Harry Hollister Bell, farmer, stock raiser and oil man, living in Muskogee, is now controlling interests that make him a prominent representative of the agricultural and business life of Oklahoma. He was born in Montague county, Texas, January 20, 1881, and is a son of Elvin Golladay and Margaret (Finch) Bell. The father devoted his life to farming and stock raising, thus providing for his family.
The early educational opportunities of Harry Hollister Bell were those afforded by the public schools of his native state. He afterward attended Bacone College of Muskogee and also Henry Kendall College, now at Tulsa, and in early manhood devoted three years to teaching in the Creek Indian schools.
As opportunity offered and his financial resources permitted, he purchased land which he began to develop and improve and today he and his associates in business own and control eight thousand acres. Upon his farm he has a herd of two hundred and fifty head of Hereford cattle and is today one of the leading farmers of the state, employing the most progressive and scientific methods in the care of his fields while coiled judgment and marked executive ability are manifest in the marketing of products. He has become interested in oil development in the southwest and his holdings of that character are gratifying. He is likewise well known as a director of the Commercial National Bank of Muskogee.
On the 10th of September, 1913, Mr. Bell was married to Miss Ermine McLoud of Little Rock, Arkansas, and they have become the parents of three children: Elizabeth Clark, Margaret Finch and Harry Hollister, Jr.
Mr. Bell is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine and his fraternal, as well as his business, connections have brought him a wide acquaintance in his adopted state.