Black female, born around 1863 in Alabama. Died on 19 January 1918 at the age of 55 in Pensacola, FL. The place of death was West Jackson St. She died of bronchopneumonia. There is no information on her parents, and though the death certificate indicates she was married at the time of her death, the husband is not listed. The informant was C. Largue – Clement Largue was an embalmer with Fisher Pou Funeral Home. She was buried in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.
This death certificate is confusing. The only Susie Bell I find in the Pensacola City Directories near the time of death – living at 611 W. Jackson St. – died in 1956. She was a laundress and a widow, and also appears as Susie Pryor in some years. This Susie married Moses Bell in 1914 and appears in his household in the 1920 census.
I find a Susie Bell who was the daughter of Thomas William and Mary (also called Jane) Surles Bell. This Susie was born around 1888 in Florida, according to the 1900 Census for Pensacola, so she was far too young to be the decedent.
I am beginning to wonder if Dr. Beverette got confused in completing the death certificate, and the real decedent was Mary Jane Surles Bell – who, according to the 1900 Census, was born in Alabama in June 1863. If she died in the home of Susie Bell (assuming there is some relationship between them), it would not have been a hard mistake to make. (It also appears that Dr. Beverette saw her only on the day of her death, so the decedent may not have been well known to him.) This is hypothesis, though, and will require more research to confirm.
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 Marriages, 1821-1900. West Florida Genealogical Society. wfgs.org (Thomas William Bell – Jane Surles)
Escambia County Marriages, 1901-1918. West Florida Genealogical Society. wfgs.org (Susie Pryor-Moses Bell)
Year: 1900; Census Place: Pensacola, Escambia, Florida; Page: 17; Enumeration District: 0022; FHL microfilm: 1240168, Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
Death Certificate of Hercules Bell. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records. Ancestry.com. Michigan, U.S., Death Records, 1867-1952 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.