Soldier Information
Name: Shelby Bell
Alias:
Place of Birth: Shelby KY Year of Birth: 1846
Occupation: Farm hand
Eyes: Dark Hair: Dark Complexion: Black
Height in Feet: 5 Inches: 11
View Ledger
Enlistment Information
Enlistment Date: June 27, 1864
Enlistment Place: Louisville
Enlistment State: KY
Compiled Military Service Record
Document: View
Congressional District: 5th
Company: F Regiment(s): 108th USCI
Mustered Where: Louisville, KY
Mustered Out Date:
Rank at Muster Out:
Notes:
Slave compensation claim application made by Hiram Bell appointed trustee for brother Montgomery Bell; “Shelby Bell. . .inherited from the estate of his father Patterson Bell who died in 1853. . .Hiram Bell has held slave in his possession since 1856. . .”
Soldier Death Information
Died in war? Yes
Military Death Date: June 1, 1865
Military Death Location: Rock Island, Illinois
Military Cause of Death: Peritonitis
Death Date: June 1, 1865
Cause of Death: Peritonitis
Death Certificate
Soldier Pension Information
No pension card found
No widow pension card found
No other family pension card found
Pension File Information
Pension File: Pension File
Pensioners: Mary Edmonson
Pensioner County: Jefferson Pensioner State: KY
Number of Pages:88
Pension Notes:
This soldier’s military and pension records were mistakenly combined with those of another deceased USCT soldier named Shelby Bell. As a result, the pension was awarded to the wrong widow.
It should be noted the Shelby Bell married to Mary Edmondson is NOT the Shelby Bell, 18 yo, of Co. F 108th Regt USCI. The pension file reveals these were two different men with the same name; the Union Army however can only produce one military file for a Shelby Bell of Co. F 108th and that is the teenage Shelby Bell. There is no record of Shelby Edmondson alias Shelby Bell ever having served in the USCT.
Fannie Watts, who claimed to be the sister of Shelby Bell who served in Co. F, 108th regiment as a teenager, contacted the Pension Bureau or Special Examination Division disputing the eligibility of Mary Bell, who claimed and was awarded a pension for Shelby Bell’s (of Marion County, KY) service. An investigation was conducted, showing evidence that a military service record had not been created for the older Shelby Bell who served from Marion County, KY, and the pension was granted, in error, to Mary Bell under the younger Shelby Bell’s service information.
Freedman’s Bank/Freedmen’s Bureau Information
No Freedman’s Bank information found
No Freedmen’s Bureau Documents found
Family Information
Mother First Name: Mother Maiden Name:
Father First Name: Reuben Father Last Name: Butler
Siblings: Fannie Watts
Wife #1 First Name: Maiden Name:
Wife #2 First Name: Maiden Name:
Wife #3 First Name: Maiden Name:
Children:
Family Notes:
Shelby Bell, 18 yo, of Co. F 108th was never married and had no children. His sister Fannie Watts related there were 5 siblings in all but only she and Shelby lived until at least 1865. In the widow pension file for Mary Bell, Fannie named her other siblings as Lucy, Jim, and Viney but does not give birth dates, ages, or surnames. Jim lived in Missouri; one of the Bell family enslavers, James L. Bell lived in Missouri. In the 1850 US Slave Schedule, James Bell resided in Cooper County, Missouri had 19 enslaved individuals. Among the males, is a 6 yo child who could very well have been Fannie’s brother Jim.
Family Tree: View
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1870 Census
1870 Census information not found
1880 Census
1880 Census information not found
1890 Census
1890 Census information not found
1900 Census
1900 Census Link: View
1900 Profession: Laundress
1900 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1900 Own/Rent: Unknown 1900 Home Free/Mortgage: Unknown 1900 Farm/House: Unknown
1900 Census Notes:
Fannie Watts is listed as a boarder in the 1900 census but she actually lived on 8th Street in Louisville. This record includes a number of L & N RR workers who were probably temporarily housed in Louisville en route to other destinations served by L & N. Her occupation is laundress which is the same occupation found for her in the city directories.
1910 Census
1910 Census information not found
1920 Census
1920 Census information not found
Enslaver Information
Name: Montgomery Bell Location: Shelby County, Kentucky
Previous Enslaver: Patterson Bell
Enslaver Notes:
Hiram Bell was appointed trustee or ‘Committee’ for his brother Montgomery who was deemed a lunatic. The brothers lived together from the time of their father Patterson’s death until Hiram and his wife died in the early 1870’s. In the 1860 Slave Schedule, Hiram Bell is only listed as having one enslaved individual but this was not Shelby Bell. Shelby may have been in the household of one Hiram’s other brothers Patterson, Jr, or William.
1850 Enslaver Census
1850 Census Link: View
1850 Slave Schedule Link: View
1850 Number of Enslaved: 7
1860 Enslaver Census
1860 Census Link: View
1860 Real Estate Value: $12,000 1860 Personal Estate Value: $2500
1860 Slave Schedule Link: View
1860 Number of Enslaved: 1
1870 Enslaver Census
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Real Estate Value: $8000 1870 Personal Estate Value: $1800
1880 Enslaver Census
Compensation Information
Compensation Applied? Yes Compensation Received? No