Jacob Schell (1789 - 1834)

Born 28 May 1789 in Schellsburg, Bedford, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Maria (Dannaker) Schell — married 12 May 1813 in Lehigh, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 10 Oct 1834 at age 45 in Schellsburg, Bedford, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

A merchant according to an 1814 tax list, he was the victim of crime, according to the following account.

Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) March 10, 1824 Bedford, Pa, March 5

Robbery On Saturday night lst, a villain named John Helverson, broke into the store of Mr. Jacob Schell, of Schellsburg, and took there from upwards of 400 dollars in cash, and 4 or 5 watches - he then went to the stable of Mr. Henry Horn, from which he took an elegant mare, mounted her, and was not overtaken until he reached Shippensburg, in Cumberland county, a distance of 75 miles, where he was apprehended in bed, in a public house, about 3 o'clock on Monday morning. He was brought back till about two miles west of Loudon, where he escaped from custody, ran up the mountain, and night coming on, could not be overtaken, although so near was Mr. Shugart, that he got the prisoner's hat. The prisoner spent that night, and the greater part of Tuesday, in the mountain, on Tuesday evening he came to the house of a Mr. Merrison, at Dickey's Mill, got his supper, staid all night, procured a hat, took his breakfast next morning, and set out in the direction of Greencastle. Shortly after his departure, a Mr. Williamson came to the mill, who had seen Helverson in Loudon on Monday night when in custody, and as soon as he learned from Mr. Morrison the singular appearance and description of the stranger he had the night before entertained, began to suspect that it might be the robber that so lately escaped from Shugart and Andrews. A party was formed and went in pursuit, which ending in capturing the villain near Irwin's Mill, about 5 miles from Mercersburg, after a considerable chase over fields, fences, &c. &c. and on Thursday evening he was lodged in the Jail of this place. Much credit is due to Mr. Abraham Andrews, of Schellsburg, and Mr. Shugart, who keeps a public house about two miles west of M'Connellsburg. Mr. Shugart not only furnished Mr. Andrews with a fresh horse, but mounted one himself and jointed the pursuit, which has fortunately terminated in bringing a scoundrel to justice. Helverson had been but a short time in Schellsburg, where he worked as a journeyman carpenter. - True American(Transcribed by Nancy Piper)

'Died of gangrene from a bite by a horse', age 45.

HIs wife Maria, widowed, was listed as the head of household in 1850.

Sources

1814 Bedford Tax list, Beffd., Co. Archives, Whisker, Vol. 3, 1986

• 1820-50 Napier/Bedford/PA census
• Elizabeth Kratz
• findagrave.com: Schellsburg Cemetery, Bedford, PA

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12784639