens County & Its People. Hugoton, Kansas: Stevens County Historical Association, 1979.