1884 - Mrs. Katherine Ann (Elwood) Bell
Major Bell's first wife, photographed at the Bell Farmhouse, Indian Head, 1884.
Mrs. Katherine Ann (Elwood) Bell (1851-1895) was born in Kemptville, Ontario, the daughter of James Galt Elwood and Mary Jane [Caldwell] Elwood. She married Major Bell on Dec. 17, 1867 in Prescott, Ontario. (According to the 1880 American census, her name was A. Catherine Bell. Also, some records spell her maiden name as "Ellwood", and some sources spell her given name as “Catherine”. To distinguish her from Major Bell’s scond wife - Catherine Ormiston - we will use “Katherine” for his first wife.)
Katherine and Major Bell had a son: Sherwood Ambler Bell, who was born in Elizabethtown, Ontario in June 1868, and died on March 4, 1870.
Katherine accompanied her husband when he moved to Hallock, Minnesota to establish the Bell-Kelso bonanza farm, and is documented in the 1880 American census for that community. Mrs. Bell later moved to Indian Head, North-West Territories, where her husband established the much larger Bell Farm.
Katherine Bell was raised in the Presbyterian Church and was a member of the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at Indian Head, established on land donated by her and Major Bell.
At the Bell Farm, she presided over various social activities, and accompanied Major Bell on many of his travels in North America and Europe.
Mrs. Bell became seriously ill with appendicitis in mid October 1895 and Dr. Blanchard of Winnipeg was called in to minister to her; however, she died on Oct. 14th, 1895. Her remains were transported by rail to Brockville, Ontario for burial in the Old Protestant Cemetery. Many Winnipeg friends and associates of Major and Katherine Bell met the train as it passed through Winnipeg, including:
Mr. & Mrs. J.S. Aikins, Mr. & Mrs. W.B. Scarth, Mrs. F.H. Brydges, Mr. Darby Taylor, Mrs. J. MacBeth, Capt. Donaldson, Dr. & Mrs. Blanchard, Mr. A.J.M. Aikins, Mr. Culver, and Mr. J. Patterson. (Further information on these people can be found elsewhere in this section of the website.)
SOURCES:
Photo: McCord Museum, Montreal - Notman Collection, image: V1385
Marriage: Livingston, Edwin A. Leeds & Grenville Counties Marriage Register, 1858-1968, Vol. 27, 1988 (929.371373 at NYPL), page 39.i
Ontario Death Registration: # 9029-1870. Sherwood Ambler Bell, died 4 March 1870 at age 1 year, 9 months.
U.S.A. Census for June 1880: Kittson County, Minnesota, Township 161, Range 49.
United Church of Canada Archives (Saskatchewan) - St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Indian Head - Communion Roll and Communion Register: (1886-95)
Winnipeg Daily Tribune, Oct. 15, 1895
Qu'Appelle Progress, Oct. 17, 1895
Qu’Appelle Progress, Oct. 24, 1895
Burial Register: Old Protestant Cemetery, Brockville, Ref. L&G-86-2 (County of Leeds, Township of Elizabethtown).
RESEARCH BY:
Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask.; Libby (Bell) & Blair MacAulay, Oakville, Ontario; and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.