The Diva
“Who is she?” “Who is she?” “Who is she?” The opera house was in an uproar. The audience was calling for the young singer, who had just thrilled them with the most marvelous rendition of The Wren. But the announcer did not know, and he said as much. “I do not know who she is nor where she is from, but I do know that she will be the South’s greatest singer.”
Macon Telegraph, April 4, 1926
A Military Heritage
The martial pride of Savannah, Georgia was and in many ways still is evident in periodic civic parades and other gatherings, and in the ornate uniforms and close-order drills of the various militia units like the Chatham Artillery, the Irish Jasper Greens, the Republican Blues, the Georgia Hussars, the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, and others whose predecessors had served honorably in various battles from the Revolutionary War to the Spanish-American War at the close of the 19th century.
Theodore Hinkston Bell (1885-1940) was born in Savannah and as a child learned about the experiences of his father Julius B. Bell (1834-1897) and other relatives during the U.S. Civil War, perhaps even hearing stories of his ancestor James Black (1740-1780), a ship builder and Revolutionary War patriot who was mortally wounded during the Battle of Stono Ferry. After the deaths of his parents, Theodore worked as a bank clerk to help support his brothers and sisters and, perhaps to honor his forbears, also served in a local militia. In September 1916, First Sergeant Theodore Bell was elected 2nd Lieutenant of Company “K,” Savannah Cadets. When the U.S. officially became involved in the Great War in early 1917, it wasn’t long before his state militia unit was activated.
Camp Wheeler and the Dixie Division
The Selective Service Act of 1917 required all American men ages 21-30 to register for the draft on June 5, 1917. No such preliminaries were required for 31 year-old Theodore and his company. In July 1917, all National Guard troops in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida were drafted into federal service and ordered to report to Camp Wheeler in Macon, Georgia. There they were formed into the 31st Infantry Division, also known as the “Dixie” Division. Theodore and the Savannah Cadets initially joined the 31st Dixie Division as Battery B, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, 56th Infantry Brigade. In November of 1917, Theodore was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, and eventually assigned to be an infantry officer.
American Expeditionary Forces
General John “Black Jack” Pershing coordinated and commanded the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in Europe beginning in May 1917. He required extensive training stateside before deploying troops overseas. At Camp Wheeler, Lt. Bell and his men underwent training in trench warfare, artillery and mortar practice, bayonet drills, weapons exercises, and hand-to-hand combat. Though regular American Army troops arrived in Europe as early as June 1917, National Guardsmen like the Dixie Division spent from many months to more than a year at posts like Camp Wheeler.
Influenza
The German army on the far-away Western Front must have seemed mere distant headlines to the troops in the United States. After their daily training regimen, the soldiers at Camp Wheeler would have enjoyed the recreational and social attractions of the post and the nearby city, while officers like Theodore would have been introduced into Macon society. There he met Ruth Grierson Winn, a 21 year-old school teacher who sang in the choir at Macon’s First Presbyterian Church. Meanwhile, the cramped conditions at camps and on transport ships exacerbated the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918. Eventually, Macon became nearly off-limits as Camp Wheeler and other posts observed strict quarantines. According to the Georgia Cyclopedia, “Though seriously affected by the Spanish flu epidemic, Georgia escaped the massive numbers of sick and dying counted in other states along the East Coast.”
Doughboy
According to History.com, there are a few competing theories as to how American infantrymen came to be known as “doughboys,” some of which date to the Revolutionary War and the Mexican-American War. The term has since come to refer specifically to Americans who served in Europe during World War I.
When the armistice agreement was signed in November 1918, so should have ended the Army career of Lt. Theodore Bell. Nevertheless, in early 1919 he was sent to Camp Meade, MD and subsequently sailed for France in May. As his parents were long dead, Theodore listed his married sister Mary Agnes McLaughlin of Isle of Hope, Savannah as his home contact. An April 4, 1926 Macon Telegraph article states, “After the Armistice [Lt. Bell] was among those remaining for some time in Germany.” He was attached to the “Brest [France] Casual Company, Advance Embarkation Section Detachment” as part of the “Infantry Demobilization Group.” It is likely that he traveled to the Western Front and witnessed the aftermath of the carnage of war. Theodore served for just over four months in Europe, returned to the United States in September, and received an honorable discharge just two days before his 34th birthday in October 1919.
Married Life
Perhaps Theodore returned to the family home and spent Christmas in Savannah. He may also have visited his older brother John Bell and his family in Atlanta. By the following summer, however, Theodore was back in Macon, where he married 23 year-old school teacher Ruth Winn on July 20, 1920 in a ceremony officiated by a Jesuit priest, probably at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Poplar Street. After the wedding, the Bells moved to Columbia, South Carolina, where Theodore was employed as a bookkeeper and Ruth pursued voice lessons. The couple moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1922. where Ruth dove more deeply into her love of choral music.
“The Fairy Tale Begins”
“During this time Mrs. Bell was teaching in the Charlotte public schools and was soloist at Westminster Presbyterian Church… [and] singing in concerts when the opportunity presented itself. It was after one of these concerts that she received a telephone call… and this is where the fairy tale begins. Someone… who had heard her sing wanted to finance her European training! Cinderella could not have been more surprised.”
Macon Telegraph January 20, 1929
Happily Ever After?
Did they live happily ever after? A feature article written shortly after the unexpected offer was made visualizes the ensuing domestic scene:
“Cannot you imagine the midnight oil which was burned that night by Theodore and Ruth Winn Bell? Imagine the dream of years suddenly materializing. Ruth Winn’s advance in her career has been made possible through the encouragement and intense interest of her husband, and this same interest urged that she take advantage of the offer made through her teacher.”
Macon Telegraph April 4, 1926
The 1926 article stresses her husband’s encouragement, while the 1929 feature article previously cited lists the joys and difficulties that Ruth experienced during her subsequent years in Italy. Nowhere is her husband mentioned in these adventures. One line early in the latter article stood out starkly to me: “In 1921, when she was married to Lieut. Theodore Bell, she went to Columbia S.C., to live…” The inference is that her marriage at the time of the article was a thing of the past.
There are multiple documents that attest to Ruth’s “fairy tale” life after 1926, a few quite revealing. History is sadly quiet, however, about the supportive husband she left behind. On a 1931 passenger manifest, Ruth Bell wrote “single” as her marital status and listed Albany, N.Y. as her U.S. address. In 1934, she married an Italian man in Milan. Neither marriage apparently produced children. We can only speculate on Theodore’s life after their separation, though his death certificate divulges some somber facts.
Theodore died in 1940 after a nearly six-year residence at the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Augusta, Ga., which (coincidentally or not) began around the same time as Ruth’s second marriage. He was 54 years old. According to the document, he was divorced, and the name of his former wife, his parents, and his usual occupation were unknown. His usual residence was listed as Isle of Hope in Savannah. There is no evidence that he ever lived there, but we know that his favorite sister Mary Agnes did, and it was likely she that claimed his body. He was buried in the Bell family plot at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah the very next day. Ruth Winn Bell Lionetti died in 1990, and is buried in Telfair County, Ga.
European Bookends
Once upon a time, Theodore Bell and Ruth Winn were brought together by a war in Europe, a war which Theodore traveled overseas to help conclude. Ruth’s Italian “Fairy Tale” six years later provided the other European bookend – and evidently a less than happy ending for the Doughboy and the Diva.
Adapted from A String of Bells: Stories of a Southern Family © 2020 by Nick J. Guevara, Jr.
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