Mifflin E. Bell

Mifflin Emlen Bell
Born October 20, 1847(1847-10-20)
Birmingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Died June 2, 1904(1904-06-02) (aged 56)
Chicago, IL
Nationality American
Work
Buildings Several US Post Offices, Courthouses, and Customhouses

Mifflin Emlen Bell (October 20, 1847[1] – June 2, 1904[2]), often known as M.E. Bell, was an American architect who served from 1883 to 1886 as Supervising Architect of the US Treasury Department. Bell delegated design responsibilities to staff members, which resulted in a large variety of building styles, including Second Empire, Châteauesque, Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque.[3]

Contents

Life and career

Bell was born in Birmingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He married Addie Vanhoff on June 7, 1871, and by 1876 he was living in Springfield, Illinois with his wife and two children, working as Assistant Superintendent of the statehouse.[1] Bell's tenure as Supervising Architect for the US Treasury began on November 1, 1883, with an annual salary of $4,500.[4] He was member of the Joint Commission to Complete the Washington Monument, and his name is engraved on the north face of the monument's capstone. Bell submitted his resignation from the position by mid-1887 and moved to Chicago. In Chicago, Bell was appointed as superintendent of repairs for the city's federal buildings, and was in charge of federal buildings at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.[5] He died in Chicago of pneumonia in 1904.

Many of his works survive and a number of these are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).[6]

Works

Gallery of designs

References

  1. ^ a b John Carroll Power; Sarah A. Power; Old Settlers' Society of Sangamon County (Ill.) (1876). History of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois. Edwin A. Wilson & Co.. http://books.google.com/books?id=lkgWAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA740. Retrieved 2011-12-19. 
  2. ^ [1] Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1904
  3. ^ [2] HCRS nomination form
  4. ^ [3] American almanac and treasury of facts, 1887
  5. ^ [4] Architects to the nation By Antoinette Josephine Lee
  6. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  7. ^ NRHP nom with accompanying photos

External Links

Preceded by
James G. Hill
Office of the Supervising Architect
1883–1886
Succeeded by
William A. Freret