Jeff Bell

[BellToyBoy]

I'm sad to say my good friend Jeff Bell ( Jeffrey S. Bell Sr. ) suddenly passed away. Jeff collected hand bells, focusing on the brass ones which were often those made in East Hampton CT. Besides collecting the bells he delved deep into the history of the manufacturers. Much of the history of the bell foundries and the bell toy manufacturers is intertwined. For years he and I were new age pen pals. Our shared research email correspondences go back to 2007. I always enjoyed opening an email or getting a call with Jeff’s characteristic “gracious good day” introduction.

Jeff was in the middle of writing an article for the Bell Tower, and he was writing a book on hand bells when he passed away. His daughter told me there were stacks of organized documents on his desk. That was his style. He could rattle off the top of his head the genealogy of East Hampton bell maker families going back to a time in the 1800s when the town was still called Chatham. He could tell you about a Barton that worked in a foundry, then moved to another company as a salesman, and then tell you when he retired. He had delved into ancient census data, old insurance, and manufacturers reports teasing out tiny threads to weave together the tapestry of that history. He loved spreadsheets, and had organized much of the data meticulously.

With Jeff in Florida and me in New Jersey getting together wasn’t easy. After I had written an article for the Bell Tower Marilyn Grismere twisted my arm to do a presentation during the American Bell Association annual convention in Atlanta. The chance of meeting Jeff made it easier for me to say yes. Jeff helped me pull together some of the threads for my presentation. I’m so glad we got together. It was a gracious good time. He and I shared a room filled with boxes of research we had brought with us. Much of our time together was spent sifting through the paperwork. Jeff was as giddy as a schoolchild squealing in delight whenever he uncovered some arcane little piece of the puzzle that stitched his and our history together.

Jeff had been researching antique hand bells for several years before I met him by way of the internet and shared connections. When I wrote to him in 2007 he replied,

“Gracious Good Afternoon Bob,
Just want to state that our communications has stimulated my engagement into this project. For nearly two years have been going it alone. My efforts to get others interested or assisting in this project has fallen short of my expectations. I started this project because I could not find material about my hand bell collection. My goal is to identify as many small bell manufacturers and their products as possible. I probably have generated the most complete listing of bell companies and their founders ever complied. Identifying each bell's manufacturer many never be known. I've limited success in judging hand bell's age, within a 20 year period, and a few manufactures.

I had no experience for industrial research nor a clue how to conduct it. This project is like a giant puzzle. The value of each piece of information is unknown until some other findings make a connection. My research of bell sites dates back to 1790s. New Britain was producing bells about ten years before East Hampton. The Barton family is the connection between these two towns. William Barton is to East Hampton as Joseph Barton is to New Britain. For the past six months I've researched the relationship between these two men. Haven't made the connection yet but getting very close to closure.”

It is somewhat amazing to me that the path he was on wasn’t crowded given how infectious his enthusiasm was to me. Had we more time our paths would have continued together on a research expedition to Connecticut. I’m glad our paths overlapped even for just a short time, for it was a gracious good time.

Jeff’s obituary can be found at:
http://www.bartlett1620.com/obits/obituary.php?id=445601

Jeff Bell and Bob Watrous, all smiles, at the 2013 American Bell Association convention in Atlanta

In memory of Jeff I created a hand bell on Lake Hopatcong

[dfriday2]

Very nice commentary, Bob.  Seems appropriate that his last name was also his continued vision for research.

You can feel the sincerity in both your dialogs.  Don Friday