DAHLONEGA, Ga., September 18, 1891 [Special.]
Rev. Zachariah T. Bell, the revivalist is in jail here.

He is charged with adultery and admits his guilt.

His desertion of his wife and children in Lexington, N.C., has been widely published.

Rev. Mr. Bell arrived in Dahlonega two or three months ago, and at once established himself as a Methodist preacher. He conducted himself in a most exemplary manner, and when he came into the pulpit he preached with fervor and enthusiasm. The woman, Miss Kate Mashburn, his paramour, went around with him, and Bell introduced her as his wife. They stopped a week with Rev. D.M. Edwards, and he and Rev. Edwards conducted a successful revival at Davis Chapel, near town. He was everywhere received into the best families in town, stopping awhile with Hon. W. H. McAfee and ex-Senator Boyd.

When it was discovered that he was a wife-deserter, a warrant was placed in the hands of Sheriff Brooksher, charging him with adultery, and he was brought into town last night and lodged in jail.

His paramour, Miss Mashburn, will also be arrested, and the extreme penalty of the law will be meted out to the guilty pair.

Ex-Senator Wier Boyd will prosecute the festive minister, and see to it that he is punished for his misdeeds.

The affair has created intense excitement here, and threats of tarring and feathering Bell are freely indulged in. His conduct has incensed the good people of Dahlonega, whose homes he desecrated, and they are a unit condemning him.

Bell has a brother, Joseph H. Bell, living near here, and he is shocked at the revelations just made. The Rev. Zach has not seen his brother Joseph for twenty four years and he palmed off Miss Mashburn on him as his wife, Joe little dreaming that he had deserted a wife and five children in North Carolina.

Bell will have a preliminary hearing before Justice Allen, when he will be committed to jail until the superior court meets.

He cannot make a bond in this county.

The History of the Case

Mrs. Lucy Bell, the wife of the faithless preacher, lives in the southern portion of Lexington, N.C., with her five little children.

Rev. Zachariah T. Bell was licensed by the Methodist Episcopal church, south, six years ago. He always made himself useful in revival work. He appeared to be an earnest preacher. He could draw a crowd equal to any minister in all this section, and he was greatly admired by the people generally and was quite popular.

During the past six years Rev. Mr. Bell has preached in half the counties of North Carolina and Virginia. He was a devoted husband and a loving father to his children and nobody who knew him could have been made to believe that he would ever desert them and leave them penniless.

In the summer of 1887 Miss Kate Mashburn, a young Randolph county woman, who was a great admirer of the Rev. Mr. Bell's preaching, came to visit his family. These visits became long and often, but not the least suspicion was aroused, and all went well. The preacher's affection for his family grew no less, neither did he manifest any undue admiration for Miss Mashburn.

Early in the summer of last year Miss Mashburn again appeared at the Bell residence, and remained until the middle of December. On the morning of December 15th Mr. Bell told his wife that he had received an invitation to assist in a revival, at that time in progress in Maxton, N.C. He told Mrs. Bell that he would start for Maxton on the evening train, and so his wife had his change of clothing nicely dusted and carefully folded in his valise at the proper time. When he suggested that he might possibly need money on the journey Mrs. Bell turned the purse, containing nearly one hundred dollars, over to him. That was the sum and total of their cash assets, and, handing his wife $3, the revivalist slipped the purse down deep into his pocket.

Miss Mashburn was there, making preparations to leave, saying she intended going home the following day.

Mr. Bell looked at his watch, and, remarking that it was only thirty minutes till train time, he kissed each of his children goodby, and embracing his wife, imprinted a kiss upon her lips, and as a last request, "Take good care of children, darling," and then turning to their lady visitor, "Goodby, Miss Mashburn," he was off for the depot.

He told Mrs. Bell that he would return within three or four days.

At the depot he bought a ticket for Salisbury, and arriving in that town he went to the Mount Vernon hotel, where he remained quietly until noon the next day. A few minutes before train time he walked down to the depot and purchased two tickets for Atlanta, and just as he started to turn around a gentleman slapped him on the shoulder."

"Why, howdy, Brother Bell!"

It was Hiram Woods, of Concord, and, showing much surprise, the preacher wheeled around-
"Why, bless my soul! Howdy, Brother Woods!"

Mr. Woods, observing two tickets in his hand, asked if his wife was with him, and he told him no, but said that she was coming on the next train, and expected to join him. They talked a few minutes and Mr. Woods walked away.

When the train came in Mr. Woods boarded it for Concord, and passing through the first class car he observed Mr. Bell sitting by the side of a young woman and chatting pleasantly. The woman he supposed to be his wife, and passing them he politely raised his hat and bowed but did not stop.

Miss Mashburn had packed her trunks, and bidding Mrs. Bell and the children farewell, she had boarded the south-bound train, and in less than thirty minutes she was in Salisbury with Preacher Bell. It was to her that Mr. Woods tipped his hat. Mrs. Bell was at home singing the baby to sleep while her faithless husband was speeding away with their fair lady visitor.

For weeks and months, Mr. Bell's return was anxiously awaited, and nothing was said. No word coming from him, inquiry after his whereabouts was made at Maxton, and it was ascertained that he had not been there. Then it developed that Miss Mashburn was not at her home; neither had she been there since she left to visit the Bell family and slowly all the facts came out.

The deserted wife believes her husband is in Georgia, as he has relatives there. She says that they were married over twenty years ago, and that they have lived happy all these years.

"Is He Bell's Son?"

"An Unknown Young Man Lying Dead In Tennille. Shot to Death During the Night. Believed to Have Been the Son of Zachariah Bell, The Faithless North Carolina Divine Who Deserted His Wife and Five Children, and Eloped to Georgia with Miss Mashburn."
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DAHLONEGA, Ga., September 25, 1891 [Special.]

A strange young man was shot to death last night by Mr. J.H. Davis.

The bullet went through the victim's heart, and caused instant death.

Who the young man was is a mystery, but a solution given by a well-known citizen of Sandersville invests it with tragic interest.

The theory is that the dead man is the son of Rev. Zachariah T. Bell, of Lexington, N.C. who was searching for his missing father.

It will be recollected by the readers of The Constitution that Rev. Zachariah Bell was a prominent North Carolina revivalist. His home was in Lexington, where he has a wife and five children. He disappeared last December while on his way to conduct a revival. His family mourned his disappearance, and accounted for it on the theory that he must have been insane, and while in this condition wandered off into Georgia, of which state he frequently talked. His oldest son was anxious to discover the whereabouts of his father, and the theory here is that the young man lying dead in Davis's barn is young Bell, who, footsore and weary, was searching for the news which might bring joy to his mother's heart. If this be the correct theory, then the son will never know the true nature of his father's disgrace-his disgusting amour with Miss Mashburn, and his incarceration in the Dahlonega jail.

The deceased bears a striking resemblance to the picture of Rev. Z.T. Bell. He had exceedingly light blue eyes, fair complexion, sandy hair. He was addicted to the habit of biting his nails. On the left hand he wore a gold ring, and, from the bleached appearance of the finger, he had worn the ring for some time. He wore button shoes, and they were worn to the end of the usefulness. There was a slight decay between the two front teeth, and their contour was irregular. He wore a dove-colored cashmere coat and vest and a black pair of pants, comparatively new. He wore two shirts of sea island cotton, and they were in a comparatively clean condition.

At 11:30 o'clock last night Mr. Davis heard a noise in his back lot. Stepping out with a shotgun he saw a man trying to open his stable door.

Davis called upon him to stop, whereupon he began to run, Davis shooting at him as he ran. Davis immediately threw open the back gate and ran in, pushed the man down, and commanded him to stop again, when the fellow called out:

"Stop, cap, I'll give up' don't shoot me again."

Davis replied" "D-n you, I'll shoot you again."

He leveled his gun and started to shoot him again, when Mr. Sam Pritchard, his brother-in-law, ran up and called upon him not to shoot again.

Davis gave himself up immediately after the shooting, and the coroner's jury found that his act was justifiable.

The body of the unfortunate young man has been lying in the barn all day, with a bundle of fodder for a pillow.

Rev. Zack Bell Curses Out Critics of Katie Mashburn. He Believes the Lord Will Free Him and Looks Forward to Many Happy Days With Katie Yet; His Wife Relents.

Dahlonega, Ga., October 18, 1891 [Special.]

Exchanging pleasantries with a murderer!

That is what your correspondent found ex-Evangelist Taylor Bell engaged in in Lumpkin County jail.

He wanted an interview with him.

During daytime the jailer allows the prisoners more liberty than at night, and they are given freedom of the corridor, etc.

Rev. Taylor was found comfortably seated in the cell of Martin L. burns, the murderer of Neise Bearden. They were cracking jokes and having as much fun as any of your fine-blooded clubmen. But Bell would not talk worth a cent. He [unreadable] newspaper and would not hear our plea that only a general conversation in accordance with the gospel was wanted. He remarked that the newspapers had already said too much about his case, and he wanted them to stop it. He said he would be at liberty some day and then he would get even with some of them.

He says he will get out of his scrape some way-that the Lord will not desert his followers. He seems to think Peter committed a worse crime than his.

The jail is well filled. Among its inmates are three disreputable women.

The other day one of them used language strong and vice to Katie Mashbur-Bell's paramour. This was too much for the preacher, and he turned loose and cursed the entire establishment.
No requisition has been made from North Carolina and as next week is court here, Taylor and Katie will have to let a Lumpkin County jury settle their fate. And it will doubtless be a hard one.

Bell's deserted wife in North Carolina is ready to forgive him if he were at liberty. She writes that he was always a loving, attentive husband, and she believes that Katie used some supernatural power over him to which he was forced to succumb.

Miss Mashburn may be a sorceress, but that [unreadable] will be hard to beat into the heads of a Lumpkin County jury.

Bell kicks hard at jail fare. It is not commensurate with his campmeeting-fed stomach. He went far enough to ask Sheriff Brooksher to let him have a room for himself and Katie, and he would furnish it.

This privilege the sheriff indignantly refused. Bell does not pray as often as when first imprisoned, but occasionally indulges in 'cuss' words. He is shedding his sheep's clothing.

Next week will decide the fate of the Rev. Zachary Taylor Bell and Miss Kate Mashburn, and no doubt it will be a hard one.

They called for mercy.

[In the courtroom] Colonel W.P. Price arose, and in all sincerity pleaded for the leniency of the court. The colonel seemed struck by the apparently serious repentance of the parties. Then the previous good record of the Rev. Taylor was noticed, and Colonel Price thought the demands of the law would be amply satisfied by as light a sentence as his honor could see proper to give, and the example would be sufficient; and he thought Bell should be given a chance to atone for his great error.

It seems Judge Wellborn had at first been inclined to sentence the defendants to the chaingang straight, but, after giving the matter serious consideration, he passed sentence that Taylor Bell should pay a fine of $200 or go to the chaingang for twelve months-Katie Mashburn should pay a fine of $50 or work six months in the penitentiary.

Though the woman had admitted her guilt, her sad plight-there bewailing her fate-could not but suggest the woman whom Christ had passed the sentence upon "to go and sin no more." The sympathy of the people was clearly with the erring woman, and their feelings for Bell were the same as would have been felt for any other person in misery.

After the enunciation of the sentence, Solicitor General Howard Thompson addressed the court. He stated that he was a prosecutor, and he did not make it a rule to beg for mercy, but he was compelled, through a feeling of duty and humanity, to plead for the mercy of the court towards the woman. As for Bell, he had nothing to say; he was among relatives, but the woman was among strangers, penniless, and he did not see where any assistance for her could come from. Then, he had no doubt, she was here on account of Bell's own blandishments.

The judge stated the sentence of the court had been passed upon her. He thought the sentence was light considering the gravity of the offense, but he had no doubt Bell was the prime mover in the crime.

He said women were not apt to run after men to seduce them. Feeling was wrought to such an extent in behalf of Miss Mashburn, that Colonel J.W. Underwood, of Cleveland, arose and said that he was ready to help raise money to pay her fine and send her back to her people. Such a pathetic scene has not been witnessed in this courthouse in many a year, and a considerable amount was contributed by the people. Colonel Underwood says he will raise the $50 and costs. The solicitor and Clerk I.C. Head gave their costs.

The offenders are both in jail tonight, but the woman will be paid out. There is not much sympathy for Bell. While a preacher may sin as other people, the citizens were outraged by his hypocritical evangelistic career here last summer, sharing the hospitality of their homes and instructing their children.

While the woman's fine is light, it shows the feeling mountain people have for a distressed fellow creature and the demands of the law are sufficiently met.

The rumor has reached here that the Rev. Z. Taylor Bell and his paramour Katie Mashburn, have been jailed in some part of Tennessee. We have no means of testing the truthfulness of the report.

The Bell case will be remembered by the readers of the Constitution. Bell deserted his family in North Carolina and eloped with Kate Mashburn. They came here, and Miss Mashburn was passed off as Bell's lawful wife.

They were arrested and convicted. The woman, was, in effect, released, and Bell started to work out his fine in the gold mines, but worked only a few days and skipped. He was heard of near the Tennessee line.

Miss Mashburn was sent back to North Carolina from Gainesville.

It is now reported that Bell did not rejoin his wife and children, as he repeatedly asserted he would if freed, but that he joined Katie, and they have again been caught.

The Atlanta Constitution, 30 April 1892, Page 2, Volume 23; http://www.footnote.com/image/#84240552


Read more: The Mashburn Collection: Revivalist Bell and The Praying Miss Mashburn, The Finale http://www.themashburncollection.com/2011/04/revivalist-bell-and-praying-miss_11.html#ixzz1KJx6OEX5

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Revivalist Bell and The Praying Miss Mashburn, Part 1
"A Preacher Anxious to Save Souls; A Shocking Crime Revealed; Suggestions of Tar and Feathers"

DAHLONEGA, Ga, October 23, 1891 - [Special.]

There was a most impressive and affecting scene in the courtroom here yesterday evening. The criminal docket had been nearly all sounded, when Judge Wellborn came to the case of the State of Georgia versus. Z.T. Bell, and the state against Kate Mashburn.

As soon as it was known outside that these cases had been called people flocked into the courtroom until it was literally packed.

The sheriff obedient to orders brought the defendants from jail. Every eye was directed at the prisoners as they were brought into court. They were both visibly affected from the first. Bell looked considerably broken up, and the woman, Kate Mashburn, was in tears.

People were wondering what sort of evidence could be brought forward..., and several other questions connected with the case suggested themselves.

True, Bell had previously confessed..., but this was not a solemn admission.

[All] questions were soon put at rest.

It had been thought previous to the time for trial, by many people, that Bell would enter his plea of guilty.

When the anticipated pleas were entered, Bell in tears, and the woman sobbing like her heart would break, no one with a heart not of stone could keep from being affected.

They had sinned, and knew that they had to suffer for their transgression, and they were coming to the dreaded sentence by the shortest possible route.

"Tar and Feathers Would be Altogether Too Mild For This Scoundrel Who Abandons Wife and Children..., Accompanied by a Guilty Paramour..."