Pike-Lamar County GaArchives Biographies.....Bell, Joseph Brown March 20 1859 - August 5 1942 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Lynn Cunningham http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002535 September 24, 2004, 6:41 am Author: Unknown Joseph Brown Bell Joseph Brown Bell has for almost fifty years been one of the leading agriculturists of Spalding County and has been instrumental in the improvement of that county’s public school system. He is well known in state political circles, having served as a member of the Legislature and as delegate to several gubernatorial conventions. Mr. Bell, a son of David Miller and Elizabeth (Perry) Bell, was born at Orchard Hill, in Pike (now Lamar) County, Georgia, on March 20, 1859. David Miller Bell was numbered among the most influential citizens of his section and was very successful as a merchant and farmer. At the outbreak of hostilities between the North and South he enlisted in the Confederate Army and served with distinction throughout the war. He passed away on January 8, 1908 and his wife, on December 6, 1983. The paternal grandfather of Joseph Brown Bell was Joseph H. Bell, who came to Georgia from Edgecomb County, North Carolina. From the same county came the maternal grandparents, James and Lizzie Perry. The Bells were of English and the Perrys of French Huguenot descent. Mr. Bell's great grandfather in the maternal line was a soldier under the Duke of Wellington and was, killed in the Battle of Waterloo. His grandfather, Thomas Bell, was engaged as an apprentice in a tannery while his father was in the British army. At his first opportunity he booked passage for America. He married into a Stewart family in Newton County, Georgia. Mr. Bell received his education in the public schools of Liberty Hill, Georgia. Afterward he worked on his father’s farm for a period and then entered the mercantile business with his father and brother, Thomas. In 1893 at Griffin, Georgia, they organized a company which the father headed until his death. The business was discontinued a few years afterward, and Joseph Brown Bell turned to agriculture, in which he has been successfully engaged until the present. His plantation, which he has developed to a high state of cultivation by modern and scientific methods, is located near Griffin. At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Bell became interested in public affairs and for over half a century has been closely associated with political affairs in his section. He was a delegate to the State Democratic conventions that nominated Governors Gordon and Walker. He was a political supporter and a personal friend of many of Georgia's statesmen of the old school, including the great Henry Grady. In 1887 he removed to Spalding County and in 1898 and 1899 represented that county in the Georgia House of Representatives. He was a strong advocate of prohibition and served on various important committees of the House. In 1912 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the State Senate. In 1917 he was appointed a member of the Spalding County Board of Education and served until 1930, during which time he was a motivating power in the consolidation of schools, the construction of new buildings, and raising the standards of scholarship. He is a devout member of the Liberty Hill Baptist Church, and has served for many years on its board of deacons. He is a Mason, a Knight Templar, and a Shriner. On February 27, 1887, Mr. Bell was married to Miss Mary Hartsfield Banks, daughter of John L. and Lou (Strickland) Banks, who represented old and prominent Georgia families. Mrs. Bell passed away on May 22, 1920, leaving nine children. Thomas Grady Bell, the eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Bell, was born in December, 1887, and received his education at Dahlonega, Georgia. During the World War he was an officer at Camp Gordon and afterward engaged successfully in farming and in business. He was married to Miss Mary Sue Wallace, of Griffin, Georgia, and they now make their home at Milner. For some time he has been tax commissioner of Lamar County. Miller B. Bell, born in 1889, attended the Gordon Military Institute at Barnesville. He was married to Miss Emily K. Maddox, of Griffin, and they reside at the old homestead near Griffin. John B. Bell, born in 1891, attended the public schools of Locust Grove, Georgia, and is now a prominent citizen of Manchester, Georgia. He married Miss Lois Fisher, of Griffin. During the World War he volunteered for service and for twelve months served as a sergeant in the United States Army in France. Annie, born in 1893, was married to Mr. Willis L. Biles, who is successfully engaged in farming near Griffin. Robert Strickland Bell, born in 1895, was graduated from Gordon Military Institute and received his degree from the Georgia School of Technology, where he won fame as a football player. During the World War he was a captain in the U. S. Marine Corps. He was married to Miss Edna Hearn, of Carrollton, Georgia, and they make their home in Atlanta. Roger Harding Bell, born in 1897, is a graduate of Mercer University at Macon, Georgia, and is now an attorney in Atlanta. He was married to Miss Floy Etheridge, of Milner, Georgia, and their home is in Decatur, Georgia. Ida L. Bell, born in 1899, was educated at the State Normal College at Athens and for some years has been a teacher in the public schools of Georgia. At present she is teacher of Home Economics at LaGrange, Georgia.. Joseph Terrell Bell, born in 1901, attended the public schools of Spalding County and the Georgia School of Technology. He was married to Miss Louise Goddard, of Griffin, and they reside in Newnan, Georgia. Mary Lillian Bell was born in 1903. She was graduated from the Georgia State Normal School in 1921 and from the Kirksville Osteopathic College. She is now an osteopathic physician at LaGrange, Georgia. On January 5, 1925, Mr. Bell was united in marriage to Miss Laura Morgan, of Macon, Georgia. She is prominent in church and social activities and enjoys the esteem of many friends. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/pike/bios/bs256bell.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 6.5 Kb