A township of farms, mills, and later coal-related industry, anchored by Bell’s Mills and Canoe Ridge with long-standing families working timber, gristmills, and agriculture.
Tip: Also try Bell’s Mills, Canoe Ridge, or surnames like Bell, Bowersock, Graffius, and Brown in combination with “Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.”
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When searching, try combinations such as Bell Twp., Bell’s Mills, Bellport, Canoe Ridge, and other mills or crossroads mentioned in county histories.
Use the Jefferson County Locality Guide and county boundary references to confirm the exact parent township and county for a given year if a record predates Bell Township’s separate organization.
County historian Kate Scott described Bell Township as a community of good farms and prosperous mill sites, with its early development tied closely to Bell’s Mills and the lumber and gristmill business on local streams. Township sketches credit pioneers such as Daniel Graffius, Jacob Bowersock, and John Hess with the earliest land clearings, improvements, and mills in the district ⓘ.
An early sawmill was erected about 1828 by John Hess and J. Bowersock, followed by a gristmill in the 1830s at what became known as Bell’s Mill Station. These mills drew surrounding farmers to have grain ground and lumber cut, turning the crossing into a natural trade center ⓘ.
The township took its name from Hon. James H. Bell, who emigrated from Ireland as a child, settled in the area in the early 1830s, and became one of Jefferson County’s leading lumbermen and public officials. Scott and later McKnight note his extensive timber operations, service as associate judge, and role in developing the gristmill and store complex at Bell’s Mills ⓘ.
By the mid-to-late 1800s, Bell Township supported several gristmills and sawmills, with prominent operators including W. E. Bell, A. Dunmire, L. Elbel, and Henry Brown. Stores at Bell’s Mills and Kremkraw’s Mills provided general merchandise and trade goods, while nearby farms and small hamlets filled the tax lists with surnames familiar across the county ⓘ.
Although the township later saw some coal- and timber-related industry, its core identity remained a mix of agriculture and local trade. Many of its small neighborhoods—mills, crossroads, and family cemeteries—appear only briefly in atlases, tax lists, and township sketches, making historic maps and cemetery records especially important for placing Bell Township families in the landscape.
Historical summary adapted from Scott (1888), McKnight (1917), and township-level business and population sketches.
Center of township life: gristmill, sawmill, and store complex associated with James H. Bell and later members of the Bell family. Appears in county histories as a key milling and trading point for surrounding farmers.
Look for Bell’s Mills in tax lists, mill advertisements, and maps showing mill sites and wagon roads.
A rural neighborhood and post office serving the eastern part of the township. Store and school references tie Canoe Ridge families to Bell Township taxables and church circuits.
Search for Canoe Ridge in postal guides, township school reports, and church membership lists.
Named for the Kremkraw family, this mill neighborhood supported a store and sawmill operation. County sketches mention both the mill and a store operated by members of the Kremkraw and Elbel families.
Variant spellings of Kremkraw may appear in census indexes and deed books; use wildcard searches.
Township sketches highlight well-improved farms of families such as Brown, Grube, Snyder, and Hoeh, with burial grounds like the Carey cemetery marking early settlement clusters.
Combine cemetery records, deeds, and tax lists to tie these farm neighborhoods to specific tracts.
Use census records, land deeds, and tax lists to connect these named pioneers to specific lots, mills, and farm tracts shown on the 1878 atlas and later maps.
Cemetery names are compiled from township histories and locality notes. Use the county cemetery page for exact locations, alternate names, and transcription links.
Township sketches note early schoolhouses serving Bell’s Mills, Canoe Ridge, and surrounding farm neighborhoods. As population grew, Bell Township maintained multiple districts with simple frame or log schoolhouses.
Look for school board minutes, teacher contracts, and attendance registers in county archives and state education records where they survive.
Bell Township residents attended churches in nearby boroughs as well as local congregations. Denominations such as Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and other Protestant bodies are noted in county histories as active in the Bell’s Mills and Canoe Ridge area.
Many congregations produced anniversary booklets and membership rolls that name Bell Township families connected with local cemeteries and schoolhouses.
For sacramental registers, confirmation lists, and church burial records, contact the Jefferson County Historical Society and the appropriate denominational archives. Some Bell Township families also appear in records of nearby borough churches.
Post offices at Bell’s Mills, Canoe Ridge, and nearby neighborhoods track how mail service followed mills, stores, and farm settlements. Use these dates to explain shifts in mailing addresses and to distinguish Bell Township families from those in neighboring townships with similar surnames.
These cards summarize villages, mill sites, and named localities connected to Bell Township. Use them to track families who appear under changing place names across censuses, deeds, tax lists, church records, and cemetery entries.
Use historic atlases and modern GIS to locate Bell’s Mills, Canoe Ridge, Kremkraw’s Mills, and farm neighborhoods tied to families like Bell, Brown, Grube, Snyder, and Hoeh.
Cross-check Bell Township burials across USGenWeb, Find A Grave, and FamilySearch, especially for Carey’s cemetery and other family or community burial grounds mentioned in township sketches.
Look for deeds, mortgages, and mill-related transactions in the Recorder’s Office, and for probate and guardianship cases involving Bell Township families in Orphans’ Court records.
Regional newspapers carry mill advertisements, farm reports, social items, and obituaries that mention Bell’s Mills, Canoe Ridge, and the families who lived there.