Matthew Bell II (abt. 1677 - abt. 1722)

Born about 1677 in Colerain, Londonderry, Ulster, Ireland

Husband of Catherine (McPhail) Bell — married 1696 in Ireland

Husband of Sarah (Grace) Bell — married 1705 in Colerain, Londonderry, Ulster, Ireland

Descendants

Died about 1722 at about age 45 in Cumberland, Pennsylvania

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Lora Koch [send private message] and Mary Van Deusen [send private message]

Biography

Matthew Bell II is a member of Clan Bell.

^{[citation needed]} for Catherine McPhail (McPhail-440) as spouse of this Matthew.

Gen & Pers Hist of Fayette Co PA, pp.252:

(1) The father of the Pennsylvania emigrant (Bell-14073) was Matthew Bell (Bell-14076), born at Kirk, Scotland (there are seven places of this name in Scotland). He emigrated to Ireland prior to the seige of Londonderry, 1690, and was one of the defenders of the city during that famous period. He had two sons, Matthew (Bell-14073) and John (Bell-14078), both founders of American families.

[same source?] John (Bell-14078) settled in New Hampshire, 1719, died in Londonderry, New Hampshire, July 8, 1743. He married, in Ireland, Elizabeth Todd (Todd-4515), of Scotland. He was the ancestor of three governors of New Hampshire, three United States senators, one representative to congress and two judges of the New Hampshire supreme court.

Bells According to Weeks

Weeks, 1913, pages 16-17, has:

"Matthew Bell, son of Matthew Bell of Scotland and Ireland, and elder brother of John Bell who founded the Londonderry, N. H., family was born near Coleraine, county Londonderry, about 1677. He came to America about 1710, landing in New York and, making his way to Pennsylvania, settled there in Chester county in the part which was subsequently Lancaster and then Cumberland. It is believed that he married in Ireland. His children were: Samuel, William, John and Joseph."

Status of Weeks' Facts

Name: Matthew Bell (no source given)

Born: about 1677 in Coleraine, county Londonderry, Northern Ireland (no source given)

Father: Matthew Bell of Scotland and Ireland (no source given)

Brothers: Unknown Bell and John Bell I (no source given)

Wife: "believed that he married in Ireland" (no source given)

Children: Samuel, William, John and Joseph (no source given)

Immigration: About 1710 (landing New York), to Chester county Pennsylvania (no source given)

Weeks' Sources

None of the information given by Weeks for this Matthew Bell notes the source of the information, although The Bell Family in America includes a bibliography:

• See pages 43-45 for Weeks' bibliography, from which one could presumably find the source for Weeks' information listed above (from pages 16-17).

Research Notes

"II" is added to this WikiTree profile for convenience. It was not used in Weeks and not known to have been used by Mathew born (maybe) about 1677.

One problem is that while some of Weeks' facts may have a solid source, the fact may not belong to the Bell to whom Weeks attributes it.

The Bell family was noted for naming their children after their ancestors - but nowhere in the family does Matthew appear. So, this researcher [Weeks?] is questionable. ~ Vondrak-7 22:12, 15 October 2013 (EDT)

Arguing against the above comment, a potential descendant of this line is James Matthew Bell Bell-13915.

Reviewed page 252, Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette and Greene Counties, Pennsylvania, Volume 1, by John Woolf Jordan, James Hadden (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Fayette County, Pa., 1912). No sources for information. Names wife of older brother John as Elizabeth Todd. Names the same four children as Weeks, but implies there were more ("four of his children are known").

• Son John is the only son with more information, including birth in about 1712 in Chester County & his sons:
  • Samuel, born 1732
  • Andrew, born 1734
  • James, born 1736
  • Robert, born 1738 in Lancaster County, Captain, 9th Reg. Va. Cont. Line; disappeared after having gone to Kentucky in 1798
• Searched DAR for Robert Bell. None of those returned match the description of Robert (son of son John), born 1738, of the 9th Va. Cont. Line

Leads

From Bell-14073 (since merged with this profile): "died 1722 in Cumberland, Pennsylvania" (which Weeks does not mention).

Check Rankin & G.G. Bell (see Resources, Bell Name Study).

Ancestral File Record FNB4-7L (FamilySearch link)

The Bell Family Records, by J. Montgomery Seaver, American Historical Genealogical Society, 1415 Montgomery Ave, Philadelphia, PA shows Matthew as a son. (But see Category: J. Montgomery Seaver Fraud.)

from the profile of his sibling (Unknown Bell, representing the "possibly other children" mentioned by Weeks), the following might be meant for this profile:

Nothing reliable is known of the father of Samuel Bell I (Bell-874 - [since merged into Bell-3884^[1]]). He was almost surely born in Ulster (Northern Ireland) and may never have left there. Circumstantial evidence suggests he was among the descendants of those Bells "invited" to emigrate from the English-Scotish Borderlands (most likely Dumfriesshire, Scotland) to Ulster in the early 17th century. Where in Ulster his ancestors might have lived is unknown.

02/27/09

JDS (Sneed-20)

It is possible that the father of Samuel Bell I (Bell-874) is the Matthew Bell (Bell-1885) mentioned on p. 16 of

Weeks, Lyman Horace, The Bell family in America, New York, W.M. Clemens, 1913.

There are some other sources:

• online tree
• online tree
• WikiTree's Bell-1627
• FamilySearch tree

All but the last (FamilySearch tree) apparently derive from Weeks. A critical evaluation of Weeks' information can be found here.

05/08/11

JDS (Sneed-20)

he name evolved from the Old French 'bel' meaning 'fair', 'beautiful','handsome' It would have been used to identify such a person in therecords. 1332 we it used as a place name: John atte Belle of London was listed,John very likely lived 'at the sign of the bell' that is, at a shop orinn identified by a sign depicting a bell. The personal name Isabel or its diminutive form Bell (e) also was asource name many times for female ancestors. Still others may havebeen bell ringers. the name has been found in the border counties of England and Scotlandfor many centuries. In the 16th century the 'Bellis' were included in a list of unruly clans in the West Marches. The name appears in Scotland in 1248 when John Bell was a notary in St.Andrews. In 1304 Thomase Belle served as a juror on an inquest inDumfries. Sir Robert Bell was Chief Baron of the Exchequer and Speakerof the House of Commons in England in the 16th century. William Bell of Scotland settled in America in 1737 and Robert Bell alsoa native of Scotland was the printer of the first edition of ThomasPaine's Common Sense.

Sources

1. ↑ this change page for Bell-874 prior to its merge with Bell-3884 says:

   • SBI [Samuel Bell I] may be the fourth of four brothers, James II, Thomas, Joseph and Samuel, who appear in Pennsylvania and Virginia sometime before 1742. Thomas Bell appears in Franklin County, Pennsylvania in 1742. Joseph Bell appears in Augusta County, Virginia about 1740, moving from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. At least three, possibly all, appear together in Nelson County and nearby Augusta County, Virginia in 1752. Thomas moves from Nelson County, Virginia to Woodford County, Kentucky where he dies in 1795. James II and Joseph remain in Augusta County, Virginia where they die: James II, in 1792; Joseph after 1796. These are possibly the sons of a James Bell I. Thomas and Samuel appear to have immigrated from Scotland via Ulster. James II and Joseph may have been born in Pennsylvania.

   • A speculative narrative explaining the above is this. Four sons of James Bell I, James II, Thomas, Joseph and Samuel, arrive in Pennsylvania about 1730. They come ultimately from Scotland via Ulster. John Walker whom the Bells have known in Scotland arrives about the same time. Possibly all or some travel together.
   • Joseph Bell and John Walker go to Cecil County Maryland / Lancaster County Pennsylvania, arriving there before 1740. The other Bells, James II, Thomas and Samuel, go to Franklin County Pennsylvania arriving there before 1742. All marry there: Thomas, Elizabeth Weir; Samuel, Mary (Blackner or Montgomery). Robert Bell I, son of Samuel and Mary, is born there in 1736.
   • Joseph Bell and John Walker move to Augusta County, Virginia about 1740. By 1752 James II has also moved to Augusta County, Virginia; Thomas and Samuel to adjacent Nelson County, Virginia.
   • Thomas Bell moves from Nelson County, Virginia to Woodford County, Kentucky where he dies in 1795. James II and Joseph remain in Augusta County, Virginia where they die: James II in 1792; Joseph after 1796.
   • Samuel Bell and John Walker move, first to Caswell County, North Carolina about 1759, then to Guilford County, North Carolina before 1762. Robert Bell I marries John Walker’s daughter, Catherine, in Caswell County about 1762. Samuel Bell dies in Guilford County in 1780. John Walker dies 1787 in Walker's Creek, Fincastle, Washington County, Virginia.

• James Steuart, The Bell Family in Dumfriesshire (Scotpress, Morgantown, VA, 1984; accessed 2/28/09)
  • Note: First published 1932 as vol. 2 of the Records of the Wester Marches; Sneed-20 16:51, 14 February 2011 (EST)
• James G. Leyburn, The Scotch-Irish; a Social History (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1962)
• David Hakett Fischer, Albion's Seed: four British folkways in America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1989)
• Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County Pennsylvania, Volume 1, John Woolf Jordan, James Hadden, Lewis historical publishing Company, Fayette County (Pa.), 1912. [1]
• The Bell Family in America, Lyman Horace Weeks, 1913. [2]
• Ancestry link (doubtful source); subscription required

• Source: http://www.thetintypeshop.com/family/Douglas/Surnames/AtoC/BE/Bell/bellhistory.htm

https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=familynuts&id=I39379

https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=blanchurch11&id=I6433

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Bell-2532 created through the import of clements.GED on Jul 9, 2011 by John Clements. See the Changes page for the details of edits by John and others.