Bio of BELL, James Stroud (b.1847), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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JAMES STROUD BELL - Vol III, pg 50-53
A study of the history of commercial growth and development during the past half
century or more sets at nought the old adage that opportunity knocks but once
and rather proves that the door of opportunity is open at all times to those who
have the courage and the determination to cross the threshold. The life story of
James Stroud Bell is the record of an orderly progression at the hand of one who
was consistently a master of himself, of his chances for advancement and of the
possibilities which go to make up life's contacts and its experiences. He came
to the chief executive position of the largest flour milling concern of the
world and directed its activities with the precision of a military commander. He
dis­played splendid powers of organization and executive ability and seemed to
lose sight of no single opportunity that was presented. Life was ever to him
purposeful. He enjoyed the game of business not merely by reason of his rewards
but because he delighted in solving the problems that were continually
presented.
James Stroud Bell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1847, his
parents being Samuel and Elizabeth (Faust) Bell. The ancestral line can be
traced back to Scotland and in America representatives of the name were
identified with the Quakers who laid broad and deep the foundation upon which
Philadelphia has been built. The father was a miller who established and
conducted a successful business in the east as early as the decade of the '30s
in the nineteenth century. There he extended the scope of his activities by
becoming a flour commission mer- chant as well as miller.
The son was educated in the excellent public schools of Philadelphia, passing
through consecutive grades to the Central high school, in which he completed the
work of two years and then put aside his textbooks to enter business circles
when a youth of sixteen. He accepted a humble position in his father's office
and from that point made gradual advancement, thoroughly mastering every detail
and phase of the business until 1868, when he was admitted to a partnership, his
train­ing having been so efficient as to enable him at once to enter upon the
work of active management in a most successful manner. For twenty years he was
associated with the firm of Samuel Bell & Son, which acted as sales agent in
Pennsylvania for Washburn Crosby & Company, then one of the big milling concerns
of Minne­apolis, which was the outgrowth of the business their had been
established by General C. C. Washburn. Thus Mr. Bell came into connection with
the Washburn interests and when the business was reorganized he was considered
as a factor in that undertaking and in 1888 moved to Minneapolis to become
personally associated with the conduct of the business. A year later the firm
was incorporated as the Washburn-Martin Company and Mr. Bell was elected to the
presidency. The follow­ing year the corporate name was changed to
Washburn-Crosby Company, with Mr. Bell as chief executive, a position which he
continued to fill to the time of his death. As chief executive officer of the
corporation he directed the largest flour-milling concern in the world, its
interests including not only the mammoth mills of Minneapolis, producing more
than thirty thousand barrels of flour daily, but also almost equally large mills
at Buffalo, New York, Louisville, Kentucky, and Great Falls and Kalispell,
Montana. From the point of his earliest connection with the milling industry Mr.
Bell was a close student thereof, watched the market, delved deep into business
conditions and was ready for any emergency and for any opportunity. It was his
thorough understanding of the trade in every phase that enabled him to gain
vantage points in the competition of the mills of Minne­sota with those of the
east, south and west, adding various plants to that of the Washburn-Crosby
Company until the business of which he was the head had o'er-topped any similar
enterprise in the world. He continued to direct the operations of the company
until his death in 1915, and undoubtedly one of the strong features of his
success was not only his study of the market from every possible standpoint but
his excellent judgment concerning men and their abilities, so that he was able
to surround himself with men of marked ability, who contributed to the steady
growth of the enterprise. The Washburn-Crosby Company not only engaged in the
manufacture of flour but became equally prominent in connection with the grain
trade and Mr. Bell headed not only the milling company but its closely allied
concerns-the St. Anthony & Dakota Elevator Company and the Frontier Elevator
Company. His judgment was usually accepted as final in the management of all
these corporations with which he was identified, as few men had so keen an
insight into commercial situations or understood so thoroughly the various
branches and avenues of the trade with which he was directly concerned. He was,
moreover, a financier of marked ability because his operations brought him into
close contact with the banking fraternity in the negotiation of mammoth deals.
He served for many years as a director of the Northwestern National Bank and its
predecessors, which were eventually absorbed into that institution, and he was
also the vice presi­dent of the Minneapolis Trust Company. His judgment
concerning financial affairs of the city was ofttimes sought and his opinions
were followed with benefit and profit to the municipality.
Mr. Bell was married in Philadelphia, on the 8th of January, 1873, to Miss
Sallie Montgomery Ford, who passed away on the 19th of June, 1905, leaving a
son, James F. Bell, who had become the associate of his father in the milling
business. On the 28th of September, 1912, Mr. Bell was again married, his second
union being with Mabel Sargent, who survives him, for the life labors of James
Stroud Bell were ended on the 5th of April, 1915. He had been well known in the
club circles of the city, for in his later years he enjoyed the opportunities of
social companionship which were denied him in part in his earlier life by reason
of the stress of business. He belonged to the Minneapolis, the Minikahda and the
Lafayette Clubs of the city and at all times he held friendship inviolable,
proving the truth of the Emersonian philosophy that the way to win a friend is
to be one. The re­publican party found in him a stalwart champion of its
principles, although he was never an office seeker. His religious faith was that
of the Presbyterian church and he was prominent in its councils and in its work.
His entire life record proved conclusively that success and an honored name may
be won simultaneously, for while he came to rank as the foremost representative
of the milling industry in America, he at all times exemplified in his career
the value of thorough reliability and business integrity in the attainment of
notable success.