His company built the first two ocean steamers launched in New York, as well as one of the earliest clipper ships, the Houqua.

Jacob Bell was born at the parish of Middlesex, in the town of Stamford, Connecticut on December 17, 1792.

In early 1813, his employers sent him to the frontier, on the shores of Lake Erie, at that time a dense and almost unbroken wilderness.

At the close of his apprenticeship, in December 1813, Mr. Bell engaged to accompany the well-known Henry Eckford to Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario and aid him in building war vessels ordered by the Government.

In 1820, Jacob Bell established himself, together with David Brown, as a successful shipbuilder in Blakely, Alabama.

Standing at the very head of his profession and enjoying the unbounded confidence of the mercantile community, as well as the amplest means for the execution of his plans, Mr. Bell made rapid strides in the paths of fortune and of fame.