Looking At The Records: Which BELLE Dade Was Who?

  I challenged myself to locate information on two Belles with the Dade surname. They are on my family tree. They were living in Lewis County Missouri at the same time. Which Belle Dade was who?

I discovered that one of the Belles was the sister of Pearl Dade. The other Belle Dade was the wife of Pearl Dade. This was confusing. I sought out with what clues I had. At least one of the Belles had children.

Death Certificate:
I searched for the children of Belle Dade; Roy Dade, Clarence Dade and Catherine (Dade) Thompson. And I made discoveries. On their mother’s 1949 death certificate, her name was Mary Belle Dade. She was single. She was the daughter of Louis Dade and Mary Dade. Her daughter Mrs. Catherine Thompson was the informant.

The Censuses
At first I couldn’t locate Mary Belle as Belle on the 1880 and 1900 censuses. I discovered that her name was Mary B. Dade on those censuses. Mary B. Dade disappeared on the 1910, 1920 , 1930, 1940 censuses. I thought she passed. However, at some point, Mary B. started going by her middle name Belle. I did find her in the other censuses.

What about the other Belle Dade?. She was Belle Cotton who married Pearl Dade in 1906. I couldn’t find her on any censuses. Pearl divorced Belle in 1907. I don’t know whatever happened this Belle Dade. Perhaps, she remarried.

The Newspapers
There was an obituary that printed Mary Belle Dade’s name as Mrs. Belle Dade. I have come across searchers who have Miss Belle Dade as Pearl Dade’s wife. This Belle and Pearl are siblings.

Ms. Mary Belle Dade’s obituary was published on page 17 in the Call, Kansas City, Missouri on Friday, October 28, 1949. Thought is states Mrs. Bell Dade, she was Ms. Belle Dade. ( I have seen other articles listing Belle as Mrs. Belle Dade, but it could have been the other Belle.)

I’m thankful for the clues that determined which BELLE was who. The names of the children, Mary Belle’s obituary and her Missouri death certificate confirmed who she was. It’s amazing how searchers can get thrown off track. We have to dig a little dipper in our searching.

R,.I.P
Cousin Mary Belle
Cousin Belle

Thanks for reading
Looking At The Records: Which BELLE Dade Was Who?

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Susan Ann Blakley on another website. 

God bless
S.A. Blakley

I changed the theme to “At The Records”.

Week 19: Amy Johnson Crow’s #52Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge in 2025
The theme for Week 19 is “At the Library.” Any librarians in the family tree? What about a fantastic find you’ve made at the library? This is a good week to write about it