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"Keeping the Story Real"
Photo taken at Montgomery Bell State Park; Copyright © 1998 - 2008
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Lucy Bell (1770-1837)
Born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina to a family of wealthy planters, Lucy Williams Bell was a pleasant and mild-mannered woman who was nearly always on Kate’s good side.
All throughout her reign of terror over the Bell family, Kate pretended to treat Mrs. Bell nicely -- singing to her, bringing her fruit when she was sick, and complimenting her kindness to others. The emotional damage suffered by Mrs. Bell, due Kate’s acts of physical abuse toward the rest of her family, most likely offset any benevolence that Kate displayed towards her. The mother of nine children, Mrs. Bell could neither read nor write, but was considered to be among the community's most intelligent people.
After John Bell’s death and estate settlement, Lucy Bell inherited one slave, Dean, and a 106-acre tract of land that included the Bell home and cemetery. She remained at the old homestead up until her death in 1837. Lucy Bell is buried in the old Bell Cemetery near Adams, Tennessee along with her husband and some of their children.