JONAH BELL -- 7th U. S. INFANTRYFROM ENGLAND TO THE SOUTHWEST - The 7th U. S. Infantry was stationedin the Southwest before the Civil War and, after Fort Sumter, graduallyworked their way East until they were part of the 2nd Brigade, 2ndDivision. V Corps of the Army of the Potomac from October 1862 to August1863. While with 7th Infantry, he fought under four commanders of theArmy of the Potomac -- McLellan, Burnside, Hooker and Meade.Nevertheless, they won 14 campaign streamers on the field of battle.The regiment returned to the West after their time with the Army of thePotomac. Jonah Bell, who was born in England in 1836, enlisted as aprivate on August 25, 1864, and was assigned to Company B. He was withthem for two years and mustered out as a corporal on August 28, 1866,after his promised two years were up.By 1874, Jonah was living Ellenburg with his wife, Sophia Lafountain andhis first daughter, Ella Mary.The Plattsburgh Sentinel of January 28, 1887, carried this notice ofJonah's death - Jonah Bell, residing near Hammond\'s Corners, fell deadon Sunday last, at the house of Frank Vincent. An inquest was held, anda verdict of death by hemorrhagic apoplexy was given. Mr. Bell was asoldier in the U. S. Regular Army at the time of the Civil War. Heleaves a wife and seven children to mourn his untimely death.\His widow, Sophia, applied for his pension on March 13, 1888. She alsoapplied for a military headstone in the same year. Jonah's stone can beseen in the Sheldon Hill Cemetery in Ellenburg.The 7th U. S. Infantry is still in existence and has fought in everyconflict since the Civil War.
