James Randall Bellfield “Bell” Barbee (1834-1902)

James Randall Bellfield “Bell” Barbee

Birth

1 Jan 1834

Carroll County, Tennessee, USA

Death

14 Mar 1902 (aged 68)

Lovelady, Houston County, Texas, USA

Burial

Evergreen Cemetery

Lovelady, Houston County, Texas, USA Add to Map

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James Randall Bellfield Barbee was born in Carroll County, TN, January 19, 1834. He came to Houston County with his parents and married Artimisa Hardy Wooten in 1853, who came to TX from MS in 1846. They built their home one mile north of Lovelady. J. R. B. and Artie Mae reared eight children -- Della, Belle, (both attended Baylor University), Mode (Attended Southwestern University), Calvin, Star, Jim, Willie, and Wayne.

Bell was one of several men in Lovelady who deeded a strip of land 200' by 1 mile through their land to the railroad (Houston and Great Northern). Bell, as some called him, deeded this strip through his homestead of 500 acres on April 20, 1872, right through a patch of growing corn. He owned hundreds of acres of land, giving 300 acres to each child besides what he willed to his wife. He owned and operated a mercantile business on his home place before Lovelady was established and hauled his goods and groceries by oxcart from Houston. He also built the first horse-drawn cotton gin in the area. With the coming of the railroad he bought Lots 11 and 12, Block 2 (in 1872) and built a two-story general mercantile store with a cellar on said lots located where the Texaco Service Station now stands. Also a street was named Barbee in his honor. In 1882 he built the first steam cotton gin and operated a brick kiln located on what is now known as Elkin's old place. He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge No. 539, a member of Woodsmen of the World and a trustee of the first public school in 1889.

Civil War service records recorded in the TX State Archives show Captain J. R. B. Barbee's muster toll of 45 men. He served in the war and had to walk home after the war was over. His wife, Artie Mae, with help of tenants on the place, operated the farm the years he was away.
Mrs. Barbee was a charter member of the first organized Methodist Church and organized a Sunday School and served as superintendent and teacher before the church was organized. She was a charter member of the first Woman's Missionary Society, of which she was vice-president at the time of her death in 1908. By: Mrs. Curtis Barbee

History of Houston County
Children of JAMES BARBEE and ARTIMISA WOOTEN are:
i.DELLA BARBEE.
ii.BELLE BARBEE.
iii.MODE BARBEE.
iv.STAR BARBEE.
v.WILLIE BARBEE.
vi.WAYNE BARBEE.
vii.CALVIN HARDIN BARBEE, b. 1867; d. 1953
viii.JAMES RANDLE BARBEE, b. 09 Jun 1869; d. 28 Jun 1922.