Kim Beall's Beall History Pages

What This Site is Not:

Let me get this out of the way first:  This is not a Genealogy web site. There are many wonderful genealogy sites on the Web, and herein I provide links to many of those. If you are looking for ironclad genealogical data or advice on how to do genealogical research, you will not find what you are looking for here, though I am happy to provide my own family tree files. Please feel free to sift through them and find what might be helpful to you, try them and test them against your own data and see what seems sound and what still needs more research, but please be aware that I, myself, am not a genealogy researcher and cannot guarantee the absoute accuracy of any of it.

What This Site IS:

What I've attempted to do here is something a little different. While many folks enjoy the hunt for data and making the names and numbers match up, and they are very good at it, personally, I find myself hungering to know more about my family heritage than just the dates and numbers. This page reflects my own peculiar passion for Beall history in the form of family ancedotes, Scottish culture and meeting Bealls all over world today. If you have been experiencing a similar hunger, this page is for you.

For instance: Here are my
Neat Beall Facts you may or may not already know...

• The name Beall is based on the name of the ancient Celtic god Bel, who was by some accounts similar in nature and function to the Greek god Apollo.
• The best-known Beall patriarch, Ninian Beall, came to this country as a slave. (Well, sort of...)
• Ninian Beall's surname was originally spelled "Bell" but he was commanded to change it to the older spelling, Beall, when he was sent to the New World in 1653. This was to politically dis-associate the members of the clan who supported the Stuarts from the parts of the clan that remained loyal to the Crown.
• Variations on the spelling include Beal, Beale, Bell, and Bel - but these are all related families. In fact records can be found of members within the same immediate family spelling it differently.
• The same can be said of the famous "is it prounounced 'bell' or 'beel'?" discussion! Which one are you?  :)
• The official position of Clan Bell is that Bealls and Bells (and Beales, and Bales, and Bealles, or however you speall it! *s*) are all part of the same family. They have done a lot of research to prove it, too. The Bell Family Association of the United States is working hard to reinstate Clan Bell as an official clan.
• The tartan image I've used on this page is based on the Clan Bell tartan, though I've lightened it considerably for use as a background so that we can read text over it! To see the real colors in all their glory, visit the Clan Bell homepage, or click here to view a small swatch of the original image.
• Frequently Asked Question: What does the Beall Coat of Arms look like? Answer: There isn't one! And there can never be one, because the Bealls are Scottish, and there is no such animal as a family coat of arms in Scottish heraldry. For a more detailed explanation, visit the Arms page.