Descriptive Summary
Creator(s)
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Biographical Note / Administrative History
Eugene Bell was born in 1868 in Scott's Station, Kentucky. In 1891, he graduated from Central University of Kentucky with a B.A. He attended Union Theological Seminary in Virginia from 1892 to 1893, and graduated with a B.D. from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1894. In that year he also married Charlotte (Lottie) Ingram Witherspoon. Ordained in Louisville Presbytery, Bell served as stated supply in Troy, Hebron, and Wilmore, Kentucky, until 1895, when he sailed for Korea as a missionary for the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
Serving first at Mokpo and then at Kwangju, Bell primarily engaged in evangelistic work. He founded and served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Korea. In addition, he helped to establish a boys' school and a girls' school at Kwangju Station. Lottie Bell died in Mokpo in 1901. From 1907 to 1923, Eugene Bell was an associate professor of Systematic Theology at the Union Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pyeng Yang (P’yongyang). He also translated into Korean "Studies in the Book of Romans" from Hodge's Commentary, and the Book of Church Order and Form of Church Government. Bell received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Centre College, Kentucky, in 1920. He died at Kwangju, Korea, on September 28, 1925.
Eugene and Lottie Bell had two children: Henry Venable and Charlotte Witherspoon. After the death of his first wife, Bell married Margaret Bull of Norfolk, Virginia, in 1904, with whom he also had two surviving children: Eugene and William. After the death of Margaret Bell in a car accident, Eugene Bell married Julia Dysart of St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1921.
Collection Overview
The collection consists primarily of letters sent from Korea by Eugene and Lottie Bell to family and friends between 1895 and 1901. The correspondence describes the establishment of the station at Mokpo, civil and political events in Korea, and interactions with Koreans and fellow missionaries. There is also some correspondence of Lottie Witherspoon Bell written before her marriage (1878-1889). Other materials in the collection include: diaries kept by Eugene Bell and one of his children describing a 1912 trip to Germany and Russia; seven photographs of the Bell family; and an 1898 report of the Southern Presbyterian Mission in Korea.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection is arranged as follows:
SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1878-1901 (1.00 cubic foot)
SERIES II: MISCELLANEOUS, 1889-1922 (0.25 cubic feet)
The Correspondence series is arranged in chronological order. One folder contains fragile letters in need of conservation; copies of these letters have been made and placed in chronological order within the series. The Miscellaneous series is arranged by subject matter or material type.
Alternative Formats
To browse this collection's digitized content visit Pearl.
Materials marked "Digital" in the Collection Inventory may not have been digitized in their entirety.
Administrative Information
A preliminary inventory is provided in this guide. Guide revised in 2009 by Jennifer Barr, Archives Intern.
Preferred Citation
Eugene Bell and Lottie Bell Papers, RG 435, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Catalog Headings
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | Description | Alternative Formats |
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| SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1878-1901 | |
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1 | 1 | Lottie Witherspoon Bell, 1878-1889 | |
1 | 2 | Lottie Witherspoon Bell, Undated | |
1 | 3 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 Feb. | |
1 | 4 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 Mar. | Digital |
1 | 5 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 Apr. | |
1 | 6 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 May | |
1 | 7 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 June | |
1 | 8 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 July | |
1 | 9 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 Aug. | |
1 | 10 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 Sept. | |
1 | 11 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 Oct. | |
1 | 12 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 Nov. | |
1 | 13 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1895 Dec. | |
1 | 14 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 Jan. | |
1 | 15 | 1Eugene and Lottie Bell, 896 Feb. | |
1 | 16 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 Mar. | |
1 | 17 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 Apr. | |
1 | 18 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 May | |
1 | 19 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 June | |
1 | 20 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 July | |
1 | 21 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 Aug. | |
1 | 22 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 Sept. | |
1 | 23 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 Oct. | |
1 | 24 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 Nov. | |
1 | 25 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1896 Dec. | |
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2 | 1 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Jan. | |
2 | 2 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Feb. | |
2 | 3 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Mar. | |
2 | 4 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Apr. | |
2 | 5 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 May | |
2 | 6 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 June | |
2 | 7 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 July | |
2 | 8 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Aug. | |
2 | 9 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Sept. | |
2 | 10 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Oct. | |
2 | 11 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Nov. | |
2 | 12 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1897 Dec. | |
2 | 13 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1898 | |
2 | 14 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1899 Jan.-June | |
2 | 15 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1899 July-Dec. | |
2 | 16 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1900 Jan.-June | |
2 | 17 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1900 July-Dec. | |
2 | 18 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1901 | |
2 | 19 | Eugene and Lottie Bell, 1890-1901 [restricted (fragile)] | Digital |
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| SERIES II: MISCELLANEOUS, 1889-1922 | |
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3 | 1 | Diary, Eugene Bell, 1912 [diary missing as of June 2016] | |
3 | 2 | Diary of Bell child, 1912 | |
3 | 3 | Report (1 page), Annual Meeting of Southern Presbyterian Mission in Korea, 1898 | |
3 | 4 | Photocopy of The Missionary, October, 1897, featuring photographs of Eugene and Lottie Bell | |
3 | 5 | Photographs, 1889-1922 and undated |