TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Dec 31, 2024

John P. Williams, currently of counsel with Tune, Entrekin & White, has recently published his first book, "Montgomery Bell: Tennessee Frontier Capitalist" (2024, Acclaim Press). It is the first-ever biography of Bell, Tennessee’s most successful ironmaster in the first half of the 19th century — a time when iron was the essential ingredient in products for the kitchen, the farm and the military. Williams’ biography of Bell traces his odyssey from his Pennsylvania roots during the American Revolution, through his 12 years as a Kentucky hatter, to his 50-year career in the iron business in Tennessee. Many Tennessee attorneys received their high school education at Montgomery Bell Academy, founded in 1867 with a bequest from Bell. The Bells Bend section of Davidson County is named for Montgomery Bell as a result of his ownership of 6,000 acres in that area for more than 30 years and his construction of a home, grist mill and sawmill in Bells Bend. Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson County is also named for Bell because several of his iron furnaces were located in that county.