Robert Kennedy’s family came from England and went down the Mississippi River from St. Louis to the New Orleans Country.He married to Elizabeth Dixon,whose sister married Andrew Jackson’s father.The Dixon’s lived in Tennessee.Our grandmother was Elizabeth Dixon Kennedy, and her brother Tom, lived in Bonham, Texas in later life as did her older sister, Jane, who married a Ridings, and her son, Louis Ridings was the one who used to visit us.His daughter was Laura Duckworth, who used to live in Durant (OK).(Hope Ridings was his daughter-in-law or grand-daughter-in-Law,, she is the writer)

Robert Allen Bell and Elizabeth Dixon Kennedy lived in Mississippi after they married.They had 12 children, some died in infancy.Emma* Bellmarried Ellis Pickens, and their children were, Anna, who married John Henry Salmon, Don Bell, who married W. R. P Perkins, Lena, who never married, Beaula* who married a man named Asby, and Fannie Moss Bell, and I can’t remember who she married.They all lived in Mississippi.

R_berdDonald Bell married Martha Woods, and their children, were Gertrude, Clyde, William, Robert, and Mattie.Mattie is the only one living and she is in Texas City.

Hugh Allen Bell married Ollie (I don’t know her last name) They had three children, Thrase, and twins Cleylon and Clyde ( a girl).They all lived in Mississippi..

Thomas Allen Bell (Duck) married Janis Payton Donaldson, (was kin to the Rachel Donaldson, who married Andrew Jackson.They had four children, Robert Andrew

Payton Donaldson, who married _______, Sallie Irma Donaldson who married Marshall Jamison.

Lelia Bell married Willis R. Collins, and they moved to Texas, later to Durant, Indian Territory.They had 12 children, Jettie, who married Himer Glenn; Jessie, whose last husband was Ingram Calbour, Ivy, whose last husband was John (Salabel knows thename) Ernest married Merale. ( I did not know her name as she came from Florida) Elizabeth married Albert Sidney Johnson, she is divorced and lives in Merkal, Texas.  Robert married a long time after he left home; Forrest May, married three times and I do not know any of her names; Horton died as a little child, and a little girl, I’ve forgotten her name, but she was my age, died as a child.Bailey, also married, and so did Dan, but Dan died a number of years ago.

Sarah Frances Bell married John F. Carrall, who was a Methodist Circuit Rider and who had served as a drummer boy in the Confederate Army.

Mary Caroline Bell married General Forrest Atkison and they came from Pontotoc County, Mississippi, to Durant, Indian Territory.

They had eight children, Con Ellis, who married Anne McDonald; Connie (s/p) Elizabeth who married Winfred Salter, and they have one child, Mary Alice; Walter Forrest Atkison died in infancy.Sallie Bell Atkison married Dabney W. Sneed, and they have one son, Joe.William Leonard Atkison married Lucille Waldan and they have one son, Bill.Lettie Atkison married Otto M. Morse, and both died.They had one son, James, Thalma Atkison married Robert T. Daniels and they have two sons, Billy Bob and Larry.

On Papa’s side of the family, the Atkisons (or Atkins) came from England originally.They came into Alabama and then into South Mississippi.Giles Manual (s/p) Atkison married Margraet (s/p) Gray, whose mother was a Forrest, and they had three girls, Cammie (s/p)who burned to death as a child, Mary, who married several times but Johnson was the name her children went by, and Sallie, who married William Boeckmann, and they lived near ?e?eom, Texas, General Forrest Atkison was born during the Civil War when the gorillas were following Sherman’s march to the sea.Their house was burned and his mother burned with it.Aunt Mary, who was seven took Forrest and Sallie to the homes of neighbors, as Grandpa was in the army.A family who had a small boy took Papa with them to Alabama.When Grandpa came home he found the house had burned and they buried the bones and things.He found Aunt Mary, but Aunt Salle was with another family, and later came to Texas.When Papa was ll years old he came back to Mississippi and found Grandpa, who had married his aunt, her name was Mary Larrimore, and her husband had been killed in the war.They had two sons, Ubiee (s/p) and John, and then they had a daughter,????????, who Grandpa lived with.

I am going to write to some of the Ridings family to see if they have the Kennedy or Dixon family trees.It will be interesting to have, Lewis Salter got both sides of the Salter family as a hobby, and found that one of the forefathers, Peter Salter, fought in the Revolutionary War which makes the Salter girls eligible to join the daughters of the American Revolution if they want to.The girls and boys in the Atkison family are eligible to join the Sons or Daughters of the Confederacy, if they want to.I am sort of glad to get this together, for we are the only ones who might ever be interested.At least there were no relatives hung as horse thieves or held for mutiny or insurrection.

Had letters from both of you, I go this week end for another check-up on my eyes, and don’t know what the outcome will be, but am sure that he won’t operate before Christmas, as I won’t have time.Heard last night that the big Braniff jet place that we came from Dallas on, had exploded near Dallas.It was a lavish plane.

Love Sis

This is an add-to to the family tree, which as you probably noted, had several branches.Salabel (s/p) noted the absence of the Williams family, and also noted that so many came from Tennessee.Memphis was the gateway to the people who wanted to cross the Mississippi River, and it could be crossed there by ferry, as it could be in St. Louis, and people came there to wait for enough colonist to come to the Indian Territory, Texas, or other places, so they could not come alone.Some of them established homes and farms and did very well, so they just stayed there.

Children of Jessie Green Williams and Margaret Elizabeth Bell

Elizabeth Bell married Jessee G. Williams, and they came from Mississippi to Bone County, later ??van (probably Irvin), and were farmers in the Roberta and Utica area.She died oftuberculosis (consumption they called it) before Jones was born. 

They had a large number of children, and those growing to adult were Gilbert Allen, married a Condit girl who died and later married Sallie, no children.James married Ella Alverson, and they now live in Elsa, Texas where they had two boys 

Castilla, who married Will Neeley and they lived in New Albany, Mississippi.He died and they had one child, Will (Bill) Neeley, Jr.

Elizabeth, who married George Hubbard, they had three children. She died in the flue epidemic in 1917. After Elizabeth’s death George married her sister Mary Emma and they had one son, Ambrose (Bud).They moved back to New Albany, Mississippi. 

Note: There really five children - three boys and two girls.Their names were James Gilbert (J. G, ), Monta Ray (Dude), Cecil George, Buena May (died in infancy) and Opal Dean.

May, who married Jeff Turner and they lived in Mississippi, where he was warden of the state penitentiary until his retirement.They had three children.

John Ellis, who married Mabel Howard, they had two children.He remarried and was killed in a car wreck while sheriff of (it appears to be Bryan) County.

Robert (it appears to by Payton) “Pate” who married {it appears to be Mayde (s/p)Youray (s/p)}, and they had four children live around Roberta.

Jack French, who married Maude ----- and they lived near Utica.They had some children, one the age of Forrest was burned when their house burned.

Lewis Clark, married Verba Greenwood, and after she died he married her sister and they live in California.

Note: It was Eric Hayes

Grandma and Grandpa Bell are buried in the Old Indian Cemetery in Durant, and Aunt Bettie is burried there beside them.  Uncle Jess lost his mind and died in the State Hospital in Mississippi, and they buried him in Jackson, for his daughter lived there.  Papa always had a ---- of the Old Cemetery and begged Momma for years to remove our  brother Walter Forrest, from there to the New Cemetery, which was the Highland.I don’t know if Uncle John and Aunt Sallie are buried on the old family lot or not, its been 40 years since I was there.

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