My Genealogy Hound

E. A. Bell, merchant, Potts Station, Ark. This prominent and most successful business man owes his nativity to Lincoln County, N. C, his birth occurring in 1847, and is the son of Alexander and Mary (Oates) Bell, natives also of the Tar Heel State. The father was one of the early settlers of North Carolina, and was a farmer by occupation. He removed with his family to Pope County, Ark., in the year 1851, purchased land and continued agricultural pursuits. His wife received her final summons in 1881, and he followed her to the grave in 1884. The paternal grandparents were natives of the Emerald Isle, and the maternal grandparents were pioneers of North Carolina. E. A. Bell was reared principally in Arkansas, received his education in that State, and in the fall of 1863 he enlisted in Company F, Stermon’s battalion under Gen. Joe Shelby, and was principally in State service. He was discharged at Louisburg in June, 1865, after which he returned to his home in Pope County, and was engaged in farming. In the fall of 1865 Miss Rebecca Dickey, daughter of Alexander Dickey of Pope County, became his wife, and the fruits of this union were four children: William S., Martha C, one deceased, and Macy H. He was engaged in farming until the year 1882, when he moved to Potts Station on the Fort Smith & Little Rock Railroad, and there he has been engaged in merchandising ever since in partnership with his brother, Calvin Bell, under the firm name of Bell & Bro. They have a lucrative trade and are pushing, enterprising business men. Our subject still carries on his farm by hired help, and is one of the county’s best citizens. In politics he affiliates with the Democratic party. He and Mrs. Bell are members of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and is a liberal contributor to all worthy movements.