JOHN BELLISFIELD HOME PAGE

9a1. John Bellisfield (11/15/1802-8/11/1879) married Susanna Knecht (5/18/1802-3/25/1856) and a Belinda or Julie. John is buried in the Schoeneck Moravian Cemetery. Susanna is buried in Plainfield Cemetery. John and Susanna had one child:

9a11. Ruben Simon Bellisfield (b. 2/14/1827).
John and Belinda or Julia had two children:

9a12. Ida Alice Bellisfield (b. 10/22/1863) married Oliver Samuel Clewell (b. 10/9/1862) on December 23, 1882. Oliver was the son of Andrew and Louisa Clewell. Ida was the adopted daughter of John and Sally Ann Bellisfield Leibert, which was her aunt and uncle. Ida and Oliver had seven children:

9a121. Mary L. Clewell (b. 11/24/1884) married Harry C. Shive. Mary and Harry had two children:

9a1211. Earl Shive (b. 3/23/1902).

9a1212. Helen Shive (b. 4/7/1905).

9a122. Lilly Clewell (b. 7/27/1885) married George M. Pysher. Lilly and George had two children:

9a1221. Hazel Pysher (b. 9/29/1902).

9a1222. Walter Pysher (b. 6/1/1904).

9a123. John A. Clewell (b. 9/3/1888).

9a124. Anna B. Clewell (b. 10/5/1890) married John C. Rusweiler. Anna and John had one child:

9a1241. Martha Rusweiler (b. 6/26/1906).

9a125. Clarence Clewell (6/13/1894-1/16/1994) married Irene Bittenbender.
Clarence worked with cars for 55 years. He began learning the basics of auto mechanics and cultivating a lifelong love of the vehicles at age ten.
Although he "worked long hours for very few pennies," Clarence always looked dapper in a crisp white shirt and a tie.
Before World War I, car parts were hauled on railroad cars, then assembled one at a time at the dealerships like the one where Clarence worked. He unloaded the railroad cars full of parts. Not necessarily in order, some chassis, wheels, fender, doors, bodies, motors, clutches, hood radiators, headlamps, a single tail light and all the necessary small parts required for a ready-to-roll vehicle, such as magneto, wiring, mufflers, spare tires, strap-on trunks, motor cranks, tire pumps and some tools," Clarence said.
As a foreman at a local Ford dealership, Clewell found a better way. He and his mechanics would unload car parts tightly packed into railroad cars and assemble the vehicles right there in the railroad yard, setting up an assembley line. They'd save the dealership money and drive the cars to the showroom.
He was an self-employed auto mechanic at the Blue Ribbon Garage in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for 30 years. Here he repaired the vehicles of Bethlehem Steel Corporation executives and Lehigh University professors. "I could have charged more for my work, the dealerships certainly did, but my overhead was low and I wanted to give my customers as fair a price as I could," Clewell said.
Clewell always made use of what he had. He'd make cradles from scrap pieces of wood, put little dolls in them and give them away. He was a member of the Christian Science Church.

9a126. Wilson O. Clewell (b. 1/26/1896).

9a127. Dorotha L. Clewell (b. 2/10/1903).

9a13. Emma Bellisfield (b. 1859) listed on the 1870 census and died young.

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