Judge Thomas Sloan Bell, Sr.

This Judge Thomas Bell, who married 1) Caroline Darlington, and 2) Keziah Ann Hemphill, on 9 Dec 1830.

Father: William Bell b: before 1780 in North Carolina Mother: Jane Sloan b: 1759

Married: 1) Caroline Darmington b: 1805

Married: 2) Keziah Ann Hemphill b: 27 Aug 1812

Thomas and Keziah had five children:

1) Ann Rosalie Bell born 1840 in Penn. 2) Carolyn Bell born 14 Sep 1831 3) William Hemphill Bell born 28 Jan 1834 4) Joseph McClellan Bell born 21 Nov 1836 5) Col. Thomas S. Bell born 12 May 1838

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Message:

Re: first wife:

Caroline Darlington, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Peters) Darlington, was born 1805 and died May 12, 1829, both in West Chester, Pa. She apparently died giving birth to Isaac D. Bell who died in 1829. ~ Nancy Lowe

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Jeffersonian April 30, 1853

Wm. H. Bell, son of Hon. Thomas S. Bell, of West Chester, has been appointed a Cadet at West Point.

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania: With Genealogical and Biographical; By John Smith Futhey, Gilbert Cope 1881

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"BELL, Hon. Thomas S., son of William and Jane (Sloan) Bell, was born in
Philadelphia, Oct. 22, 1800; studied law under the direction of James Madison Porter, and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar April 14, 1821, several months before he was of age. In May of that year he removed to West Chester, the seat of justice of Chester County. He was entirely unknown in the community in which he settled, and for a time struggled for a livelihood, but his active mind, fluent elocution, and legal knowledge speedily gained for him a prominent position in the profession.

On the election of Gov. Shulze, in 1823, he was appointed deputy attorney0general for Chester County, and held that office from December, 1823, until August, 1828. In 1829 he was appointed one of the visitors of the Military Academy at West Point, and in that capacity acted as chairman of one of the committees to report on the state of that institution.

He continued in the uninterrupted pursuit of his profession until May, 1837, when he became a member of the convention to revise the constitution of the State, as a delegate from the senatorial district composed of the counties of Chester and Montgomery. In October, 1838, he was returned as a member0elect to the State Senate from the same district, and took a leading part in the difficulties which distinguished the beginning of that session, commonly called the "Buckshot War." Owing to alleged errors in the returns, his seat was contested, and awarded to his competitor, Nathanial Brooke.

May 16, 1839, he was appointed by Governor Porter to succeed Judge Darlington as president judge of the judicial district composed of the counties of Chester and Delaware, the duties of which office he discharged with ability and impartiality until Nov 18, 1846, when he was appointed by Governor Shunk a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. This position he held until Dec. 1, 1851, when the tenure of office was changed by the constitution.

He was also, from March 1855, until December of the same year, president judge of the judicial district composed of the counties of Wayne, Pike, Carbon, and Monroe, to which he was appointed by Governor Pollock.

He represented Chester and Delaware Counties in the State Senate in 1858, 1859, and 1860.

In every position in which it was his fortune to be placed he acquitted himself with great credit. As a lawyer he was learned, faithful, and diligent. In his intercourse with the bench and the bar he was uniformly courteous and honorable. He had a mind remarkably quick of comprehension, mastering his subject almost by intuition, and there were few more ready men in debate> he was a very fluent speaker, and a clear and forcible writer.

Judge Bell was twice married, - first to Caroline, a daughter of Judge Darlington, and afterwards to Keziah, a daughter of William Hemphill, Esq. His second wife was a granddaughter of Col. Joseph McClellan, a veteran soldier of the Revolutionary war.

Judge Bell died in Philadelphia, June 6, 1861, at the residence of his daughter (the accomplished wife of Dr. Godell, late of Constantinople), and was interred in the Oaklands Cemetery, near West Chester."

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 5 2020, 6:00:07 UTC
• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Jun 1 2023, 7:55:14 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jun 1 2023, 8:28:18 UTC