He is buried in the Cleveland City Cemetery, Hwy
115, Cleveland, White Co., Georgia
It
appears that W.B. Bell, who at one point was a
pharmacy salesman in Atlanta, was a prominent
citizen. He is listed as the president of the
company that had been formed in 1889 to build a
railway from Cleveland to Lulu.
In 1899 W.B. Bell was killed in a beating in
Habersham County. Si Smith was accused of his
murder and Smith's friends spirited him away to a
hideout in Rabin County, with a posse in pursuit.
At some point the trail grew
cold but W.B’s son, Tom, gathered some friends and
pursued Smith in Rabun County. They found him
there and took
him back to Habersham County to face justice. Smith admitted
killing Bell, but claimed it “was justified”.
A judge there ruled that it would not be safe for
Smith to remain there so he was sent to the jail in
Hall County for safekeeping.
Late one night in July 1899, a mob of 40 people woke
the Sheriff of Hall County at the jail. One of
the men claimed to be a sheriff of a nearby county
and they purported to have a prisoner that needed to
be put in the jail. The unsuspecting
jailkeeper let them in, and when he did so the mob
rushed the cell where Smith was held, pulled out
weapons and began firing into his sleeping form.
They then quickly dispersed.
The coroner held an inquest hearing with no result.
It was said that the body of Smith was “riddled with
bullets.” One of Tom Bells friends, who went
with him to capture Smith, was charged with the
killing, but a jury acquitted him.
Tom Bell, who became a local
hero and gained much fame for capturing his father’s
killer, went on to become one of the most powerful
congressmen in the history of the state of Georgia.
