Leslie W. Bell Sr.

Leslie W. Bell Sr. was born in Camden NJ on May 7, 1891. When the Census was taken in 1910 he was living with his sister Jennie and brother-in-law Thomas Matlack at 821 Grant Street. He was then working as a wood finisher at the Victor Talking Machine Company factory. He married Josephine Munda around 1912 and by January 1920 the Bells were the parents of a girl and boy, Evelyn 3, and newborn Leslie Jr., born December 6th of 1919. The family was living at 536 South 5th Street, just off Royden Street. Leslie Bell Sr. was then working as a furniture mover. He soon would be in business for himself.

By January of 1928 Leslie Bell had built a huge storage warehouse at 1639 Haddon Avenue, between Vesper Avenue and Copewood Street, more or less opposite the offices of Harleigh Cemetery. The Bell Storage Company was a fixture on Haddon Avenue for decades. The building later was occupied by the Simonik-Townsend Moving Company, which occupied the premises in the 1990s before moving to Mt. Laurel. The building was then razed to provide additional parking for Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, located across and just north Haddon Avenue.

The Bell family had moved to Collingswood NJ by April of 1930. They then owned a home at 16 Merion Terrace.

On July 21, 1936 Leslie W. Bell sailed from Philadelphia aboard the Honduran-registered ship Iriona for Puerto Barrios Guatemala, apparently on business, as he traveled without family. He returned aboard the same ship on August 2, 1936.

The 1947 Camden City Directory shows the Bell Storage Company with Elizabeth Schuenemann as president and Leslie W. Bell as vice-president. These appear to be Leslie Bell Sr.’s children, and it is likely that he was by then deceased.