John Cromwell Bell (October 3, 1861 – December 29, 1935) was a distinguished Pennsylvania lawyer, serving as a District Attorney for Philadelphia and state

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. He was closely involved with football and his alma mater, the

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. He served as director of Penn's athletic program, chairman of its football committee, and from 1911 onwards, was a trustee. He helped found the

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, and served on Intercollegiate Football Rules Committee, responsible for the many rules changes made in collegiate football in its early years.

Personal life

His family moved to Philadelphia when he was fourteen.Warwick, p. 397. Bell attended Central High, graduating in 1880 (with an A.B.) and then the

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, receiving an LL.B. in 1884.General Alumni Catalogue, p. 435. At Penn, he played halfback on the football team for three years. He married Fleurette de Benneville Keim Myers, daughter of Leonard Myers, a former Congressman, in 1890.Warwick, p. 398. They had two sons. The elder, John Cromwell, had a distinguished career as attorney, governor, and judge. The younger, de Benneville, known as Bert, had a distinguished career as football team owner and NFL commissioner. Fleurette died in 1916.

Career

Bell achieved prominence as an attorney very quickly, and he was noted for his corporate work.Hudson, p. 81 He was offered a judgeship, but declined. When in 1902 sitting Philadelphia District Attorney John Weaver won election as the city's mayor, Bell accepted the appointment to take his place, and then ran for and won a term on his own, but declined a renomination. As District Attorney, he was noted for enforcement of food purity laws. He gave the annual address before the Law Academy of Philadelphia: ''The Several Modes of Instituting Criminal Proceedings in Pennsylvania. An Address...before the Law Academy of Philadelphia, May 27, 1904.'' (Philadelphia, Dukes, 1904) that gave a useful detailed discussion of how a person might be indicted for criminal proceedings in early twentieth-century Philadelphia. In 1911, Governor John K. Tener appointed Bell as state Attorney General. Upon completing his term, Bell returned to private practice. Bell died of heart disease at his home in Philadelphia on December 29, 1935.

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* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, John Cromwell 1861 births 1935 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks Penn Quakers football players Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania attorneys general District attorneys of Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni People from Indiana County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Philadelphia Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni