Brief Life History of Ruth
When Ruth Bell was born on 25 February 1730, in Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America, her father, John Bell, was 28 and her mother, Rachel Woodruff, was 26.
Photos and Memories (1)
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Family Time Line
Sources (2)
- Ruth Bell, "Connecticut, Births and Christenings, 1649-1906"
- Letter from James Simmons to Angeline Bell, History of the Bell Family, November 8, 1897
Parents and Siblings
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Name Meaning
English (northern) and Scottish (Lowlands): from the Middle English personal name Bell. As a man's name this is from Old French beu, bel ‘handsome’, which was also used as a nickname. As a female name it represents a short form of Isabel .
English (northern) and Scottish (Lowlands): from Middle English belle ‘bell’ (Old English belle), in various applications; most probably a metonymic occupational name for a bell ringer or bell maker, or a topographic name for someone living ‘at the bell’ (as attested by 14th-century forms such as John atte Belle). This indicates either residence by an actual bell (e.g. a town's bell in a bell tower, centrally placed to summon meetings, sound the alarm, etc.) or ‘at the sign of the bell’, i.e. a house or inn sign (although surnames derived from house and inn signs are rare in Scots and English).
English: from Middle English bel ‘fair, fine, good’ (Old French bel ‘beautiful, fair’). See also Beal 1.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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