Is it true that John Bell was a bachelor and owned the first store in Adams, Tennessee?
No. John Bell was married to Lucy Williams and they had a total of seven children. Bell owned a plantation, not a store. A George Bell (no relation to John Bell) of the Red River Settlement did in fact own the area’s first store, about 1800, which was four years prior to John Bell’s arrival. Additionally, the area did not become known as Adams until 1858, when it became Adams Station — named for merchant and railroad stockholder, Reuben Adams.
