Imperial Valley press., 1936-12-27

ridden for a period of eight or ten weeks. was
Mammy's sinister influence behind either OF
these accidents? No matter what question
was put to Nanny when she took the stand
in frequent court sessions, she was always
shrewdly able to clear her own name and es
cape any penalty of the law
IN THE sensational court hearing in 1897, at
the time Thomas Frederick, known as Fred
Bell. sought to have Teresa Clingan Bell re-
moved as guardian of his minor brothers and
sisters, alleging incompetency, the trial brought
out the startling statement that neither ne nor
his sister, Marie Teresa, were Mrs. Belfs chill
dren However, their father had named them
specifically in his will as his own and whether
or not they were actually his blood children
or adopted was not determined Nanny up
held Mrs Bell in her statement that only@ four
children had been born to her. She appeared IN
court and took her oath on it.
At the hearing Fred Bell brought jeweler
into court who testified that Nanny had left
diamonds valued at 100000 the property of
Mrs. Bell with him for safekeeping The wit
ness stated that Nanny came for the jewels
soon after Thomas Bells death. Another wit
ness testified that he had kept laces valued at
more than $4,000 for the Bells. Both said their
dealings had been direct with Nanny. But
Nanny made satisfactory explanations to the
court as to the disposal of these valuables and
the hearing came to naught
Fred Bell managed to get himself into one
scrape after another. There was one in par
ticular with Alphonso Barillas, son of Guate-
mala's president in questionable house on
Bush Street, in which he was seriously injured
but no specific charges were brought, and the
shroud of mystery that screened all occurrences
in which Nanny had hand settled over the
incident
Some wears later, following the deaths of both
Mrs Bell and Nanny, the Bell estate was un-
der litigation for many years. 1t was only in
comparatively recent years, after Investigations
that reached from San Francisco to Peru, to
China, and back again had been made, that the
court divided the estate. But the Bell family
was a strange menage, and Fred Bell strangest
of ALL In less than two years after receiving
a substantial settlement, Fred was seen pennl-
less on a San Francisco street corner selling
apples He died shortly after in home for the
poor
During the years Nanny Pleasant lived with
the Bells in the House of Mystery" on Octaxia
Street, many strange things went on behind
closed doors. Lights burned at all hours. Shad-
owy figures came and went. From whence they
came, and where they went, their identity, no
one but Nanny knew, and Nanny never
talked Following Mammy's death, the old man.
sion became virtually haunted house." Pass
ersby claimed they often saw a strange light
through the cracks of the boarded doors and
windows late at night, and Mamny's ghost was
believed to haunt the house. The house was
finally torn down.
4 IAMMY, before her DEATH quarreled vio-
nj ently with Mrs Bell and left her to go to
friends in Oakland who looked after Nanny
until she died at the age of 92. She was prac-
tically penniless when she died. There were no
relatives-no heirs. She provided for tomb
stone and her dying wish was that on it be
carved, "She Was A Friend of John Brown"
There many who breathed easier with
Mammys passing.
Mary Ellen Pleasant was character unique.
She was the friend of all those whom she felt
worthy of her good graces. At the same time,
she could have made life extremely uneasy for
dozens of the States most prominent figures
whose lives she knew intimately. But her policy
was always silence. She was paid, and hand
somely, for what she knew but it was the
power and not the money that intrigued her
1t is remarkable and amazing that woman
with a heritage so meager could rise to such
great heights of power and influence-even
though in many respects it was evil and
sinister
A black woman who determined the destiny
of white men was Nanny Pleasant She was
born to rule and rule she did, not unlike a
queen from her palace" on Octavia Street
the House of Mystery"
Copyright. 1886