THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF ANTIS TOWNSHIP
By Larry D. Smith, 150th Anniversary of Blair County, PA, pages 262-269

I. Daniel Rupp’s book included a small paragraph on the village of Davidsburg. It was noted as a village west of the Brush Mountain, in Antes Township, lying along the west bank of the Little Juniata River. At that time the village was noted as containing approximately eight houses, a store, a tavern and a tan-yard.

The village of Bell’s Mills grew up around the gristmill, sawmill and store, which Edward Bell established along the Bell’s Gap Run in the east-central portion of the township about the year 1800. John Bell emigrated from Scotland in 1763 and arrived in Virginia. He then proceeded by boat to Nova Scotia. There he met and married (in 1765) Elizabeth Hunter, an immigrant from Ayrshier, Scotland. The Bells made their way southward, eventually settling in the Hartslog settlement in Huntingdon County. They resided there between 1767 and 1769. In 1767 Edward Bell was born while the family was at Hartslog settlement. John and Elizabeth bore three other children: Margaret, born in 1767 and later married to Robert Edington; Mary (or Polly), who was born in 1772 and later married Caleb Tipton; and Jane (or Elizabeth), who was born in 1774 and married John Glasgow. Continue reading →