TOP ROW - Virginia Bells

Wagon Bells, 1830s

Donor: Mrs. Roy Cobb, 1957

Some of Kalamazoo County’s earliest settlers were from Virginia, including the family of John Brown of Schoolcraft who arrived on Christmas Eve 1830. They traveled in a Conestoga wagon pulled by a team of oxen that wore this set of bells. 

An Alert

Wagon bells were a signaling device. This type was worn above the collars of horses or oxen while they pulled a wagon. The bells alerted on-coming traffic along narrow, winding roads. This was particularly useful to the Brown family who traveled many treacherous, one-lane roads through the Blue Ridge Mountains to get to Michigan.

An Old Saying

“Be there with bells on” is derived from an old saying indicating that one has arrived safely. If a wagon broke down or got stuck in mud, the driver would ring the bells to call for help. He gave one of the bells to whoever helped get him rolling again. To “get there with your bells on” meant to arrive without having experienced any trouble that would have cost you one of your bells.