The Bell Mansion

*Recently a number of city residents have contacted the city historian to report that work is being done on the Bell Mansion next to the Post Office. While a shell of its former self the stone house next to the U.S. Post Office was the home of one family for over 150 years. That in itself is an amazing record and makes it worthy of preservation and recognition by the city of Ogdensburg. The Bell Mansion located at 429 State St. (formerly 416 Crescent St.) was built in 1830 as a square fieldstone house, which probably had a pitched roof to shed heavy snow loads and no ornamentation. The mansard style that you see today was added by Walter Allen in 1880. This style, also called the Second Empire Style, was so immensely popular in the Northeast and Midwest during the 1860s and 1870s that it was called “General Grant Style”. It began in France during the reign of Napoleon III and is based on the designs of Francois Mansart. The mansard roof with its usable attic space is the key element of this design. The Bell Mansion also incorporates the eaves with brackets and until recently columned porches. As with many homes built during this period, the kitchen and laundry were located in the basement with the primary living space on the first and second floors. When renovations took place in 1880 a barn was moved off the site.

A number of notable city residents have lived in this home. Walter Bicker Allen, was a prominent businessman in Ogdensburg. He was born in 1824 the son of E. B. Allen and Harriet Seymour Allen at Sault Ste. Marie. His father E.B. Allen, an early resident of Ogdensburg, was an Indian Agent for the U.S. government in Sault Ste. Marie and Fort Dearborn before coming to Ogdensburg in about 1826. E.B. Allen owned a large number of ships and barges that operated between Ogdensburg and Montreal, as well as a hardware store. Harriet Seymour Allen was from Springfield, Vermont. Her father, David, was a civil engineer, carpenter and bridge builder, who was killed at the age of 37 while working on a bridge over the Oswegatchie River in 1806.

In 1861 W.B. Allen married Helen Louise Egert, daughter of Jesse and Caroline Watkins Egert; they had three children. Mr. Allen followed in his father’s footsteps. He was involved in shipping, owned a hardware store as well as a foundry, which made iron and steel plows, potash kettles, and other machinery. He was a democrat serving as a city alderman beginning in 1868 and was a trustee of the Presbyterian Church. He died in 1884 and is buried in the Ogdensburg Cemetery.

The Bell Mansion is named after another notable resident, Dr. Willard Bell, whose grandfather John Bell emigrated from Scotland to Ogdensburg in 1817. John Bell’s son, George was a shipbuilder and watchmaker. George married Isabelle Eliot and they had 3 children. The family opened a watchmaking business and jewelry store in Ogdensburg that they owned until 1904.

Dr. Bell married Harriet Allen, daughter of Walter and Helen Egert Allen and assumed ownership of the mansion in 1905. Dr. Bell was a specialist in the treatment of eye, ear, nose and throat ailments, who practiced in Ogdensburg until his death in 1920. An Ogdensburg native, he was born in 1857 the son of George and Ellen Howe Bell. He was a trustee in the Presbyterian Church for many years, was president of the board of education, member of the Ogdensburg Mason’s Lodge No. 128, and the Century Club. His brother Charles was a partner in Bill Bell and Co. Flour Mill.. Dr. Bell married Harriet Seymour Allen in 1884. She was born in Ogdensburg in 1863. The couple had two sons, Walter Allen Bell, who owned a lumber business and George Allen Bell who moved to Bangor, Maine. Harriet Allen Bell remained in the home until her death in 1952.

George Allen Bell was a stockbroker, who married Pauline Savage of Bangor in 1915. He moved back to the family home and passed away there in 1970. Pauline Savage Bell remained in the home until her death in January 1987. This ended the over 150 year residency of the Allen-Bell family.

In recent years the Bell Mansion has not only been a private home but has also housed a bridal shop and realtor’s office.