Lillie Belle Dunagan

by Darline Dunagan Scruggs

Lillie Belle Dunagan was the first born child of Georgia Ann Smith Dunagan and Joseph Alexander Dunagan. She came to this life with limitations but she didn't let that stop her. She was physically and mentally impaired but spiritually she was an angel. Belle liked handiwork and loved spending her time piecing quilts.
Belle met with some unfortunate abuse as a young woman and gave birth to a baby. This child lived until the age of two or three before it died from unknown circumstances. I have not at this point discovered when the child was born or what gender it was.
Belle and her sister Nellie were very close. Nellie married and moved to Abbeville, Georgia and later to south Georgia. Sometime after her marriage she returned to Winder, Georgia and took her sister, Belle, to live with her. It is not known when or how Belle died. It is important to know that she lived and that she was a joy to those who knew and loved her.

The Rest of Lillie Belle's Story

Since writing this I have learned that Lillie Belle gave birth to a son on 6 August 1914 whom she named "Aren Clatin Dunagan". Belle's son died on 6 November 1916 at the age of two, still of unknown circumstances. In her little hand Bible, Belle wrote and erased his name over and over again. She must have loved him very deeply and missed him greatly.
I now know that Belle was born on the 11th day of August 1885 in Hall County Georgia. She died from breast cancer on the 13th day of December 1938 in Moultrie, Georgia. Belle is buried there in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
I would like to thank my cousin Brenda Maxwell Godley, the granddaughter of Nellie Dunagan Maxwell, for reading my story about our Aunt Belle. The story prompted Brenda to pull out an old box, that had long since been tucked away, containing Belle's personal belongings'. There she discovered the missing pieces of Belle's story. Together we both learned a little more about Lille Belle Dunagan and we learned that we can meet cousins that we have never known and establish a loving bond. Family brought us together and we are grateful to Belle for helping us to find each other. Rest in Peace Sweet Belle.