Isaac Bell, Jr.

Isaac Bell Jr. (November 6, 1846 – January 20, 1889) was an American businessman and diplomat.

Early life Bell was born in New York City, the son of steamboat owner Isaac Bell (1814–1897) and Adelaide (née Mott) Bell (1828–1901). Bell was the 13th Isaac Bell of his line, with his ancestor landing on the shores of the New Haven colony in 1640. and Edward Bell (1860–1902), who married Helen A. Wilmerding (1856–1936), a daughter of Henry A. Wilmerding. His sister was Mrs. James L. Barclay (d. 1893).

Career He was a successful cotton broker and investor. He was one of the key investors in the Commercial Cable Company that broke the Transatlantic cable monopoly. In New York, he owned a unit in one of New York City's first cooperative duplex apartment buildings, the "Knickerbocker". He was also a delegate to the 1888 Democratic National Convention. daughter of New York Herald founder James Gordon Bennett Sr. and sister of publisher James Gordon Bennett Jr. Together, they were the parents of three children, one boy and two girls:

In 1902, his daughter Rita became engaged to Count Raoul "Paul" d'Aramon (1876–1926), a twin son of Count Jacques d'Aramon and the Countess (an American who was born Mary Fischer who died in 1932). The wedding was postponed briefly in July 1902 due to the death of the Marquise d'Aramon. The couple eventually married in September 1902 at the Saint-Honoré-d'Eylau Church in Paris in what was described as a "Brilliant Social Function". The wedding was attended by Gen. Horace Porter, Mrs. Leach, Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Frank Koster, Kendal Shaw, and Mrs. Austin Lee, but not by the bride's uncle, James Gordon Bennett Jr., as there was a reported coolness between him and his sister.

In January 1889, gravely ill from typhoid fever and pyaemia, he was brought by steamboat from Newport, R.I., to St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. He died there two weeks later. His funeral was held at Trinity Church, and he was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. After his death, his family moved abroad and returned home occasionally to visit New York and Newport.