Clara Noble Bell and Ross Oscar Thornton

CLARA NOBLE BELL, daughter of VIRGINIA ADELAIDE NOBLE and WILLIAM NEWTON BELL, was born August 23, 1877 in Indiana,⁴⁹³¹ and died January 28, 1963 in Knightstown, Henry, Indiana.^{1102, 1543, 4931} She is buried in Glen Cove Cemetery, Knightstown, Henry, Indiana.^{217, 1075, 1102}

She married ROSS OSCAR THORNTON on March 16, 1906 in Knightstown, Henry, Indiana.^{197, 1675, 4363} He was born February 17, 1882 in Knightsville, Clay, Indiana,^{8, 629} and died August 14, 1945 in Terre Haute, Vigo, Indiana.⁴⁹³¹

• Descendant Reports
  • William Scott Descendant Report (Ancestor of Clara N. Bell)

• Clara Noble Bell was a member of the Knightstown Presbyterian Church, Henry County, Indiana (June 15, 1899). ¹⁵⁴³

Indianapolis News, October 19, 1905⁴³⁶²

Mrs. Joseph Glass Marshall gave a luncheon to-day for a party of friends from Knightstown. The guests of honor were two brides-to-be, Miss Clara Bell, who is engaged to Ross Thornton, and Miss Martha Parsons, who is engaged to Milton Craighead, of Richmond. The other guests were Mrs. Elmer Smith, Mrs. Charles Fithian, Mrs. Lewis Bell, Mrs. Charles Kennard, Mrs. Aldis Harrold and Mrs. Charles Baxter, of Knightstown, and with them were Mrs. Marshall's sister, Miss Clara Darby, who is spending the winter with her, and Miss Beesom, of Cincinnati. The luncheon was followed by a thimble party. Above the table swung a French basket filled with white cosmos and the table appointments were in white and red.

Indianapolis News, May 17, 1906⁴³⁶³

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind., May 17.—The marriage of Miss Clara Noble Bell, of this city, and Ross Thornton, of Terre Haute, took place last evening, at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Newton Bell. The bride was attended by Miss Lillian Thornton, of Terre Haute, the bridegroom's sister, as maid of honor, and by Miss Lelia Table, of Vevey, and Miss Flora Traylor, of Jasper, both of whom were sorority sisters of the bride at Indiana University. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. William Carson, of the Presbyterian church. Miss Bell and Mr. Thornton attended Indiana University at the same time, and their marriage is the outgrowth of a romance begun there. Mr. Thornton was captain of the Indiana baseball team during his last year in college.

• Clara Noble Bell and Ross Oscar Thornton were divorced before 1930.

Knightstown Banner, January 31, 1963¹¹⁰²

Clara Thornton, 85, Member of Pioneer Bell Family, Dies

Funeral services will be held today (Thurs.) at 2:30 p.m. at the Fausset Mortuary for Mrs. Clara Bell Thornton, 85, a lifelong resident of Knightstown, who died Tuesday morning. The services will be conducted by Rev. Richard M. Campbell of Bethel Presbyterian Church, with burial at Glen Cove Cemetery.

Mrs. Thornton, whose husband Ross died many years ago, was the daughter of William N. and Adelaide Noble Bell, whose home was at the northwest corner of Main and East Street, and it was there excepting for a few years in Marion, that she spent almost her entire life.

A longtime member of Bethel Presbyterian Women's Association, and in the Avon Club of Knightstown. After graduation from the Knightstown High School class of 1898, she attended Indiana University, where she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi Social sorority.

There are no immediate survivors. Mrs. Thornton resided with her sister-in-law, Mrs. R. L. Bell.

Because Mrs. Thornton's family was so closely connected with the pioneer history of Knightstown, we have asked Frank Edwards for more complete informaiton about the Bell family, related as follows:

Mrs. Thornton's great grandfather, John Bell, and his family came to this area from Virginia in 1832. They settled in what was known as West Liberty, which is in the vicinity of the present Harvey Hopkins home. Harvey Bell, son of John, came here soon after with his family, and settle in the same vicinity.

The families felt a need for a church, and the Bethel Presbyterian Church was founded in the John Bell home. Harvey was one of the first elders of the church, and served the rest of his life. Harvey was the grandfather of Mrs. Thornton. The church later was moved to the present site.

John Bell entered land where the Emory Cox farm now is, and the hill is still known as Bell Hell. Harvey Bell bought land just south of his father's farm. later he sold this land and moved into Knightstown and had a hardware store where the Gulf Filling Station at Adams and Main now stands. He then moved to the southwest corner of Adams and Main, and had his hardware store there until the real estate was sold in 1865. In 1865, Harvey Bell bought the building which became the retail shop of the Knightstown Greenhouses and [unreadable] and the building still remains in the Bell family, and the spacious room on the second floor was known as Bell's Hall. In the east side he had his store, and in the west side of the building, W. M. Edwards, father of Frank Edwards, had a store. Mr. Bell had a farm equipment place in the back on the ground now used by the town for its buildings.

Mrs. Thornton's father, William, was in business with Harvey Bell, and the business was known as the H. and W. and Son Hardware, and was in continuous operation for 90 years. Clara's brother, Lewis, made the third generation to operate the store.

Glen Cove Cemetery, Knightstown, Henry, Indiana

Clara N. Bell

Clara Bell Thornton is buried to the right of the bench with her brother, Reginald, and his wife Edith.