|
Bell, James F., president of the Malta Mission, was born in England, where he became a convert to "Mormonism," about the year 1847. Soon after his baptism he was ordained to the Priesthood, and labored as a local missionary in the Birmingham and Staffordshire conferences. In 1853 he was called to labor as a missionary on the island of Malta and after the departure of Thos. Obray in April, 1853, Elder Bell was left in charge of the Malta mission, which position he held until he emigrated to America in 1855. He crossed the Atlantic ocean in the ship "Juventa", which sailed from Liverpool, England, March 31, 1855, and arrived at Philadelphia, May 5, 1855, and while preparing for the journey across the plains, he died with cholera at Mormon Grove, near Atchison, Kansas, June 8, 1855, six days after the death of his wife, Mary Jane. They were both on their [p.597] way to Zion. While presiding over the Malta mission, Bro. Bell kept an accurate mission record in the shape of a private journal, which is now among the precious documents at the Historian's office. LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 3, p.596-597 |
Biographies 
