History

Bell was the twenty-fourth township organized, and was taken from Young in 1857. It was called for Hon. James H. Bell, a prominent citizen of the township. It is bounded on the north by McCalmont township, on the east by Henderson and Gaskill, on the west by Young, and on the south by Indiana county.

This township closely resembles Young, both in size and shape. The Mahoning Creek, flowing across it from east to west, splits it into two nearly equal parts. The southern area is traversed longitudinally by the valley of Canoe Creek, of which Ugly Run is an important tributary. The northern part of the township has only small streams, all of which flow southward into the Mahoning. The Lower Barren Measures cover nearly the whole of the township, and the only rock of any material value to be found being a stratum of good limestone.

The early settlers in what is now Bell township were Nathaniel Tindell, a native of Connecticut, who came with Dr. Jenks in 1818, Jesse Armstrong, Jacob Bowersock, Daniel Graffius, J. Gano, and John Hess, who came sometime after.

Among the prominent setters of Bell township was Hon. James H. Bell, who came from Ireland about the year 1812, and settled in Armstrong county, from whence he removed to Jefferson county in 1831 located at the present site of Bell's Mills. He was like the majority of the early pioneers, almost devoid of means when he settled in the pine forest of Jefferson county, but by untiring perseverance he soon succeeded in paying for his land, and then built the grist and saw-mills on the Mahoning Creek, opposite his residence, which gave the place its name.

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