From the very commencement of the contest with England,
she espoused the cause of independence with her whole
soul; and she was so decided in her opinions, and so ardent
in her zeal, that she could hardly bear the sight, or even
the name of a Tory. In some respects she was equal, if not
more than equal, to Flora M’Donald, for she certainly had
as much native intellect, with as much firmness and
intrepidity; she was as sincere and devoted in her
attachments; and in the same circumstances, or with the
same advantages of education and refined society, in her
youth, she would have been equally conspicuous and
renowned.
As she had more of that kind of information which always
belongs to mental power of a superior order, and was
regarded as being better qualified than any other, to be
useful, she found it necessary to become a sort of
“professional character,” and had a very extensive practice
in her line of business. For several years, however, her
services were all gratuitous, and no one could insult her
more highly than by offering her pay; but towards the
close of the war, when she became more reduced in her
circumstances by the thefts, robberies, and depredations
of the British and Tories, though she was never dependent,
she began to make a regular charge, which was then
continued while she lived, not only for this reason, but
because her services became too much in demand to be
gratuitous.
At that period, and in such a state of things as then
existed, it was hazardous for a woman to go, alone and
unprotected, any distance from home; for the country was
broken, and not very thickly settled, the roads were bad,
and perfect anarchy and confusion reigned over the land,
with all the animosity, virulence, and recklessness of life,
and everything else that usually attend a state of civil war.
Probably there was no other woman who would have
ventured as she did; but she was not to be deterred from
the discharge of her duty by any difficulties or perils that
might beset her path. No matter at what hour of the night
the call was made, nor to what distance she was required
to go, mounted on a noble horse, as she always was, and
well armed with dirk and pistols, she promptly obeyed the
summons.
During the troublous times of the revolution, and for a few
years after, it is said that she was occasionally insulted
and by such desperate characters, that her self-possession
and her dauntless courage, alone saved her from
degradation, if not from death; but she always maintained
her consistency of character, and always came off
triumphant. We are not going into a minute detail of the
incidents in her eventful life; but aim to give those which
were most prominent, or which will best serve to illustrate
her character.
Towards the close of the war, or soon after, when going
one day along an unfrequented road, on a call of
professional duty, she was met by a man whose name was
Stephen Lewis, generally called Steve Lewis, a man who had
belonged to Fanning’s Corps, and was a perfect desperado,
a man whom everybody dreaded, and who was outlawed by
public sentiment, if not by civil authority. According to the
uniform tradition of the neighborhood, when he saw her
coming, he dismounted and hitched his horse, set his gun
against a tree and stepped into the middle of the road. As
she came up, he took her horse by the bridle and told her
she must get down, but she drew her pistol, and presenting
it to his breast, told him if he moved another step she
would kill him on the spot. It is not in woman’s nature to kill
any one, but especially a man, to whom she instinctively
looks for support and protection. She must be divested of
all the kind and generous feelings of her nature before he
can do it, unless it is from dire necessity, or in defence of
her life or honor, and not one in a thousand, perhaps, could
have the resolution to do it even then, Else Mrs. Bell would
have killed Steve Lewis on that occasion, and would have
received a public vote of thanks for so doing, but she was
content with taking him prisoner; and it is said, that she
actually drove him home before her, holding the pistol in
her hand all the way, and ready to fire on him at any time,
if necessary. As there was no man there, however, at the
time, to take him in charge, he was permitted to escape,
but ultimately came to an end quite as dishonorable as if
she had shot him down in the road or before her own door,
This account I had, a number of years ago, from different
persons, whose opportunities of knowing had been good; and
although the circumstances were differently related, and
may have been a little exaggerated, the main facts are
believed to have been true. There were several brothers
by the name of Lewis, most of then were of the same
character, but Steve was the most reckless and daring. Of
a muscular frame and a vigorous constitution, destitute of
religious culture or moral principle, and enured for years to
scenes of blood and cruelty, he was a disgrace to humanity,
and a terror to the neighborhood; but if he escaped death
in one way he soon met it in another, for he was shot in his
own house, and by his own brother, to whom he had already
done some injury, and whose life he had threatened.
We have heard of one or two instances, during those
disordered times, in which men of no principles and no
regard to decency or propriety, did things which were
highly provoking, and solely for the purpose of trying her
metal. Somewhere in that region, there lived a man by the
name of William Yorke, who was such a desperate
character that, bad as the times were, he was generally
known by the name of devil Bill. He came to her house one
evening and asked for lodgings. Although she knew him “by
sight,” and better by character, she consented, after some
hesitation, to take him in. Then, as every where else, at
that period, the houses were generally small log houses,
with one room below and one above-the one below being
used for a common sleeping as well as a common sitting
room, and the one above serving as a sleeping apartment
for the children or young members of the family. On
retiring to bed, either out of devilment, or, thinking that,
from his well-known character, she would not dare even to
reprove him, he got into bed with his boots on; and she
ordered him out, remarking at the same time that, if he
conducted with propriety, he could stay, but that he could
not remain in her house and act in any such way. On his
refusing to obey the order, she presented her pistol and
was about to lodge the contents of it in his body; but when
he saw that she was in earnest, he concluded, for once,
that ‘discretion was the better part of valor,’ and was soon
beyond the reach of pistol shot.
