Zadok
Bell had no known encounters with
Kate. Born in North Carolina just before his family moved to Tennessee, he would have been
fourteen years old at the time the disturbances began.
Because he was being educated to become a lawyer, it is possible that he
spent some of his adolescent years in a boarding school; however, the author has
no proof of this.
Zadok
completed his advanced education and became a bright lawyer, marrying Katherine
Lawrence in Rutherford County, Tennessee in July of 1821, and moving to
the “Montgomery
Settlement” of
south
central
Alabama soon afterward. About June of 1825, he moved to Mobile,
Alabama. Finding a major fever epidemic, he set his course for the village
of "Tallahassee," in Florida, to set up a law practice to serve the
new Alabama-Georgia compounded territory.
Despite
his absence from the rest of his family, Zadok Bell still managed to leave us
with a treasure trove of information about his life, which includes a
letter, from Tallahassee, dated November 29th, 1825. A descendant of John
Bell, Jr., living in Maine, donated a copy of this letter to the Jean Durrett Collection of historical documents made available to the public.
Mrs. Durrett was a Robertson County, Tennessee educator and historian.
Sadly,
the fever epidemic moved eastward, claiming the lives of many,
including Zadok Bell.
He was 23. Some allege that he is buried in
the Bell cemetery near Adams, Tennessee, but stronger evidence suggests he is
buried in Montgomery, Alabama, most likely in an unmarked grave.