William Bell

Brief Life History of William

When William Bell was born on 6 July 1819, in Pike Township, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, Greenwood Bell, was 33 and his mother, Elizabeth Roll, was 31. He married Martha Hoover about 1844, in Pike Township, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons. He lived in Bell Township, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, United States in 1850. He died on 20 March 1877, in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, United States, at the age of 57, and was buried in McClure Cemetery, Curwensville, Clearfield, Pennsylvania, United States.

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Family Time Line

William Bell
1819–1877
Julia L. Armagost
1843–1921
John Henry Bell
1875–1945
Mary Emma Bell
1877–1956
Annie Laura Bell
1877–1892

Sources (7)

  • William Bell in household of Greenwood Bell, "United States Census, 1850"
  • William Bell, "Find A Grave Index"
  • William Bell in entry for John Henry Bell, "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007"

World Events (8)

1820 · Making States Equal

The Missouri Compromise helped provide the entrance of Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state into the United States. As part of the compromise, slavery was prohibited north of the 36°30′ parallel, excluding Missouri.

1820 · Making Land more affordable

The United States law requiring full payment at the time of purchase and registration of any land. to help encourage sales and make land more affordable, Congress reduced the minimum price of dollar per acre and the minimum size that could be purchased. Most of this land for sale was located on the frontier which was then "The West". This Act was good for many Americans, but it was also over used by wealthy investors.

1836 · Remember the Alamo

Being a monumental event in the Texas Revolution, The Battle of the Alamo was a thirteen-day battle at the Alamo Mission near San Antonio. In the early morning of the final battle, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. Quickly being overrun, the Texian Soldiers quickly withdrew inside the building. The battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War, But the Alamo gradually became known as a national battle site and later named an official Texas State Shrine.

Name Meaning

English (northern) and Scottish (Lowlands): from the Middle English personal name Bell. As a man's name this is from Old French beu, bel ‘handsome’, which was also used as a nickname. As a female name it represents a short form of Isabel .

English (northern) and Scottish (Lowlands): from Middle English belle ‘bell’ (Old English belle), in various applications; most probably a metonymic occupational name for a bell ringer or bell maker, or a topographic name for someone living ‘at the bell’ (as attested by 14th-century forms such as John atte Belle). This indicates either residence by an actual bell (e.g. a town's bell in a bell tower, centrally placed to summon meetings, sound the alarm, etc.) or ‘at the sign of the bell’, i.e. a house or inn sign (although surnames derived from house and inn signs are rare in Scots and English).

English: from Middle English bel ‘fair, fine, good’ (Old French bel ‘beautiful, fair’). See also Beal 1.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

Possible Related Names

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