- JOHN S. BELL, the popular and efficient postmaster at Brooklyn,
Green county, was born near
- Stanhope, N.J., Feb. 9, 1842, son of Almon and Mary (SHAMPNOR)
BELL, both natives of New Jersey, and the parents of eight sons
and four daughters. Ten of these are now living: John S.; Winfield
Scott, of Hand county, S. Dak.; Anson, deceased; Theodore E.,
of Buffalo, Mo.; Aaron, of Madison, Wis.; William H., of Elgin,
Ill.; Mary Adeline, the deceased wife of Alonzo DEVINE, who is
also dead; Laura E., wife of John PARISH, of Stoughton, Wis.;
Almon H., of Verona, Wis.; Orson H. of Chetk, Wis.; Eva L., wife
of Charles DEVINE, of Oregon township; and Hattie, wife of William
HAUTBY, now residing on the homestead.
- Almon BELL was a farmer, and settled in Dane county, Wis.,
as early as 1848. In 1852 he made
- the journey overland to the California gold mines, driving
through with oxen and cows. On the way the hoofs of the oxen
were burned off in the sands of the desert - so they yoked up
the cows and completed the journey. Mr. BELL worked in the mines
for three years, six months of the time in the Frazier river
up to his arm pits in water. In 1855 he returned to his Wisconsin
home, to remain until his death, which occurred April 28, 1900,
at the age of eighty-two. His widow is still living and is over
seventy-nine years of age. both were Baptists in religion, and
in politics he was a Republican until the organization of the
Greenback party. He ran for the State Legislature on that ticket,
having previously filled various town offices such as supervisor,
treasurer, and assessor.
- Joseph BELL, the father of Almon and the grandfather of John
S., was a native of New Jersey, of
- Scotch-Irish descent, and proved himself of the most devoted
patriotism in the Continental army. He crossed the Delaware river
on the ice bare-footed, leaving the blood of his feet on the
ice as he walked. He was a farmer by occupation, and lived to
be ninety-eight years old, but was blind for some years before
his death. He was the father of a numerous family.
- The maternal grandfather of Mr. BELL was Thomas SHAMPNOR,
who was born in New Jersey,
- of Dutch descent, and followed shoemaking all his life. In
1850 he came to Dane county, Wis., and here died in 1868, the
father of eight children.
- John S. BELL was six years old when his parents removed from
their eastern home and settled in
- Wisconsin, and he was reared to manhood on the Dane county
farm. He was attending the district school at the time the Civil
war broke out, and at once enlisted in the Randall Guards, Company
H, 2nd Wis. V.I., but was rejected on account of his size. At
Janesville he enlisted again in Company D, of the same regiment
and was accepted. His long and honorable career in the army was
abundant justification for his acceptance the second time. He
enlisted a private, and was mustered out as a captain by brevet.
He had charge of his company from May 5, 1864, until it was disbanded.
Captain BELL was in the army exactly four years, two months and
nine days. Enlisting May 19, he was sworn June 16, 1861, and
was mustered out at Jeffersonville, Ind., July 25, 1865. The
first battle in which he participated was at Bull Run, where
he was shot in the head, and left the field, and as it was supposed,
all but dead. He rallied, and was taken prisoner by the rebels,
being kept at Manassas Junction twelve days without so much as
having his wound washed with cold water. Taken to Libby prison
he was transferred to the hospital, where his skull was trepanned
with silver, and on his recovering he was sent to Tuscaloosa,
Ala., where he was kept four months. Salisbury, N. C. was his
next place of detention, and there he was paroled, and came home
by way of New York City. After being home a few days he was sent
with fractions of companies to Benton Barracks, St. Louis. When
the Indian troubles broke out in Minnesota he was sent to Byfield,
near Ashland, to protect the settlers. In the spring these soldiers
were exchanged, and ordered to report to their respective regiments.
They had made their way as far as Philadelphia, when they were
held there to protect the city against the advancing rebels under
Lee. While there the battle of Gettysburg was fought, and then
the troops who had been halted at Philadelphia found their regiments.
The second Wisconsin was actively engaged in the service, and
Mr. BELL participated in every battle in which it was engaged
during its organization, except those that occurred while he
was in the southern prison pens and on the northwestern frontier.
Finally the regiment, greatly reduced, was united with the 6th
Wisconsin. Mr. BELL was all through the battles of the Wilderness,
and at the second battle of Hatcher's Run he was again wounded
in the head, and was in the field hospital for a short time.
During the final movements of the war that forced the surrender
of Gen. Lee, Mr. BELL's regiment was continually on the march,
not stopping more than two hours at a time. After the surrender,
April 9, he with others, divided their rations with the hungry
rebels.
- When peace smiled over the land again Mr. BELL worked on
his farm for a year, and then sold it,
- and rented another for a year. For a few months he was in
a flouring mill at Stebbinsville, and for about a half year he
was at Dunkirk Mills. After this he began farming in the town
of Rutland, which was his occupation until 1881, when he opened
a depot of agricultural implements at Brooklyn, and for twelve
years met with marked success; during three of these years he
also managed a hotel. In 1882 Mr. BELL bought and platted land,
and sold it in lots, since which time the village has grown continuously.
There have been several destructive fires in the village, in
which Mr. BELL has suffered a considerable loss. Since June 15,
1897, Mr. BELL has officiated as postmaster at Brooklyn, and
at the same time has been engaged in farming.
- On Nov. 4, 1873, Mr. BELL was married to Miss Elenora COLBURN,
daughter of Hobart and
- Catherine (PROUTTY) COLBURN. They became parents of five
children: Bertha N., Hugh R., Harvey H., Leslie H., and Legrand
L. Bertha married Frank WINKLER, and has one child, and is living
near Sac City, Iowa. Mr. BELL belongs to Brooklyn Lodge, No.
251, F. & A.M., of which he is a charter member, and he also
sustains the same relation in the local lodge of the I.O.O.F.,
and the Modern Woodmen of America, and the T. L. Sutphen Post,
No. 41, G.A.R., of Evansville. In politics he is a Republican,
and was treasurer of the town of Rutland several years. Mr. BELL
was the first Master of the Masonic Lodge at Brooklyn, being
master for five years continuously. Mr. BELL was made a Mason
in 1871, at Cooksville, Wis., in Waucoma Lodge, No. 90.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin,"
(c)1901 Union Publishing; pp. 706-707.
-
- Courtesy of Carol.
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