Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah July 15, 2020

Jacob H. Bell has been a prominent and successful representative of agricultural interest in Carroll county for almost three decades and has resided on a farm on section 31, Union township, throughout the entire period. His birth occurred in St. Joseph county, Indiana, on the 2d of March, 1843, his parents being Samuel and Sarah (Harris) Bell, the former a native of New York and the latter of Germany. The paternal grandfather, Samuel C. Bell, was born in New York and served as a soldier in the war of 1812. He worked at the carpenter’s trade in early manhood and subsequently became identified with general agricultural pursuits. Unto him and his wife, Mrs. Sarah Bell, were born nine children, including Roderick, George, Samuel, Horace, Maria and Mary. Jacob Harris, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Germany and a shoemaker by trade. Emigrating to the United States, he was for many years successfully engaged in farming in St. Joseph county, Indiana. He participated in the Revolutionary war and lived to attain the remarkable age of one hundred and nine years. Unto him and his wife, Mrs. Sarah Harris, were born a number of children, including Wayne, John, William, George, Sarah, Eliza and Mary.

Samuel Bell, the father of Jacob H. Bell, was a cabinet maker by trade. He located in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1849 and then removed to St. Joseph county, Indiana. In 1850 he went to California by ox team, returning to the Hoosier state at the end of two years. In 1852 he died from damps while cleaning out a well, being at that time about fifty-two years of age. At one time he served as lieutenant governor of Indiana. His wife lived to attain the age of ninety-eight years, passing away in the faith of the Presbyterian church. Eleven years of her life were spent in Kit Carson county, Colorado, where she had taken up a homestead. She was the mother of fourteen children, as follows: George, who was accidentally killed in California; Susanna, who died in infancy; Sarah Ann, who died in Illinois and who was the wife of Robert Robertson, a soldier in the Civil war; Nancy Jane, the wife of James Titerington, of Rock Island county, Illinois; Mary Minerva, the wife of Thomas Stringer, of Los Angeles, California; Eliza, the wife of Isaac Love, of Wisconsin; Steward H., who is a resident of Grinnell, Iowa; William Marion, who passed away in California on the 11th of January, 1911; Martha, the wife of Alexander Stuckey, of Great Falls, Montana; Jacob H., of this review; Charles Hilbert, who makes his home near Seneca, Kansas; John Putman, who is also a resident of the Sunflower state; and two who died in childhood.

Jacob Harris Bell, whose name introduces this review, was reared in St. Joseph county, Indiana, and supplemented his early education, obtained in the public schools, by study in Notre Dame University. In August, 1861, he ran away from school and enlisted for nine months’ service in Company I, Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. On the expiration of his term he reenlisted in Company K, Eighty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, remaining with that command as a private until the cessation of hostilities. At the battle of Chickamauga he was wounded in the jaw. He participated in numerous battles and skirmishes, among which may be mentioned the following: the first skirmish of Stone River; the battle of Perryville, Kentucky; Chickamauga; Missionary Ridge; and the Atlanta campaign. He went with Sherman on his march to the sea and also took part in the grand review at Washington. When the supremacy of the Union had been established he returned home with a creditable military record, having never faltered in the performance of any task assigned him. He first followed farming at South Bend, Indiana, and subsequently took up his abode in Rochester, Minnesota, where he was employed as clerk in a store. Later he removed to Rock Island county, Illinois, where he was married and followed farming for eight years. On the expiration of that period he went to Kansas and from that state made his way to Marshall county, Iowa. In 1883 he came to Carroll county, locating on the farm in Union township whereon he has resided to the present time. He first came into possession of a tract of two hundred and eighty acres here and subsequently augmented his holdings by additional purchase until they embraced three hundred and eighty-five acres of valuable land. Since then he has sold some of the land and has also divided some among his children, so that his home farm now comprises but one hundred and sixty-nine acres. He is a practical agriculturist who does well whatever he undertakes, and his strong determination and laudable ambition constitute the secret of his prosperity.

On the 1st of September, 1867, Mr. Bell was joined in wedlock to Miss Margreta Spickler, a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania and a daughter of John and Nancy (Walker) Spickler, who were likewise born in the Keystone state. They became early settlers of Rock Island county, Illinois, residing there during the period of the Black Hawk war. John Spickler passed away at the age of eighty-two, while his wife was called to her final rest when seventy-two years old. Unto them were born six sons and five daughters, namely: Sarah, William, Margreta, John, Henry, Louisa Boone, Abigail, George, Howard, Nancy and Eugene Ellsworth.

Mr. and Mrs. Bell were the parents of nine children, John, an agriculturist of Newton township, wedded Miss Maude Davis, by whom he had eight children: Clifford, Avery, Fay, Clara, Arville, Goldie and Bonnie, all living, and Alice, deceased. Loren, who married Miss Lillian Ellis, has three children: Alva, Lula and Jacob Harris. J. Benjamin married Miss Tena Van Aiken and also has three children: Beulah, Gertrude and William George. Henry wedded Miss Ida Davis and is likewise the father of three children: Vivian, Millard and Jacob Henry. Albert, who married Miss Mittie Godown, has two children, Howard and Henry. Raymond wedded Miss Zula Patrick and has one child, Opal. Maude gave her hand in marriage to William Maybay. Ethel is the wife of O. W. Tuel and the mother of one child, Hilda. Lottie died in infancy.

Mr. Bell is a republican in politics and has proven an able public official. He served as township trustee for fifteen consecutive years and has also been school director for a number of years. While a resident of Illinois he held the office of supervisor. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Charity Lodge, A.F. & A.M.; Copestone Chapter, No. 78, R.A.M.; Audubon Commandery, K.T.; and Za-Ga-Zig Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He still maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in Perry Wright Post, G.A.R. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bell are Baptists in religious faith. They enjoy in large measure the confidence and esteem of those with whom they have come in contact, and the hospitality of their pleasant home is greatly enjoyed by their many friends.

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