Lee, Jr. and Mae Bell
Family
This page includes information on Lee Jr. and Mae's parents, brothers and sisters, and their children and grandchildren. Some of this information is included elsewhere on the Bell Family web pages, but is included and expanded upon here. Some information is found on this page only.
Lee, Jr.'s Father and Mother
James Donnell Bell's sixth child, a son, Leren Rowland Bell, was born on Friday, October 6, 1893 in Coffeeville, Mississippi. Leren was the last child to be born while the family lived in Coffeeville. At an early age, Leren moved with his family to the log house on the large Bryant plantation. Leren grew up on the Bryant plantation. As a teenager, he went often across Skuna River to visit with friends living over there. This is how Leren came to know Myrtie Mae Koonce.
Myrtie Mae Koonce was born on July 17, 1895. Just before Christmas, on December 23, 1911, at the age of 18, Leren married Myrtie. The marriage took place in Yalobusha County, MS. across the river from Bryant. By this time, Leren's family had moved from the Bryant plantation into a house in the small town of Bryant.
After his marriage, Leren moved into the former family home--the log house--on the Bryant plantation. During his early years, Leren (or Lee as he was called) worked and became a manager on the Bryant plantation. In later years, he worked with the railroad as a flagman and later as a conductor.
Lee Jr.'s Brothers and Sisters
Leren and Myrtie had five children.
1. Elizabeth . Elizabeth was born on September 19, 1912 in the log house on the Bryant Plantation. She married William Hervey Cook ( b. March 21, 1904) of Water Valley. They eventually bought and moved into an historic house in Water Valley that had been built in 1872. Hervy Cook worked in a funeral home in Water Valley. Hervey and Elizabeth had three children:
i. Elizabeth Ann Cook, born August 4, 1932. Married George A. DeCoux, Jr. Live in Biloxi, MS. Ann is a professional librarian.
ii. Sonny Cook, born May 17, 1934. Married Gail Williams. Live in Water Valley, MS. Have one son, William Michael Cook, born April 10, 1959.
iii. Mae Bell Cook, born November 2, 1935. Married David Fly. Live in __________ . Have one son, William Scott 'Bill' Fly, born March 23, 1957.
Hervey Cook passed away in October 1969. Elizabeth Cook passed away on August 18, 1991. Both are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley, MS.
2. Clifford Sanders . Sanders was born on November 21, 1913 in the log house on the Bryant Plantation. He married Rubye King of Inverness, MS. Sanders became a dentist and practiced dentistry in Inverness for 60 years. Sanders and Rubye had six children:
i. Jimmy Lee Bell, born March 3, 1939. Married Carline Bates. Live in Inverness, MS. Have four daughters: Linda Lee Bell, born August 24, 1961 (married David Weeks), Sandra Carline Bell, born September 19, 1964 (married Hunter Steele), Anne King Bell, born November 5, 1965 (married Brett Gratz) and Beverly Bates Bell, born September 13, 1969 (married James Michael Quinn).
ii. June Sandra Bell, born March 23, 1940. Married Bob Knight. Live in Greenwood, MS. Have three children: Will King Knight, born January 21, 1967 (married Frances ? ), Stanton Ellett Knight, born February 26, 1970 (married Laura Moll), and Gencye Cameron Knight, born August 17, 1979.
iii. Charlie King Bell, born May 1, 1941. Married Farilyn Philen Bennett. Live in Inverness, MS. Have two children: Bert Bennett Bell, born November 5, 1971 (married Aimee Harper), and Erin Philen Bell, born July 6, 1979.
iv Don Carol Bell, born March 19, 1947. Married Linda Mae Sellers. Live in Tuscaloosa, AL. Have two children: Jonathan Michael Bell, born October 31, 1977 (married Aimee Eldridge), and Sydney Catherine Bell, born December 10, 1983.
v. William Timothy Bell, born October 18, 1949. Married Jean Smylie. Live in Tuscaloosa, AL. Have two children: Louis Sanders Bell, born March 17, 1978, and Jason Matthew Bell, born December 29, 1980.
vi. Beverly Rosemary Bell, born August 30, 1950. Married Ronnie Brown (1). Married Sean Murphey (2). Live in Indianola, MS.
3. Alma . Alma was born on January 30, 1916 in the log house on the Bryant plantation. She married Howell Hyde 'Buddy' Hart of Water Valley, MS. Buddy and Alma Hart had three children:
i. John Keith Hart, born August 13, 1947. Is an engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad. Married Celia Dickerson (was married for 2 years). Married Elaine Barnes Rico in 1978. Live in Water Valley, MS. Have one son from a previous marriage, Ezra Christopher Rico, born 1976.
ii. William Carey Hart, born September 28, 1952. Is an engineer for the railroad. Lives in Water Valley, MS.
iii. Susan Hyde Hart, born January 24, 1954. Is a nurse (LPN). Married Larry Turner. Husband deceased. Lives in Water Valley, MS.
On May 29, 1921, a daughter was born to Leren and Myrtie, but died the same day.
Lee Jr. and Mae Bell Family
4. Leren, Jr. . Lee, Jr. (Leren Jr.) was born on July 12, 1922 in Water Valley, MS. After he began working for the railroad in 1918, Leren (Sr.) had moved his family to Water Valley. At his birth, Lee, Jr. Bell was welcomed by his sister, Elizabeth (nearly 10 years old), brother, Sanders (8 1/2 years old), and sister, Alma (6 1/2 years old).
Lee, Jr. attended the public school in Water Valley. At the age of nearly 15 years, Lee was helping Mr. Robert Walter Richards bale hay on June 12, 1937. That day, a daughter, Mae Richards, was born. No one knew that years later, Lee and Mae would marry.
Mae's father was Robert Walter Richards, born in Oakland, MS. Robert became a skilled banjo player. He passed away in 1969. Mae's mother was Beatrice McCain Richards. She passed away in January 1992 at age 86 years.
As noted above, Lee, Jr. had known the Richards family since childhood. By 1954, Mae was working in the restaurant of the Blackmur Hotel in Water Valley. Lee would see Mae and talk with her each time he came to eat at the restaurant. Lee and Mae began to date each other. Lee and Mae were married by Justice of the Peace, Dick McMillan, in his home on September 3, 1954. As of 2002, they have been married for 48 years.
Lee and Mae have one daughter:
Ida Mae Bell, born March 10, 1956. Ida Mae married David Grayson. They live in Dallas, Texas and have two children: Leanna Grayson, born September 12, 1985, and Amber Nicole Grayson, born May 5, 1989.
Additional children of Leren Rowland Bell, Sr.
5. Charlie was born in 1932.
Charlie met an untimely death. He was working as a reporter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper when, in 1956 at the age of 24, he died in an automobile accident in Caruthersville, Missouri.
Document: Letter of Condolence.
Leren Rowland Bell lived to be more than 58 years old. In February 1952, he suffered a sub-dural hemorrhage (stroke). He lived for 13 days and died on Saturday, March 1, 1952.