BIOGRAPHY: Gruber H. BELL, Mifflin County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Patty Frank Copyright 2006-2008. All rights reserved. http://files.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/mifflin/ http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/mifflin/1picts/runk1897/runk-bios.htm __________________________________________________________________________ The Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley, Comprising the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry, Pennsylvania. Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, Volume I, pages 441-443. __________________________________________________________________________ GRUBER H. BELL, Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pa., son of Thompson G. and Priscilla (Martin) Bell, was born in Derry township, Mifflin county, March 9, 1853. Ascending the maternal line of his father, Thompson G. Bell, we may count back five generations, occupying much over a century of time, of the ancestry of Mr. G. H. Bell; for his great-great-great-grandfather, George Sigler, came from Germany about the year 1761. The leisurely voyages of those days afforded time for many important events to occur during a single passage across the Atlantic; in the case of this young German, what happened was no less momentous than the securing of the help meet for life, in the person of Elizabeth Serrault, to whom he was married while on the "rolling deep." Judging by her surname, the bride must have been of French parentage. They were among the early settlers of Mifflin county, where Mr. Sigler took out warrants for land in Decatur township, and at the time of his death owned 400 acres. Their children were: George; Adam; Henry; John; Jacob; Samuel; and Elizabeth. When the oldest, George, was thirteen years of age, he was captured by the Indians; after being held by them for one year, he was set at liberty on the very day when the colonies declared themselves "free and independent," July 4, 1776. In the year 1791, this George Sigler (2) married Elizabeth Bunn, of New Jersey; his sister, Elizabeth, married Henry Bunn, of the same State, presumably a brother of Mrs. George Sigler's. The children of Mr. and Mrs. George Sigler are: Mary E; Jacob; Elizabeth; George (3); and Sarah (Mrs. Rothrock), mother of Joseph Rothrock, of Juniata county, Pa. George Sigler (2) died in his sixtieth year, August 3, 1821. On the paternal side, Mr. G. H. Bell can trace the line in America at least as far back as the John Bell who was a land warrantee of this region in 1786, choosing his place of settlement along the banks of Jack's creek, for its superiority as a hunting ground. He had come from Ireland some years before, and now, with two companions, Dorman and McClenahan, took up his residence in a locality later known as Belltown. He married Margaret McCartney, of Juniata county, Pa. Among their children were: John P.; William, the great-grandfather of Mr. Bell; James; and George. Both parents were members of the Presbyterian church in Dry valley, now Kellys. A descendant of his, John H. Bell, whose home was on the boundary between Decatur and Derry townships, married Mary E., daughter of George and Elizabeth (Bunn) Sigler, about 1811. The land on which they settled was given to Mary E. Sigler by her father, and is the same tract now owned and occupied by William S. Bell. The children of this marriage are: George; William S.; Matilda E.; Thompson G, father of Gruber S. Bell; James Foster; Sybilla Margaret; Sarah B.; Mary Jane; John M.; Ann Eliza; Amanda Ellen; and Adeline. This numerous family were all raised upon the homestead, their excellent parents taking care that they should share the benefits of a thorough common school education, and learn music. Mr. and Mrs. Bell were both members of the Little Valley Presbyterian church, and were consistent and exemplary in their lives. Their doors were ever open to clergymen of all denominations; their cheerful and kindly home life and liberal hospitality made it an esteemed privilege to be their guest. A high moral tone, consistently maintained, commanded universal respect. Mr. Bell was the superintendent of the first Sabbath-school at Kellys, in 1828, and as among the first there to sign the temperance pledge, introduced in 1830. He died in the prime of his useful life, June 18, 1838, at the age of forty-six years and a half. Thompson G. Bell was born January 12, 1817. During his youth and early manhood, he lived at the homestead, teaching day-school and singing-school. After his marriage with Priscilla, daughter of Samuel Martin, of Derry township, which took place October 7, 1841, the young couple began housekeeping in the old Red House, on the farm now owned by G. H. Bell. At this home was born their son, S. Martin, on August 20, 1842; he married Sarah C. Nichols. The next event in the family history was the death of Samuel Martin, Mrs. Bell's father, after which the Bells removed to the white house on the old Bell farm, where they lived until the spring of 1845. Here J. Foster Bell was born, October 16, 1844. In the same fall, an intermarriage took place, similar to that recorded of the Sigler and Bunn families, two generations earlier; Frank Martin, brother of Mrs. Thompson G. Bell, marrying Mr. Bells' sister, Sarah B. Bell. In April, 1846, Mr. Bell removed to the farm of J. M. Martin, in Dry valley, where his son, J. Ellis Bell, was born, August 4, 1846. the next and last removal was to farm which Mr. Bell purchased from Frank Martin in the spring of 1848; it is now the property of J. C. Bell. Edwin Thompson Bell was born here, May 26, 1848, and died September 21, 1849. Mrs. Priscilla (Martin) Bell died March 21, 1851, aged thirty-three and one-half years. Thompson G. Bell's sister then kept house for him for a short time when he, realizing his need of some one to care for his three little boys, married, in April, 1852, Mary Elizabeth Anderson, of Lewistown, who had spent much of her early life in the home of the Rev. Jacob Gruber. She at once took charge of the home, and proved herself equal to the cards placed upon her, and has never seen a most worthy and efficient helpmeet. She still lives at the old Brown House at Vira, Pa., and is honored and loved by her children and all who know her. The first child by this union was Gruber H. Bell; then Priscilla Mary, who married George S. Himes, now residing near Burnham, Pa., where they are in the mercantile business. The rest of the family are: Jane Ann (Mrs. Theodore M. Bashore); Sarah Matilda; George Thompson, who married Margaret Beyers, of Johnstown, Pa; Laura H.; and William Han, who married Margaret Dippery. A spirit of cheerful and unaffected piety pervaded the home of Thompson Bell's family, and made it happy, and rich in beneficent influences. Both the parents were member of the Methodist Episcopal church, first at Lewistown, and later at Dry valley, now Kellys, and zealously active in its work. Two of the sons became clergymen; Rev. J. Foster Bell, who married Maria E., daughter of John D. and Mary (Marks) Naginey, and died March 5, 1878, leaving one child, now a student at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.; and Rev. J. Ellis Bell, graduate of Evanston College and Theological Seminary, Evanston, Ill.; who married Juniata Waters. Thompson G. Bell departed this life in September, 1889; the children still have the presence of their good and faithful mother, Mrs. Mary E. Bell. Gruber H. Bell attended the public schools of his native township until he was thirteen years old. At the age of seventeen, he was for one term under special instruction; thus far, he had resided on the home farm. In 1870-71, he became a pupil at Kishacoquillas Seminary, attending the normal class. During the winter of 1871-72, he taught school at Brick Church, Kishacoquillas valley. After teaching one more season in the State of Illinois, Mr. Bell returned home and took charge of his father's farm. He still, however, taught during the winter for five or six terns at the Kelly school house, and one term at the graded school at Yeagertown. He then gave his whole attention to farming, purchasing his father's farm in 1879, and continuing to occupy and cultivate it until 1894. During that time, he made many improvements, and brought the farm to a high state of productiveness, adding many modern facilities for agricultural work. Mr. Bell has also dealt extensively in live stock, and has had a broad experience as an auctioneer. In the autumn of 1893, he removed to Lewistown, where he now resides; he has offices and warerooms in that town, and has added the sale of agriculture implements to that of his consignments of live stock. His political opinions are combined, Republican and Prohibitionist. Gruber H. Bell was married March 21, 1878, to Nettie J., daughter of John M. and Margaret (Barr) Shadle. Their children are: John Foster, born February 23, 1879, now attending the high school at Lewistown; Harvey Thompson, born June 18, 1884, died June 18, 1890; and Mary Barr, born April 15, 1890. Mr. Bell and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Lewistown. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Bell were Henry and Margaret Shadle; they were among the early settlers of the Kishacoquillas valley. Besides John M. Shadle, Mrs. Bell's father, they had other children; two of these were Sarah (Mrs. Cummings); and Margaret (Mrs. Fleck). Mrs. Bell's maternal grandparents were William and Jane Barr, whose children were: Robert; Christian; John D.; Catherine; Martha; Margaret; and Jane. John M. and Margaret (Barr) Shadle are both deceased; besides Nettie J. (Mrs. Bell), they have two children, one of whom, Harvey, died February 3, 1881, aged about twenty-eight years, of typhoid fever; he contracted the disease while nursing his father, through a very serious attack of the same. Their other son, Samuel W. Shadle, died June 26, 1896. He was a brilliant attorney-at- law, a graduate of Lafayette College. He had held the office of journal clerk in the Pennsylvania Legislature, and had charge of the Second Comptroller's office in the Treasury Department, Washington, D. C. He died aged forty-six years.