Bell, John William

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: James A. Eadie, “BELL, JOHN WILLIAM,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bell_john_william_13E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Teacher, farmer, and politician; b. 18 March 1838 at Desmond, Lennox and Addington County, Upper Canada, eldest son of Daniel Fraser Bell and Christian (Chrisy) Mowbray; m. 4 Dec. 1869 Julia Purcell, and they had three sons and two daughters; d. 5 July 1901 on the family farm at Desmond.
    • In 1882 Bell, a Conservative, entered federal politics as the member for Addington. Though re-elected in 1887, 1896, and 1900 (he lost in 1891), he was not an important mp, addressing the house on only three occasions. In addition to attending to the usual matters of patronage, he secured subsidies and line extensions for the Napanee, Tamworth and Quebec Railway, which ran through his constituency.
    • Bell experienced a moment of national prominence in March 1889, as one of the “noble thirteen” who supported William Edward O’Brien’s motion to disallow the Jesuits’ Estates Act. This Quebec legislation was particularly offensive to Ontario Orangemen because it authorized the pope to help adjudicate the settlement of the confiscated estates. Mass protest meetings swept Ontario; the Toronto Daily Mail  struck a medal commemorating the courage of the thirteen in defying their party caucuses. 
    • In his last years Bell rose rapidly in the Orange order. He was elected vice-president of the Triennial Grand Orange Council of the World in Glasgow in 1897 and president of the World Council in New York City in 1900. He was not destined to complete his term, however. The Belleville Weekly Intelligencer proclaimed his sudden passing from a stroke in 1901 with the headline “World’s leading Orangeman dead.” An estimated 3,000 persons attended his funeral at Desmond, including 400 Orangemen from across Ontario and Quebec. Sir Mackenzie Bowel and Nathaniel Clarke Wallace, both past presidents of the Triennial council and personal friends of Bell, spoke at his graveside.
    • The impressive funeral assemblage was a tribute to Bell’s immense personal popularity; his career was a reflection of the strength of the Orange order in rural Ontario in the late Victorian period.
  • Great Grandson of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=1324
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/195723239/john-william-bell