USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 37
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Mrs. Bell, the mother of Charles C. Bell, was born January 19, ISIO. She was a true type of the noble mother of the old school, holding dear her home, family and fireside, exemplifying in her everyday life a true Christianity, and free from fashionable follies and vain ambitions. A womanly woman, and a motherly mother, she was practical in all things, a model of industry, kindly, gentle and self-denying, one who lived to make others comfortable and happy. She died August I,
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1808. Charles Christian Bell was six years old when his father located on a farm in Cooper County. He assisted on the farm during the summer months and attended school in winter. It was here that he acquired the habits of in- dustry and energy which have characterized him throughout his later life. L'pon the death of his father, the chief care of the farm and the support of the family devolved upon him. After his mother's death, in 1868, he delivered the farm and all effects to the appointed ad- ministrator and started out to win his way through life. For a year he attended the busi- ness college in Boonville, from which he grad- mated in 1869. Without capital, and $115 in debt for his schooling, he started to seek his fortune in Colorado, traveling most of the way there on foot. At Central City he secured employment. Soon he embarked in the fruit and confectionery business, forming a partner- ship with a friend. This young firm was the first to engage in the business of shipping apples from Missouri into the Rocky Mountain country. In 1870 he sold out his interests (on time), and his successors soon became bankrupt, leaving Mr. Bell the principal creditor. Being without funds, he attached himself to an overland wagon train and drove a team to Austin, Texas, where he became a porter in a wholesale house, at small wages. His ability and faithfulness attracted the atten- tion of his employers, who soon gave him a position as traveling salesman at a good salary, and he was highly successful in this business. Recognizing his business sagacity, a promi- nent St. Louis firm backed him in establishing a business of his own in Austin. He was suc- cessful, but soon a desire to return to his old home caused him to dispose of his Texas in- terests, and in February, 1877, he returned to Boonville, with about six thousand dollars, acquired by six years of hard labor, economy and judicious management. Joining a brother, he opened up a wholesale fruit packing and shipping business under the firm name of C. C. Bell & Bro., erecting a packing house, fruit evaporator and jelly factory. In 1885, he purchased his brother's interest and en- gaged more extensively in the packing and shipping of apples, and the "Bell Brand" of apples became noted throughout the country. At the Interstate Fruit Growers' and Shippers' Convention held at Cairo, Illinois, in 1885, the title, "Missouri's Apple King," was applied to him and has very appropriately clung to him
ever since. In 1886 he organized the "Cen- tral Missouri Horticultural Association," and has been its secretary up to date. At the annual meeting of the State Horticultural Society, December 6, 1887, a gold medal was presented to him by the farmers and citizens of Cooper County for his successful manage- ment of the horticultural exposition. He called the first meeting of apple dealers of the United States and Canada, at Chicago, in January, 1895, to organize the National Apple Shippers' Association of which he was elected president for two terms. He is extensively in- terested in fruit-growing, owning several fruit farms and apple orchards. Fruit-grow- ing is acknowledged as one of the leading in- dustries of Missouri, and to no one man is more credit due for the high position it occu- pies than to MIr. Bell, who has devoted his every energy to its advancement for nearly a quarter of a century. In 1878 he visited France, Germany, Switzerland and England (attending the World's Exposition at Paris) and gained much information of value to horti- culturists. He also gave considerable atten- tion to the culture of the sugar beet, which he is endeavoring to promote in this State. Mr. Bell was one of the incorporators of the Farmers' Bank of Boonville, and has been its vice president since its organization. He has been closely identified with enterprises of a public nature and is one of the Missouri com- missioners to the Pan-American Exposition of 1901, at Buffalo, New York. He is president of the Boonville Board of Trade, which posi- tion he has filled since 1886. For a number of years he served as president of the Boon- ville city council, and for three terms he was mayor of the city, originating and carrying out a number of reform measures greatly bene- ficial to the city. He is a Republican, a strong and popular member of his party, and a pro- nounced Mckinley admirer. In 1892 he was a delegate from Missouri to the Republican National Convention at Minneapolis, that nominated Harrison and Reid, and was one of the committee chosen to notify them of their nomination. In 1888, and again in 1890, he was a Republican candidate for Representative in the State Legislature, and presidential elector of the Eighth Congressional District in 1896. Above all political affiliations, Mr. Bell is an American. When less than six- teen years of age, he enlisted in a cavalry regi- ment of the Union Army, for service in the
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Civil War, and in October, 1864, was captured by General Joe Shelby's Confederate com- mand. After his release he again entered the army and served until the close of the war. From 1872 to 1875 he was a member and quartermaster sergeant of the famous Travis Rifles (State Guards), of Austin, Texas, then known as the best drilled company in the Lone Star State, and in 1879 he was commissioned by Governor Phelps as a first lieutenant in the National Guard of Missouri. Mr. Bell was married April 30, 1889, to Miss Annie Augusta Luckhardt, of Oregon, Missouri. She was born September 9. 1869, daughter of George P. and Henrietta Francisca Luckhardt. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Bell, Charles Von Lunen, was of noble family, of the city of Lunen, Germany. In 1849, he came to Amer- ica, and located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, He died September 7, 1879. Henrietta Fran- cisca, the mother of Mrs. Bell, was his eldest child, highly educated and proficient in music. Mrs. Bell is a graduate of the Oregon High School, class of 1888, in which she received the highest honors. From her childhood she has manifested marvelous musical talent and is an accomplished pianist. The beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. Bell on High Street, Boonville, is additionally brightened by the happy faces of their three children, Minnie Henrietta, Clara Louisa and Charles Christian Bell, Jr.
Bell City .- A village in Stoddard County. fourteen miles northeast of Bloomfield, on the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad. It has two sawmills, a hotel and a few stores. Popula- tion, 1899 (estimated), 200.
Bell, Daniel W., merchant, was born February 27, 1831, in the little city of Salis- bury, Maryland, and died in St. Louis, Sep- tember 4, 1882. His genius for merchandising came to him as a legitimate inheritance, his father and both his paternal and maternal grandfathers having been noted merchants in their day. Henry Bell, the father of Daniel W. Bell, was in his day one of the most successful merchants of Kentucky, having been engaged for thirty years in business at Lexington, the chief city of the famous bluegrass region. In that city the son grew up, and he was edu- cated at Transylvania University. After quit- ting school he was trained to the business of merchandising under the sagacious tutorage of his father, beginning as a salesman in the
store at Lexington. His tact, courtesy and intelligent comprehension of the underlying principles of trade and commerce made it evident carly in his career that he was fitted for operations in a broad commercial field, and within a few years he was admitted to a partnership in his father's business, and be- came recognized as an influential factor in its conduct and management. In 1859 the firm of Henry Bell & Son opened a wholesale dry goods house in St. Louis, of which Daniel W. Bell, the junior partner, took entire charge. Under his management its trade was extended to all parts of the West, and in the region this side of the Alleghanies there was no business house which had a higher commercial stand- ing or sustained a more important relation- ship to the trade. In 1875 the elder Bell withdrew from the firm, and thereafter, until a short time before his death, Daniel W. Bell continued at the head of the house, a con- spicuous figure in the Western business world.
Bell, Morris Fred, Adjutant General of Missouri, was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1849. His father, Frederick Bell, was a native of Maryland. as was also his mother, whose maiden name was Susan Tritle. His father was born in 1811. and was a prominent citizen of Washington County, of which he was county judge for a number of years. Gen- eral Bell's grandfather. Captain Peter Bell, was a leader in the Revolutionary War. His grandfather on his mother's side, Frederick Tritle, was a prominent merchant of Waynes- boro, Pennsylvania. General Bell was edu- cated in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, as an archi- tect. In . 1867 he located at Martinsburgh. West Virginia, where he remained until 1860, when he removed to Missouri, settling at Fui- ton, Callaway County. Here he engaged in his profession as an architect and met with marked success. In 1886 he was selected as State architect for Asylum No. 3. erected a: Nevada, Missouri, and in 1889 for the new fire- proof Deaf and Dumb Asylum at the same place. In 1893 his plans were accepted for the rebuilding of the State University at Colum- bia, Missouri. Here he was engaged until 1895. In addition to superintending the erec- tion of these State institutions, he was also the architect of the Boys' Reform School at Boon- ville, erected in 1889, and of a number of col- leges and courthouses all over the West, including the Orphan School at Fulton. Mis-
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souri, creeted at a cost of $40.000. General Beil has held a number of public offices. In 1889 he was appointed a member of the board of managers of the Reform School for Boys at Boonville. by Governor Moorehouse. In 1891 Governor Francis appointed him a member of the board of managers for the Fulton Deaf and Dumb Asylum, of which he served as presi- dent for a number of years, and in 1895 he was reappointed as a member of the same board by Governor Stone. The latter also appointed him paymaster general of the State militia in 1893, and in 1897 he was appointed Adjutant General by Governor Stephens. In July, 1898, President Mckinley, out of recognition of his merits as a military officer, and in compliment to the economical and judicious way in which he had organized the 9,000 Missouri volun- teers, appointed him as Assistant Adjutant General of the United States. This appoint- inent, however, was declined by General Bell, as he preferred to remain on duty in his State. In polities General Bell has always been a Democrat and an active party worker. In re- ligion he is a Protestant and a member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1898 he was elected grand commander of the Knights Templar, to hold for the term ending April, 1899. He is also a member of the order of Odd Fellows. Gen- eral Bell was married, in 1873, to Miss Marie Dreps, of Fulton, daughter of Joseph and Mary Dreps. Her father was a native of Prus- sia, and her mother of England. They immi- grated to America in 1835, resided in St. Louis until 1850, and then removed to Fulton. Gen- eral Bell is one of the incorporators and presi- dent of the Sun Printing Company, which publishes the "Fulton Sun," one of the most influential country papers in the State.
Bell, Nicholas Montgomery, whose public services have made his name a familiar one, not only to the people of St. Louis and the State of Missouri, but in the broader sphere of national affairs, was born in Lin- coln County, Missouri, in 1846, son of Wil- liam A. and Caroline (Harvey) Bell. His father was a native of Kentucky, and his mother of Virginia, but both came to Mis- souri in their youth, and were members of families numbered among the pioneer settlers of this State. Mr. Bell's paternal grandfather served under General Harrison during the War of 1812, and was a member of the Gen- eral Assembly of Missouri from 1826 to 1828.
Mr. Bell passed the early years of his life on his father's farm, and after obtaining a com- mon school and academic education came to St. Louis, where he was trained to commer- cial pursuits as an employe in the office of the dry goods house of Barr, Duncan & Co., predecessor of the present William Barr Dry Goods Company. In 1864 he went to Boise City, Idaho, and engaged in mining and mer- chandising operations in that city for a year, removing in 1865 to Salem, Oregon, where he became junior member of the mercantile firm of J. C. & N. M. Bell. At Salem he soon became recognized as a capable and sagacious man of affairs, and taking an active interest in politics as a member of the Democratic party, made his entree into public life while a resident of Oregon. He was elected a dele- gate from that State to the Democratic Na- tional Convention of 1868, and as a member of that convention cast his vote for Horatio L. Seymour and Francis P. Blair, its nominees for President and Vice President. Soon after- ward he returned to his native State and es- tablished himself in the commission business in St. Louis as head of the firm of Bell & Mc- Creery. At once he became an active and in- fluential factor in perfecting the reorganiza- tion of the Democratic party in this State, and in 1870, although his party had not yet come into power in the State, he was elected a mem- ber of the Twenty-sixth General Assembly, defeating Stilson Hutchins for the nomina- tion, and Joseph Pulitzer at the polls. In 1872 he was re-elected to the Legislature by an increased majority, and as a member of that body achieved distinction for his thor- oughly business-like methods in the conduct of public affairs, and his practical. common- sense way of dealing with public questions. During Mr. Bell's membership of the Legis- lature there was an act introduced for the creation of what was called the "Crafton com- mission," for. the adjudication of the war claims of the State-a measure within which was concealed, or might have been concealed, an opportunity to saddle upon the State the payment of a large amount of manufactured or unproved bills. To guard against such, on Mr. Bell's motion, an amendment was in- serted deelaring that "the State of Missouri should in no way be held responsible, directly or indirectly, for the payment of any elaim so adjudicated until the amount of such claim should have been collected from the United
Nicholasm /sell
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States and paid into the State Treasury." The scandal that grew out of the methods of the commission amply demonstrated the wisdom of this amendment. In connection with Mr. Bell's record as a legislator it should be stated that both in the Twenty-sixth and Twenty- seventh General Assemblies he voted in cau- cus and in the House for General Frank P. Blair for United States Senator. When the Democratic National Convention of 18,6 met in St. Louis Mr. Bell was made secretary of the convention, and became one of the inter- esting figures in that memorable convention by reason of his admirable discharge of the duties of his position. His stentorian voice and clear enunciation, and the facility and readiness with which he announced the re- sults of roll calls attracted general attention and caused him to be regarded as an ideal convention secretary. At the Democratic Na- tional Convention which nominated Hancock and English for President and Vice President, at Cincinnati, in 1880, he again filled the po- sition of secretary, and in 1884, filling the same position in the convention held in Chi- cago. he had the pleasure of announcing the results of ballots which made Cleveland and Hendricks the nominees of the Democratic party and the successful candidates for the presidency and vice presidency at the ensu- ing election. He was secretary also of the committee which notified these candidates of their nomination, and in 1892 again served as secretary of the National' Convention, which gave Mr. Cleveland his third nomination. In 1885, soon after the inauguration of President Cleveland, he was appointed superintendent of foreign mails, a position which entailed upon him important responsibilities, and which he held until after the inauguration of President Harrison, when he resigned. Dur- ing his administration of the affairs of this division of the Postal Department he nego- tiated various important postal treaties with foreign countries, had charge of all the cor- respondence of the department with foreign governments, of the transportation of foreign maiis, and of the auditing and adjustment of accounts on account of such transportation. He negotiated the first parcel post treaties between the United States and foreign coun- tries, and the conventional agreements be- tween the United States and Mexico and Can- ada, which resulted in making the entire North American Continent practically one
postal territory. The parcel post treaties re- stilted in the abolition of various annoyances to trade, and increased the commerce of the United States nearly two million dollars dur- ing the first year of their operation. Another movement inaugurated by Mr. Bell in the foreign mail service was the keeping of a sys- tem of reports which set forth the actual time of mails in transit between the postoffice of origin and the postoffice of destination, and these reports were made to govern the letting of contracts, such contracts being let to the steamer showing the greatest speed and quick- est delivery, without regard to its registry or flag. This movement expedited the foreign mail delivery from one to two days, and was commended by the merchants and exporters of this country to such an extent that they petitioned the Postmaster General to use his influence to induce foreign countries to in- augurate a similar system. In Great Britain Mr. Bell's idea became equally popular, and the London "Times" paid him the compliment of urging upon Parliament its adoption, in a two-column editorial. Returning to St. Louis at the end of his official residence in Wash- ington, Mr. Bell turned his attention to the management of the tobacco commission and storage business of the Peper Tobacco Ware- house Company, in which he was a stock- holder, and with which he was officially connected as vice president and manager. In 1893 he was again called upon to give a share of his attention to the public business, being at that time appointed excise commissioner of St. Louis, an office created shortly before that by legislative enactment. and of which he was the first incumbent. The purpose of the creation of this office was to insure the inore thorough enforcement of the laws tax- ing the liquor traffic, and the collection of a larger proportion of the excise taxes due. This object was realized in the conduct of the office by Mr. Bell, who recognized no favor- ites, discriminated in favor of no one, and was inflexible in his enforcement of the law and his collection of public dues. During the first year of his incumbency of the office he caused the arrest and conviction of one hundred and thirty-five violators of the excise laws, and this vigorous action had the effect of reducing the number of arrested and con- victed violators to ten during the last year of his term. He served in all three years and a half as excise commissioner, and during that
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time the receipts from excise tables were in- creased in the aggregate $623.943.25. the average yearly increase being approximately $155.000, although there was no increase in the rate of taxation. In 1806 he was a dele- gate from the Eleventh Congressional Dis- trict to the Chicago National Democratic Convention that nominated Bryan and Sewell for President and Vice President. IIe re- signed the excise commissionership Febru- ary 1, 1897, and since he retired from that office has devoted his time and attention to his tobacco and commission interests. Mr. Bell married, in 1888, Miss Maggie Peper, daughter of Captain Christian Peper, of St. Louis, and has two children, Christian Peper Bell and Marjorie P. Bell.
Belleview Valley .- A valley in the southern part of Washington County, and ex- tending into the northern part of Iron County, noted for its productive soil and natural beauty. In this valley were made the first ag- ricultural settlements in the territory now comprising the county. The valley is from one to four miles in width, and about ten miles in length.
Bellevue Collegiate Institute .- A private academy located at Caledonia, in Washington County, and under control of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. It has a library of three hundred volumes.
Belmont .- A village on the Mississippi River, Mississippi Township, Mississippi County, the terminus of the Belmont branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad. It was laid ont in 1853, and near it, in 1861, was fought the battle of Belmont. It has railroad repair shops, a grain elevator, a hotel and three gro- cery stores and one drug store. The town was named in honor of August Belmont, of New York. Population, 1809 (estimated), 275.
Belmont, Battle of. - In the fall of 1861 the Confederates under General Leonidas Polk, commanding at Columbus, Kentucky, had established a camp at Belmont, opposite that place on the Mississippi River in Mis- souri, under cover of which Confederate troops were marching up from Arkansas in the direc- tion of Pilot Knob into Missouri ; and General Fremont, then commanding the Western De- partment, with headquarters at St. Louis, or-
dered Colonel U. S. Grant, stationed at Cairo, to make a demonstration against Belmont. On the evening of November 5th, Grant started down the river from Cairo, with five regiments of infantry, two squadrons of cav- alry and a section of artillery-3,114 men in all-under convoy of two gunboats. It was twenty miles from Cairo to Belmont. At a point nine miles below Cairo, Grant made a feint of landing on the Kentucky shore, and lay there until daybreak. That night, having received information that the Confederate forces had been crossing troops the day before from Columbus to Belmont with the purpose of cutting off Colonel Oglesby, who had been sent out from Commerce, Missouri, to Indian Ford, on the St. Francis River, he resolved to turn the demonstration against Belmont into an attack. At 6 o'clock next morning the ex- pedition moved down to Hunter's Point, on the Missouri side, where the troops were landed, marching direct against Belmont, three miles distant. The Confederates disputed the ad- vance, and by 9 o'clock Grant's whole force was engaged-except one battalion left behind to protect the transports. The country was partially wooded and intersected with bayous, which the Confederates took advantage of, and there was heavy fighting for four hours, Grant having his horse shot under him, and Colonel McClernand, of Illinois, losing three in the battle. The Confederates were driven under the river bank, losing a number of prisoners, and having their camp broken up and their guns captured ; but the Union forces, instead of pressing their advantage, went to plunder- ing, while their colonels shouted and made stump speeches for the Union. Meantime the Confederates at Columbus were sending re- enforcements across the river to renew the fight, and Grant, seeing the danger if the pil- laging and disorder were not arrested, had his staff officers set fire to the Confederate camp. The flames drew the fire of the Confederate batteries at Columbus and forced the Union troops to recognize the necessity of discipline, and they fell into ranks and began the march back to the transports. But the Confederates, re-enforced from Columbus, reappeared and vigorously attacked them, forcing them to turn their march into a retreat, in which they lost a number of prisoners. The battalion left to protect the landing joined in this retreat without orders, and Colonel Grant, while Jook- ing for them, found himself alone, separated
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from his command and not more than fifty yards from the Confederate line. Riding slowly down the knoll. where he made the dis- covery, he put spurs to his horse and barely reached the bank in time to get aboard the last of the transports to push off. His horse slid down the bank on his haunches, and the plank, which had been hauled aboard, had to be put out again to enable him to ride on the boat under a heavy Confederate fire. The Union loss in the battle was 480 killed, wounded and missing-125 being made prisoners. The Confederate loss was 642. including 175 pris- oners and two guns.
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