Biographical Sketch of Hon. Thomas S. BELL (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************* Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsyl- vania, comprising a historical sketch of the county," by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Phila- delphia, PA, 1893, pp. 577-8. "HON. THOMAS S. BELL, a distinguished citizen of Chester county, who served as a judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, was a son of William and Jane (Sloan) Bell, and was born in Philadelphia October 22, 1800. In May, 1821, he removed to West Chester, where he spent the larger part of his life. He soon became eminent in his profession of the law, and served successively as district attorney, a member of the State senate, and at different times as president judge of his own and an adjoining judicial district. On November 18, 1846, he was appointed an associate justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and served with ability and efficiency until December 1, 1851, when the tenure of office was changed by the constitution. Judge Bell died in Philadelphia, June 6, 1861. "His third son, Lt.-Col. Thomas S. Bell, was born May 12, 1838, and, after being admitted to the bar, gave brilliant indications of genius and success. His career of future promise never came, as he was one of the first in 1861 to respond to the call of his country for help, and two years later fell fighting on the bloody field of Antietam."