Having been born of goodly parents in 1938 in Evanston, Illinois and having enjoyed many family gatherings, vacations, and other events with many cousins as I grew up; I developed a curiosity as a child concerning who was on our family tree. By the time I was in High School I knew that my father, Clark Wesley Cell, was the only Cell in the entire Chicago area, and that he had over 40 cousins spread from New England to Southern California. We had visited some in Kansas, North Carolina, and Virginia on family vacations. Others had come to visit us in Evanston.
Following college at Kalamazoo, Michigan and the University of Chicago, I married Leon Bakow in 1960. His job took us to Southern California in the Los Angeles basin where we made our home.
To my great amazement and delight I discovered a Cell family in our local phone book. Paul and Ruth Cell lived less than three miles away, but it took me several months to get up the courage to phone them to see if they were related. They told me what they knew about Paul's ancestry, and I shared what I knew about mine. Then on the suggestion of my Dad, I wrote his Aunt Lottie Cell, who was then living in LaJolla, California. (A beach town south of Los Angeles). From her I learned that this Paul Cell was "probably one of our Colorado Cousins." I had never heard of them, so as my curiousity grew, my quest for the roots to our family increased. Within a few years I had a pretty complete listing of the descendants of my 4th great-grandfather, John Cell/Sell, 1791-1862, and his brother, Rev. David Cell, whose descendants were the "Colorado Cousins". Over the years, I met many of those cousins by mail and some in person.
In the meantime, Leon and I had three wonderful children, and a marriage that was at best a struggle. My parents provided my most lasting support during those years. We visited them in Chicage nearly every Christmas, and they visited us in California many summers. One summer my parents traveled to Europe and while there endeavored to follow up on some notes my Grandfather, George Croft Cell, had made on the family roots. His notes suggested that our Cell Ancestors might have been from Zwiebrucken near Strassburg. My Grandfather was a Methodist theologian, and had studied for his PhD at the University of Berlin. He later taught at Boston University. We could only guess at what inquiries he might have made during his years spent in Germany.
Unfortunately he died a year before I was born. So on their trip to Europe my parents began with a visit to the Strassburg public library. They were told that the deputy mayor of Strassburg was a Herr Joseph Zell. Would they like to meet him! They did, and he put them in touch with Gustaf Zelle who authored a monthly newsletter. Soon these 15 to 20 page newsletters, (all written in German), began arriving at my home in California. No one I knew among my Methodist Church friends could read German. But I did discover a friend who had a neighbor who was from Germany. He was excited about all the genealogical records I was collecting, and happily translated the "die Familienpost" newsletters. He also introduced me to the Mormon Church. The churches interest in family history strengthened my own, and I began to fill in the blanks on other branches of my family tree.
I dreamed of taking a trip to Pennsylvania to visit the family home places in Franklin County. In the summer of 1969 my parents made that dream a reality. With three children in tow, I flew to Chicago and from there we all drove to PA, where we spent a week visiting relatives and touring family farms, cemeteries, and libraries. I came home with many pages of family records and lots of photos as well. Four months later my father died. How grateful I am for the time shared with him on that trip.
Partly in tribute to my father, I began the Celle Newsletter in January of 1970. Contacts grew and my efforts spread to include all early emigrants of our surname. While in Franklin County, PA I had learned that before the Civil War our surname was recorded as Sell as often as Cell, and sometimes as Gsell. Over the years we have identified many branches of the Zell(e) Sell(s) Cell clan, printed most in the thirty years of The Celle Newsletters.
In 1972 Leon and I finalized our divored. In time I met and married Michael Choppin. We combined my three and his three children to create our own version of the "Brady Bunch". In 1979 we added one of our own to the mob and became a "Yours, Mine, and Ours" family. Today Adam is a Junior at the University of Southern California, and the rest are scattered over the country with their families. Our "empty nest" does not really feel that empty as Mike and I enjoy keeping in touch with our seventeen grandchildren. Those of you who have read the newsletters over the years, or have a copy of our Family CELLE CD can fill in the remaining details.
Every family has their unique story to tell. We hope that you have enjoyed ours, and will share yours with us. In the coming months look for more opportunities to meet our Cell/Sell cousins as we put someone else in "The Family Spotlight".
