A member of the commission formed in 1664 to negotiate the mergerof the Connecticut Colony (Hartford) and the New Haven Colony. This was accomplished and ultimately became the state of Connecticut.
Lieutenant Francis Bell (father of Rebecca, Jonathan’s wife) was one of twenty-nine settlers of Stamford, Connecticut, who were assigned lands there in 1640. “A firm Puritan in forms and principles.” His name, along with those of George Slauson, Richard Law, Jonathan Selleck and John Holly, are affixed, as purchasers for Stamford, to the second deed of lands from the Indians, represented by the Taphanse and Powayhay.
In 1644, Francis Bell and George Slauson were commissioned to invite Mr. John Bishop, then living in Boston, to succeed Mr. Denton as pastor of the Stamford Church. They went on foot, taking their provisions with them and returning in the same manner, in company with Mr. Bishop, the latter, carrying his Bible under his arm. Mr. Bell was one of the commissioners to procure the union of the two colonies, in 1664, and several times a representative and one of nine persons named in the patent of Stamford, 26 May 1685.
Francis Bell died 8 January 1690. His will named his son, Jonathan, granddaughter Hannah and granddaughter Rebecca, whom he had brought up, also, Tuttle’s sons Johnathan, Simon, William, and Nathaniel.
Francis Bell served in the New Haven Legislature (General court or later called General Assembly) during the period, May 1653 to May 1664. He also served as Judge (a person appointed to try minor cases, similar to a present day Justice of Peace) at Stamford town, during the period, May 1652 to May 1663.
Francis Bell’s child, Jonathan, was born in 1641 and was the first white child born in the town of Stamford. He died 24 September 1689. He married Mercy Crane on 22 October 1662. She was the daughter of Jasper Crane. She died 26 October 1671. Jonathan married his second wife, Susanna, in 1672. She was the daughter of Abraham Pierson of Branford, Connecticut and afterwards of Newark, New Jersey, of which he is sometimes called the founder. Susanna was the sister of the Reverend Abraham Pierson, the first president of Yale College.
Francis Bell’s daughter, Rebecca, married Jonathan Tuttle and daughter, Mary, married Joshua the son of Simon Hoyt of Stamford, Connecticut.
9