JAMES SEMPLE BELL was born, October 20, 1838, in Antrim, Ireland. His
father's name was originally spelled "B-e-a-l-l;" but in a Bible given
to his father by a' minister of the "Covenanters," the name was spelled
"B-e-l-l," and so written afterwards. His mother's maiden name was Jane Semple. His father died April 25, 1842.
Young Bell was sent to school near home, and his love of books was
encouraged because he was a delicate child. He manifested especial
interest in history, biography, and travels, and read all the books of
that kind he could get. In those days the histories, controversies, and
creeds of the three "branches" of the "one church" were living questions
and an important part in the education of children. In this way the mind
of young Bell was directed to, and interested in, the question of
religion and churches at an early age.
When about seven years old, he was placed under a teacher whom he soon
learned to love and greatly admire. This teacher was a bachelor, because
the choice of his young heart had "been suddenly laid in her grave, near
which was his schoolhouse. In this there was a melancholy and poetic
pathos and romance, which made an impression on young Bell's mind. The
teacher was an experienced and a very fine educator, as well as a
remarkably kind-hearted and gentle-mannered man. The pupil completed the
prescribed course of study in seven years, with no vacation except an
occasional sea trip.
the course of study the Bible was carefully read, and much of its
contents was memorized; but the catechism and articles by "royal
authority" were the more important matters of study. In early manhood he
came to America, and learned to be a printer in Western Ohio, diligently
pursuing the while his studies in religious and political history,
science, and philosophy.
went from Ohio to Illinois, and after a little experience in the world
he began to see that a knowledge of the Bible and of creeds and church
controversies did not constitute exactly the kind of an education
essential to success in his worldly occupation as a printer and a
journalist. There were nine different churches in the Illinois town
where he lived, all represented by learned and zealous men. All of them
could not be safely right, but all of them might be dangerously wrong in
their doctrines, sacraments, and injunctions for daily life.
a business man, soliciting and depending upon the good will and
patronage of all kinds of church people, he was embarrassed and
handicapped in honest efforts to show no preference for one church as
against other churches, when he really felt no special interest in any
of them. In this embarrassing position, an aged Christian, a total
stranger, of gentle manner and kind speech, came to him and got him to
promise that he would read carefully Matthew's history of Jesus of
Nazareth, and then tell him what he thought of it. The final result was
a clear and heart-deep faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and
a newborn courage of his convictions which moved him to openly confess
his faith and be baptized into Christ, May 7, 1858.
few months afterwards he returned to Western Ohio, and his relatives and
friends urged him to tell them about the change in his religious
convictions. Accordingly, he met the people in rural schoolhouses and
private residences and explained the matter to them as best he could.
With no thought or desire of becoming a preacher, he had to visit many
places in Western Ohio and Eastern Indiana to explain the change in his
religious convictions; and the more he explained, the more the people
seemed to want to hear it explained again. He got into public debates
with various "ministers," and before he knew exactly how it all happened
he was considered a preacher.
was married to Miss Hannah Cusick, in Providence, R. I., May 17, 1861,
and during the Civil War they lived in New York City, where he worked in
a printing office. While living in New York, he preached in a church
then north of the city; and after two years he moved near Troy, N. Y.,
where he lived three years; and from there he moved to Kentucky, where
he made his home for twelve years. He has traveled and preached
extensively in the United States and in Canada.
Soon after he became a Christian he began to write for the American
Christian Review, edited by Benjamin Franklin.
He became personally acquainted with the late John F. Rowe, founder and
(to the time of his death) editor of the Christian Leader, and their
mutual friendship was never jarred during nearly thirty years. Four
years before the death of Editor Rowe, while Mr. Bell was on a visit at
Rowe's home, in Cincinnati, O., Mr. Rowe said to him: "If you outlive
me, I wish you to be editor of the Christian Leader." On his deathbed he
repeated this request; and when his son, Fred. L. Rowe, made this known,
Mr. Bell accepted the responsibilities of that position "until an abler
disciple shall assume that useful work." He is now editor of the
Christian Leader, published from Cincinnati, O., but his home is at Pekin, N. Y. He is a vigorous and versatile writer, and the policy of
his paper, as he defines it, is to accept the New Testament "as the only
and all-sufficient rule of a Christian's faith and duty. . . . It shall
not inculcate anything of private opinion or the inventions of men, as
having any place in the faith, the worship, the work, or the government
of the churches of Christ. If the recorded teaching of Jesus and of his
apostles be not the creed or rule of a sect, then the Christian Leader
does not and shall not represent a sect; for it shall adopt and indorse
no other teaching as the Christian's faith and duty." —F. D. SRYGLEY.
-Biographies And Sermons, F.D. Srygley,
c.1898, pages 185-189