DANIEL BELLMAN, of Davis, is a native of Union County, Pa., and was born in March, 1808. He has thus attained to an advanced age, and is the subject of an interesting history, the main points of which are as follows: The father of our subject, George Bellman by name, also a native of Pennsylvania, was of German ancestry, and a watchmaker by trade. After starting out in life for himself he married Miss Mary Longcomer, the wedding taking place in Reading, Pa. The paternal grandmother of our subject was the daughter of an old Revolutionary soldier who bore the rank of General, and was killed in one of the battles for American independence. George Bellman and his wife, after their marriage, took up their abode in Lewis, Union Co., Pa., where the father died, leaving four sons. Of these our subject, Daniel, was the youngest, and is the only one surviving.

The mother was an expert at the old-fashioned spinning-wheel, at which she labored diligently after the death of her husband, even following it when there was no more need of active labor on her part. After her children were able to take care of themselves, they began to return in part the care she had lavished upon them, and provided a home for her until her death, which occurred in Lewisburg, Pa., when she was well advanced in years. They, however, were reared mostly in other families of that vicinity. Daniel Bellman, our subject, fell into the hands of humane people who encouraged his natural industry, and aided him to assert his position in after years as a man among men. When eighteen years of age he learned cabinet-making, at which he labored in Armstrong, and Lewisburg, Pa., for a period of three years, and afterward became a clerk at Mifflinburg. Later he established in business there at cabinet-making, and was married in the spring of 1833, to Miss Rachel, daughter of Michael and Sarah (Lincoln) Roush. The mother of Mrs. B. was an own cousin of the martyred President Abraham Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Roush were born and reared in Southern Pennsylvania, whence they afterward removed to Union County, where the father engaged in farming. Later in life they removed to the town of Milton, Northumberland County, where the death of both occurred at an advanced age.

Mrs. Bellman was born in Union County, Pa., Jan. 15, 1816, and was reared and educated in her native county. Of her marriage with Daniel Bellman there were born eleven children, nine sons and two daughters. The family became greatly scattered. Four sons served as Union soldiers in the late war, two of them yielding up their lives in defense of their country. Frank R. met his death at Ft. Donelson, and William H. died in the hospital at Bowling Green, Ky. As far as is known those living are Howard, Alfred F.; Marietta, now Mrs. C. H. Bulkley, of Emporia, Kan.; Lincoln; Idelle M., the wife of Dr. E. A. Smith, of Davis. These, with the exception of Lincoln, are all married.

Mr. Bellman followed his trade for some years in Union County, where he became prominent in politics, and was elected Treasurer, which office he held for six years. He came to this State in 1852, and purchased a tract of land in Rock Grove Township, where he followed farming for a period of twenty-two years. In 1875, beginning to feel the weight of years he wisely retired from active labor, and purchasing a good house and lot in Davis, there took up his abode and has since remained. He has been officially connected with local matters for many years and represented Rock Grove Township in the County Board of Supervisors fourteen years. He is a valued member of the Lutheran Church, and politically prides himself upon being a solid Republican.

Contributed by Carole Parrish - Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. 1888