Isaac Bell Jr.

Isaac Bell Jr., U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands

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

He was born in New York City, New York, the son of steamboat owner Isaac Bell. He attended Harvard University in 1866 and 1867 as a member of the class of 1870, but left without graduating. In 1878, he married Jeanette Gordon Bennett, daughter of New York Herald founder James Gordon Bennett Sr. and sister of publisher James Gordon Bennett Jr.

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 1883, he built the Isaac Bell House, one of the famous Gilded Age summer “cottages” in Newport, Rhode Island. The house, designed by McKim, Mead, and White, is considered of the best remaining examples of Shingle Style architecture. In New York, he owned a unit in one of New York City’s first cooperative duplex apartment buildings, the "Knickerbocker".

He was active in Rhode Island politics as a Democrat. President Grover Cleveland appointed him the U.S. Minister to the Netherlands, and he served from 1885-88. He was also a delegate to the 1888 Democratic National Convention.

Death

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.

Reports from the New York Times show that he died on Sunday, January 20, 1889. A number of other sources incorrectly report his date of death as January 29.

References

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