The Bell Family papers document the lives of Quakers in Ireland and the United States. Most of the papers concern William Bell, a Quaker cotton manufacturer and editor of Belfast, Ireland, New York City, Cincinnati, and Richmond, Indiana. The Bell Papers include several types of documents. Most of the correspondence dates from the period 1811-1813, being copies of letters to William Bell from his mother, apparently written while he was away from home attending school, and from the 1840s. The latter consists mainly of copies of letters by William Bell, with comments on his business situation, Quaker affairs, and slavery and antislavery. Other documents include business papers and two Quaker marriage certificates, one from 1754, the other dated 1820; genealogical and biographical writings; and a file on Tong Sing Kow, a Chinese Friend with ties to the Bell family who was the subject of the novel, A Chinese Quaker, by Nellie Blessing Eyster.