On July 6, 1891, Wash Bell, about 24 years old, was shot in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, by several white men. Bell was accused of assaulting his wife and seducing a white woman. The men shot and killed Bell the day before his trial. Wash Bell worked on a farm and was the son of Sady and Vaginia Bell, brother to Norborn Bell, and husband to Patsey (Johnson) Bell