D. Newlin Fell was born on November 4, 1840, in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Joseph C. Fell and Harriet Williams.

Subsequently, Fell served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, first as 2nd lieutenant of Co. E, 122nd Pennsylvania Infantry, from August 12, 1862, through May 15, 1863, and then during July through August 1863 as 1st lieutenant of Company D, 31st Pennsylvania Militia Regiment.

[1] Fell served as an Associate Judge on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, having been appointed in May 1877.

[2] Fell was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in November 1893.

from Swarthmore College, awarded in 1911,[5] and he is the namesake of the D. Newlin Fell School.