Clearfield Descendants

Some of the Individuals & Families of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania

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Arthur BELL

Arthur BELL[1]

Male 1761 - 1833  (71 years)

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  • Name Arthur BELL 
    • NOTE: Arthur's Find A Grave Memorial indicates his middle name was Squire. I don't believe this to be the case. The word Squire was used as an informal title often given to a Justice of the Peace. As one of his notes below indicates, In 1802, Mr. Bell was elected Justice of the Peace ... and was ever after known as Squire Bell. [2]
    Born 1 Aug 1761  Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Gender Male 
    Born (alternate) 1 Aug 1761  Middletown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Military Service Revolutionary War 
    Died 19 Jan 1833  Middletown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried McClure Cemetery, Curwensville, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    • Click here for the McClure Cemetery - We Are the Story Tellers video. Written and produced by this website compiler, it's a short presentation about the historic cemetery in Clearfield County, PA. and of some of the pioneer families whose graves can be found there, including that of Arthur Bell. Dedicated to all those in pursuit of our ancestry.
    McClure Cemetery Historical Marker    		 McClure Cemetery Historical Marker
    Listing the names of early Clearfield area pioneers who were said to have served in the Revolutionary War, including Arthur Bell.
    Notes 
    • It was when Daniel Ogden returned to the "Big Island" on one of his trips that he met Arthur Bell, who soon afterwards followed him to Chingleclamouche's old Town, where he remained with Ogden and assisted him in the erection of his house, after which lie went further up the River to settle. John Bell followed his brother Arthur. From his diminutive size he was familiarly called "Little Johnny Bell". [5]

    • An Arthur Bell is the original Clearfield County Treasurer chosen at it’s first election following January 29th, 1822, when the Assembly passed a law organizing Clearfield county as a body politic for all purposes, and authorizing its citizens to elect county officials. [6]

    • Arthur Bell came up the river, from Big Island, in a small canoe– at that day there were no roads. Even the Indian trails had not yet been discovered. So, the only means of travel was by the river. When he arrived at Ogden’s, the senior Ogden and his sons were busily engaged building a log cabin. Bell, being a man of genius impulses, and always ready and willing to assist his fellows and though he had never before seen Mr. Ogden, he immediately landed his canoe, and for several days assisted him in constructing his first house.

      The house, being completed he again embarked, and turned the prow of this canoe up stream. At Curwensville, he found Paul Clover, who there was the only settler on the river from Ogden’s to its source.

      Again embarking, he pushed his canoe still further up the river. He finally stopped and located a tract of land now [1897] belonging to the Farewell estate and occupied by H. A. Caldwell. This was in 1797. So, Arthur Bell was the first settler in what is now Pike township. His wife came the next year. In 1802, Mr. Bell was elected Justice of the Peace for the township of Chincleclamousche, and was ever after known as ’Squire Bell'.

      Arthur Bell came here from Patch Valley, Centre county. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, having for a considerable time, served in the Navy. ’Squire' Bell was a great “fiddler,” and was very popular among the early settlers. He was a tall muscular man, of determined spirit but withal kind and obliging. In a short time, he became the recognized leader of the settlement. Here, in 1799, was born his eldest child Grier Bell, who was the first male child born in Clearfield county.

      As an illustration of the privation and difficulties of the early pioneers, the following is a good example. From his coming here in 1799, until Matthew Ogden’s mill was built in 1804, ’Squire Bell was compelled to grind the corn on which he depended for food, in an old coffee mill. [7]

    • Arthur Bell came up the river from Big Island, in the same year [1796 or 1797], and soon after Daniel Ogden. He remained a few days with Ogden and helped put up his house, after which he went farther up the river, and commenced an Improvement. Bell, who in after years was known as Squire Bell, came from Path Valley, Centre county. He, and his brother John, who also came about the same time, were veterans of the Revolution, having served on a privateer. Arthur was made justice of the peace in 1802. He was a great “ fiddler,” and exceedingly popular among the settlers. He was a tall, muscular man, of determined spirit, kind, and obliging, and the recognized, leader in the settlement. Grier Bell, his son, was the first white child born in the county. [8]

    • In 1803 Squire Arthur Bell sold the upper part of his farm to Benjamin Fenton, a resident of Half Moon Valley, Centre county. [9]

    • Arthur Bell and James McCracken, Sr., were brother-in-laws, married to Greenwood sisters, Mary and Sarah respectively. [10]

    • According to a Sons of American Revolution packet submitted in 1938 by Ferdinand Cortez Bell, Arthur Bell and his brother John (also buried at McClure Cemetery), also served in the Cumberland County Militia. F.C. Bell gave as his source the History of Clearfield County (no author or publisher listed).

      According to the Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, this Arthur Bell settled in Clearfield County about 1790, making him one of the earliest settlers in the county.

      His children were Frampton, Letitia, Rebecca, Rachel, Mary, Greenwood, Grier, William, and Arthur Jr. [11]
    Person ID I14369  tree1
    Last Modified 6 Aug 2020 

    Father William BELL,   b. 1717, IRELAND Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1806, Derry Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 89 years) 
    Mother Letitia NELSON,   b. 19 Dec 1721, Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1801  (Age 79 years) 
    Married 1749  Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F12218  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Mary Elizabeth GREENWOOD,   b. 16 May 1759, Pennsylvania Colony, British Colonial America Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Aug 1824, Clearfield, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 65 years) 
    Married 10 Mar 1783  Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Children 
     1. [Daughter] BELL
     2. [Daughter] BELL,   b. Jun 1784,   d. Jun 1784  (Age ~ 0 years)
    +3. Greenwood BELL,   b. 20 Nov 1785, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 8 Sep 1860, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years)
     4. Lucretia | Letitia BELL,   b. 27 Oct 1787
     5. Rebecca BELL,   b. 27 Sep 1789, Clearfield, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1847, Young County, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 57 years)
    +6. Mary BELL,   b. 13 Sep 1791,   d. 7 Aug 1824, Iowa, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 32 years)
    +7. Rachel Oliveen BELL,   b. 13 Sep 1793, Clearfield, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1840, Bell Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 46 years)
    +8. William BELL,   b. 22 Feb 1795,   d. 28 Oct 1831  (Age 36 years)
    +9. Grier BELL,   b. 1 Jul 1799, Pike Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 26 Feb 1886, New Millport, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 86 years)
    Last Modified 1 Jan 2018 
    Family ID F10255  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 1 Aug 1761 - Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBorn (alternate) - 1 Aug 1761 - Middletown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 10 Mar 1783 - Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 19 Jan 1833 - Middletown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - McClure Cemetery, Curwensville, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Sources 
    1. [S714] Family Tree: John McCracken/Mary Bell.

    2. [S185] Richard Lee Gleason Observations, see his Find A Grave Memorial ID: 22658575.

    3. [S845] Descendants of Arthur Bell, p. 1.

    4. [S510] Find A Grave, database and images, Arthur Squire Bell Memorial ID: 22658575 .
      https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22658575/arthur-squire-bell

    5. [S278] Clearfield County-Pennsylvania One Hundred Years' Growth, p. 15, see also p. 39.

    6. [S41] Caldwell Atlas of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania (1878), p. 9.

    7. [S778] History of Clearfield County, From It’s Incorporation to the Present Time (1897), pp. 5-6.

    8. [S17] History of Clearfield County Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches (1887), p. 53.

    9. [S17] History of Clearfield County Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches (1887), p. 58.

    10. [S185] Richard Lee Gleason Observations.

    11. [S879] Facebook Page: Clearfield County PA Genealogy, comment by James Shigley, 23 June 2019.