Widowed at age 45, Eddie supported her family as a share cropper and midwife. Despite living in the "Jim Crow" South, she performed as a midwife for both black and white women. During World War II she rented rooms to the wives of military men stationed at nearby Fort Stewart. Eddie loved to talk nonstop, a trait inherited by her granddaughter Kathleen Bell Neely. She always grew lots of flowers. Eddie was an excellent seamstress who could look at a photo of a dress in a magazine and sew it to perfection. She passed along this sewing ability to her daughter and namesake, Edna Josephine "Jo" Bell Deal. Eddie's great-granddaughter Sharlotte remembers all the doll clothes she crocheted. Sharlotte also remembers the beautiful quilts made by Great-grandma Bell. Eddie taught her children that there was no shame in being poor, only in being lazy.
Even in her old age, when she was blind in one eye and had a broken hip, Edna insisted on living in her own home (though near her daughter Mary Caroline Irene Bell Smith). Her children installed an intercom system once she broke her hip so that they could come when she needed help. It was thought she would never walk on her own again, and when her children heard over the intercom someone walking around in her house, they rushed over to see who the intruder was. When they arrived, they discovered the walker was Edna who decided she would not let her hip keep her from walking.
Her heritage was English, Scots, and Irish, and she was a direct descendant of artist Joseph Badger.
Edna died at age 78 on July 13, 1959 near Hinesville in Liberty County, Georgia. She is buried at Little Creek Cemetery in Bryan County next to her beloved husband Clayton.
Thanks so much to daughter-in-law Nevada McClelland Bell and Bell and Downs family researchers for much of this information. Any errors, however, are mine alone. Please go to the "edit" link on this site with any corrections or additions.
Widowed at age 45, Eddie supported her family as a share cropper and midwife. Despite living in the "Jim Crow" South, she performed as a midwife for both black and white women. During World War II she rented rooms to the wives of military men stationed at nearby Fort Stewart. Eddie loved to talk nonstop, a trait inherited by her granddaughter Kathleen Bell Neely. She always grew lots of flowers. Eddie was an excellent seamstress who could look at a photo of a dress in a magazine and sew it to perfection. She passed along this sewing ability to her daughter and namesake, Edna Josephine "Jo" Bell Deal. Eddie's great-granddaughter Sharlotte remembers all the doll clothes she crocheted. Sharlotte also remembers the beautiful quilts made by Great-grandma Bell. Eddie taught her children that there was no shame in being poor, only in being lazy.
Even in her old age, when she was blind in one eye and had a broken hip, Edna insisted on living in her own home (though near her daughter Mary Caroline Irene Bell Smith). Her children installed an intercom system once she broke her hip so that they could come when she needed help. It was thought she would never walk on her own again, and when her children heard over the intercom someone walking around in her house, they rushed over to see who the intruder was. When they arrived, they discovered the walker was Edna who decided she would not let her hip keep her from walking.
Her heritage was English, Scots, and Irish, and she was a direct descendant of artist Joseph Badger.
Edna died at age 78 on July 13, 1959 near Hinesville in Liberty County, Georgia. She is buried at Little Creek Cemetery in Bryan County next to her beloved husband Clayton.
Thanks so much to daughter-in-law Nevada McClelland Bell and Bell and Downs family researchers for much of this information. Any errors, however, are mine alone. Please go to the "edit" link on this site with any corrections or additions.
Inscription
"Meet us in heaven where all is love."
Family Members
-
Margaret Tululu "Lula" Downs Slater
1857–1931
-
James Ainsworth Downs
1859–1924
-
Annie Terrisa Downes Clanton
1862–1946
-
Sarah Elizabeth "Lizzie" Downs
1864–1871
-
Collock Hammond "Collie" Downs
1867–1932
-
William Carlton "Billy" Downs
1867–1939
-
Mary Caroline Downs Shuman
1870–1948
-
Jesse Melville "Mellie" Downs
1872–1946
-
Emma Frances Downs
1873–1878
-
Infant Downs
-
Infant Downs
-
Marvin Barnard Bell
1897–1940
-
Birdie Mae Bell Roberts
1899–1975
-
Ruby Robena Bell McClelland
1901–1975
-
James Roy Bell Sr
1904–1969
-
Robert Travis Bell
1907–1907
-
Lester Wyley Bell
1908–1987
-
Willie Oscar Bell
1911–1989
-
Lois Netherae Bell Peyton
1913–2005
-
Mary Irene Bell Smith
1916–1995
-
Edna Josephine "Jo" Bell Deal
1921–2014
-
David Clayton Bell Jr
1923–1966