Rev. James H. Bell was born in enslavement in Murray County, Tennessee. He later was enslaved in Mississippi until self-liberating and joining the US 29th Colored Troops out of Illinois during the Civil War.

After the war he became a preacher and spent time in Iowa and possibly Illinois in the 1870s and 1880s. It appears Rev. Bell, his spouse Emma, and son Willie (William) were in Burlington, Iowa for the 1880 federal population census where he is listed as J. H. Bell “preacher”. When William is married in Keokuk, his mother’s maiden name is listed as Simpson, the same last name as Mrs. Bell. His father is listed as Jas. H. Bell.

Rev. Bell begins to definitively appear in the mid-1890s. The Champaign County News (Illinois) of March 14, 1896 reported he had held meetings at Grape Creek in adjacent Vermillion County, Illinois. On February 24, 1899, the Iowa State Bystander reported that Rev. J. H. Bell of Champaign, Illinois had returned to Des Moines, Iowa “after a pleasant visit with his family.”

His affiliation with Des Moines, Iowa churches is sometimes generally referenced as the East Side Baptist Church, but by August 1900 he is listed as the pastor of Mt. Nebo Baptist Church at E. 2nd and Locust St. The church was active with Rev. Bell serving as pastor until August 1902. It is noted he returned to Champaign, Illinois over the holidays in December 1901. He is listed singly in the federal population census as living at 521 E. Locust in Des Moines and also with his wife in Champaign, Illinois. He is also listed in the Des Moines, Iowa city directory for that year.

He returned to Champaign, Illinois in 1903 where he lived until his passing. He reportedly was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Urbana, Illinois.