Saturday, July 1, 2023

Annie Bell Johns and her Two Marriages

As we begin this post on Annie Bell Johns remember this one point: Annie Bell Family surname pre about 1900 was JOHN but around the late 1880’s to early 1900 they added an “S” making the surname JOHNS.


Annie Bell Johns was born May 1888, a daughter of Joseph Henry Johns and his wife (said to be) Laura Driggers. She was their their 3rd child and their first known daughter. Her father was  much older than her mother and by the time Annie Bell became a teen-ager her Mother, Laura Driggers had passed away in 1898 with the birth of her eight child, a daughter called Mamie, who also passed away.

At age 26, Annie Bell Johns married Robert Roller about 1914. Robert Roller is a big mystery so take the message I have embraced here within this blog post and verify all-- do not accept my conclusion I may be wrong.  The only Robert Roller I have found that could have been Annie Bell Johns first husband is a Robert Roller born 1889, son of William Monroe Roller and Betty Hunt. Robert Roller was born 3 February 1889 according to his SC Death certificate which shows he died 24 March 1950.

This marriage did not last long, for what ever reason, and Annie Bell was re-married by 1920. No exact married date or marriage license has been found for this marriage. This couple has not been found in any census as a couple. 

Were they married? Were they divorced?. I do think they were married. Divorced, I don’t know.

They had a son, Carl Roller, borne 10 October 1916. Carl Roller, SC Birth Certificate,  shows that Robert Roller and Annie Bell John were married and that she was the mother of 3 children with the birth of Carl. This birth certificate shows the couple as Mullatto; but both individuals were White Anglo Saxon Protestants.   


Line 20 shows that this couple had 3 children of which one was deceased. Robert Roller’s World War I Draft Registration Card shows that on 5 June 1917 he was married (I think, Annie Bell Johns) and had 2 children, (Carl & a newborn?).  


Then in 1920, we find Annie Bell in the Marlboro County Census with a new husband, Willie E. Boan. Who is Willie Boan.? A search of SC Marriage Licenses in Marlboro and Chesterfield county shows that Annie Bell Roller and Willie E. Boan was married on 24 May 1919 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.



Whatever happen in the marriage of Robert Roller and Annie Bell Johns occurred between 5 June 1917 (Signature on WWI Draft Card) and 24 May 1919 (Her marriage to Willie E. Boan in Chesterfield County, SC).

Robert Roller also remarried. Robert Roller married Exien Goins about 1920 or 1921. Their first born, Margaret was born 15 October 1922 according to her tombstone. No marriage license has been found for this marriage.

William Ellis Boan, 2nd husband of Annie Bell (John) Roller was borne 12 July 1892. He was a son of Pressley Boan and Nancy L. Mills. His marriage to Annie Bell (Johns) would be short lived. After the birth of two children, a male infant who died at birth and the birth of their only other child a daughter, Annie Bell (John/Johns)(Roller) Boan died on 22 July 1923.  Her baby daughter, Aline, was age 2 years and 10 days old. Annie died of acute Brights disease today its labeled acute Kidney disease but is treatable with dialysis. 

After the death of Annie Bell,  William Ellis Boan married Ida Mae Boan, daughter of Henry J. Boan and Clara Dora Boan. His daughter Aline was raised by his brother George and his wife Lucy Boan.

Annie Bell Johns and Robert Roller had the following children:

i. Infant Roller was born before May 1915.

ii. James Roller was born on 11 May 1915 in Smithville, Marlboro, South Carolina. He died on 26 Sep 1915 at the age of 0 in Smithville, Marlboro, South Carolina. He was buried on 26 Sep 1915 at Prospect Church in Smithville, Marlboro, South Carolina.

iii. Carl Roller was born on 10 Oct 1916 in Marlboro County, South Carolina, United States. He died before 1920 at the age of 4.

iv. Infant Roller was born before 5 Jun 1917.

Note: Carl Roller’s Birth Certificate above shows that Annie Bell, his Mother, had 3 children of which one was deceased. Then on 5 June 1917, Robert Roller stated that he had a wife and two children. Since, Carl above is the only child living in June 1917, Annie Bell had to have had another child after the birth of Carl and before 5 June 1917.

Sadly, by 1920 when the Census was enumerated Annie Bell and her new husband Willie E. Boan had no children in their home suggesting that all four infants borne of Annie Bell (Johns) Roller were deceased.  


Annie Bell (Johns) (Roller) and William Ellis Boan had the following children:

i. Infant Boan was buried in Mar 1920 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina. He was born on 18 Mar 1920 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina. He died on 18 Mar 1920 at the age of 0 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.

 ii. Aline Boan, born 10 Jul 1921, Patrick, Chesterfield, South Carolina; married Willis Johnston Jordan on 6 Jun 1941; died 23 Sep 2010, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.


Annie Bell (Johns) (Roller) Boan is my Grand Aunt.



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