Church records
The earliest church record in the Bell family archive is the marriage certificate of Susan Jones and John William Taylor by Baptist church minister William Wilkinson in St. Catharines, Ontario on 10 August 1851. The marriage was witnessed by Miss M.L. Dolber, J.C. Dolber, and John and Orson who only provided their first names.
After John William Taylor's death, Susan Jones married Stephen Bell of St. Catharines, Ontario.
The marriage certificate of Susan Jones and John William Taylor, 1851
The marriage registration of Susan Jones Taylor and Stephen Bell, submitted to the Ontario government by Rev. L. C. Chambers of the British Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem Chapel, St. Catharines
The marriage certificate of Susan Bell and Charles Henry Hall, 24 October 1889. Signed by the Rev. P. Brooks of the British Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem Chapel, St. Catharines, Ontario
Tithing receipts
Tithing is an important aspect of church membership. Many of the early Black families who had escaped slavery and oppression found freedom in Canada and refuge in the church and its religious practices and social activities. The Bell, Tyrrell, Jones, and Taylor families retained this evidence of their close ties to the British Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem Chapel on Geneva Street in St. Catharines, Ontario in the form of these tithing receipts.
Tithing receipt, 1874
Tithing receipt, 1875
Tithing receipt, 1879
Tithing receipt, 1884
Tithing receipt 1889