Bell Family papers, 1887-1997

William Simonton Bell was born February 13th, 1894, in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He entered the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania in January of 1867, graduating with a degree in ministry in June of 1869. Mr. Bell came to Helena, Montana, in 1887 to assume leadership of the Congregational Sunday School and Congregational Home Missionary Society. In 1907 Mr. Bell was hired by the Montana Historical Society to replace Laura Howey as head librarian. He served in that capacity for three years. He then transferred to Spokane, Washington, to become an ordained minister for the Presbyterian Synod of Washington. William married Mary Amelia Kingsbury in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on October 4, 1887. The couple remained in Sioux Falls for a short time, but moved to Helena later in the year. The couple had their first and only child, Martha Bell, on January 18, 1894. William S. Bell died in Baltimore, Maryland, May 23, 1920 Martha was educated in the Helena area grade schools, but completed high school in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She earned a masters degree from Columbia University and a certificate of library science from Simmons College. She served as librarian for many university colleges across the country, but retired from Randolph-Macon Woman's College after 35 years of service. Martha Bell never married. She died on her 102nd birthday, February 13th, 1997, in Roanoke, Virginia.