The family occupied the land during and after the Civil War. Allie was a daughter to Dave Rae and a sister to Leon Melton’s Grandma Sanders of Onega. The Bell family produced cotton and peanuts on this farm.

The photo for this week is of the Jim Bell home. Upon close examination, you will note that the house was an original two room boxed house, and if you look at the roof line closely, it will show that the next room which appears to be of a wood frame construction and an addition to the original three rooms. That part of the house had a wood burning fireplace on the north side of the structure. The building was made with cyprus and appears to have been unpainted for many years.

The family is shown sitting in the front yard next to the rows of cotton that were cultivated right up next to the house, leaving very little space for a yard around the house.

The storm cellar is on the right side of the house to the rear. Note that the foundation of the farm home was the iron ore stones that are a custom in this neighborhood.

There are spaces on the corners as the rooms existed when the houses were built room by room. The construction of the rooms indicated that the economic conditions on the farm were of such that when a good year of crop harvests were made, then an addition was made to the home. Also as the family increased in numbers, rooms to the home were added.

Many of the Indians that migrated into the Onega region during this period were of the friendly Cherokee tribes. As they located into a neighborhood, they observed the construction of the homes of the early day settlers and provided labor for construction of the settler’s homes. The Native Americans would then take this knowledge back to their property and likewise begin construction of a home for their family as can be seen in the home of the Bell family.

The lake that this family built was later called the McNatt lake. The McNatts later improved the lake and property and were living in Aubrey during the 1930 census.

A good portion of the land today is a part of the Wilson Brown properties and the Polo Farm.

Jim Bell and his wife Allie are seated in their yard with their children. On the far left was Rae Bell, Herman Bell, and the small child on Jim Bell’s lap is Arey. This photo is believed to be made sometime around the 1860's.

Leon Melton, a descendant of the Bell family said that the house was still in existence during the late 1930's and early 1940's. The photo was provided from Leon Melton’s collection.