Infant Daughter of Mary Bell

Black female, stillborn on 30 June 1933 in Pensacola, FL. Mother was Mary Bell, born in Pensacola, FL; father’s information was left blank. The residence and place of the child’s birth was 1005 W. Wright Street, Pensacola. The informant was Mary Bell, 1005 W. Wright St. The child was buried at the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.

There were two women by the name of Mary Bell living at 1005 W. Wright Street at the time: Mary Bell (possibly née Anderson), and her daughter, Mary Louise Bell. I believe the mother of the child to be Mary Louise, as her mother was in her early 50s by 1933.

Mary Louise Bell had married Frank L. Simmons, Sr. in 1927, but he died in 1929, leaving her a widow. She married Colan Albert Clay in 1940 (they were divorced in 1944). This explains why, perhaps, she did not reveal the identity of the father, as she was unmarried at the time.

There are family trees on Ancestry.com for Mary, but none of them have much detail. Mary Louise Bell was born to Martin Bell and Mary Bell (one family tree indicates he was called “Sonny,” but there is no source for this. “Sunnie” Bell married Mary Anderson on 27 November 1906 in Pensacola, hence my proposal for Mary Bell’s maiden name). Martin was born in Florida around 1880. He was sometimes listed as a carpenter, sometimes as a laborer. Twice he was listed in Pensacola city directories as mulatto, and the 1930 census indicates his father was Mexican and his mother from Spain. Mary was born in Florida (to two parents also born in Florida) around 1882. She worked as a laundress in her home.

Mary Louise had a sister, Florita Bell Humphreys, between 5 and 10 years older than she, who also worked as a maid for a private family.

Mary had two sons with Frank Simmons: Frank L. Simmons, Jr. and Raymond Lawrence Simmons.

Mary married James Askew, Jr.; I have not found a marriage record for them, but she appears in the City Directory as his wife beginning in 1948. James died in 1974 at the age of 56.

Mary Louise passed away on 20 September 2001 at the age of 90 in Pensacola. She lies beside James at Barrancas National Cemetery.

FAMILY:

Mother: Mary Louise Bell Simmons Clay Askew

Father: Unknown

Siblings: Frank L. Simmons and Raymond Lawrence Simmons

Grandparents: Martin Bell, Mary (Anderson) Bell

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SOURCES:

Florida Certificate of Death, Florida Deaths, 1877-1939. Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Escambia County Marriage Records, 1900 – 1918. West Florida Genealogical Society: wfgs.org

Find a Grave Memorial for Mary Louise Askew. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80681799/mary-louise-askew

Obituary for Mary Louise Askew. Pensacola News Journal, 26 September 2001, p. 2.