Tom Bell
Tom Bell, born Thomas J. Hodges in 1825 near Nashville, Tennessee, was a notable figure in the mid-19th century American West. Initially trained as a physician, Bell served as an Army doctor during the Mexican-American War before pursuing fortune in California during the gold rush, where he turned to gambling. His life took a darker turn when he was convicted of grand larceny in 1851 and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1855, he escaped and quickly rose to notoriety as the leader of a gang of outlaws.
Bell is perhaps most infamous for orchestrating California's first stagecoach robbery in 1856, resulting in violence and death, which intensified law enforcement efforts to apprehend him. A significant manhunt led by Sheriff John C. Boggs ultimately culminated in Bell's capture and lynching in 1856, marking an end to his brief but impactful outlaw career. His legacy endures as a symbol of lawlessness during the gold rush era, often compared to other notorious figures of the time.
Subject Terms
Tom Bell
American outlaw
- Born: 1825
- Birthplace: Rome, Tennessee
- Died: October 4, 1856
- Place of death: Nevada City, California
Cause of notoriety: Bell and his outlaw gang are credited with the first attempted stagecoach holdup in California.
Active: October 8, 1851-October 4, 1856
Locale: Auburn, Calaveras, Nevada City, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Stockton, California
Early Life
Thomas J. Hodges, also known as Tom Bell (behl), was born in 1825 just east of Nashville in Rome, Tennessee. Not much is known about his early life. At six feet, two inches tall, with long red hair and a striking beard, Bell was an imposing physical presence. Educated as a physician in Tennessee, Bell saw action in the Mexican-American War as an Army doctor. After his service in the military, he joined the gold rush to California, where he sought his fortune as a gambler.
Outlaw Career
Before long, Bell’s troubles with the law began. On October 8, 1851, he was sentenced to five years in state prison for grand larceny committed in Sacramento County. At the time, California’s prison system was new, and Bell was only the twenty-fourth person sentenced to prison. Initially he was held in a ship just off the coast of San Francisco, but he was later housed at the newly constructed Angel Island Prison at San Quentin. On May 12, 1855, Bell escaped from custody along with several other convicts, including Bill Gristy (alias Bill White). Within months, Bell was the leader of a well-organized gang of more than thirty outlaws.
On August 12, 1856, Bell and his gang attempted a feat never before tried in California: robbing a stagecoach. They chose a Camptonville-Marysville stage carrying $100,000 worth of gold bullion. One passenger, the wife of a local barber, was killed, and two male passengers were wounded before Bell’s gang was chased away by the stagecoach guards. A short time later, a Jewish peddler named Rosenthal was robbed and murdered by Bell and several members of his gang. The murder occurred not far from his Bell’s suspected hideout. The robberies, and especially the death of the woman on the Marysville stage, led to a massive manhunt, led most notably by Bell’s nemesis Placer County Sheriff John C. Boggs.
By late September, Gristy and many other suspected gang members had been captured. Sheriff Boggs and his deputies interrogated Gristy, who eventually shared information about Bell’s hideout near the Mountaineer House, a hotel and tavern located about eight miles outside Auburn. Another suspect interrogated by Boggs, named Charley Hamilton, also reported that he knew Bell. Hamilton agreed to infiltrate the Bell gang and try to arrange the outlaw’s capture. Simultaneously, Deputy Sheriff Bob Paul of Calaveras County posed as an outlaw and attempted to obtain evidence against Jack Phillips, the owner of the Mountaineer House and a suspected collaborator and fence for Bell’s gang. Boggs had previously raided the Mountaineer House several times but had never been able to locate Bell.
Legal Action and Outcome
On September 29, 1856, the hotelkeeper was arrested for harboring Bell, and the authorities began to close the net on the fugitive. Later that evening, Hamilton, the desperado who had gained Bell’s trust, told Sheriff Boggs where Bell was camped. Sometime after midnight, while riding toward the suspected encampment, Boggs and his men intercepted Bell on the road, and a gunfight ensued. Outlaw Ned Conway was killed, but Bell and another outlaw known as Texas Jack escaped on foot, unharmed. Bell headed for another tavern and hotel about four miles away, known as the Pine Grove House, where he stole a horse and headed south toward the San Joaquin River. Four days later, on October 4, 1856, Bell was captured and lynched outside Nevada City by a posse from Stockton led by Judge George Belt.
Impact
Following his prison break, Tom Bell, who has also been referred to as the “Outlaw Doc,” became the most infamous fugitive to hit the California gold rush fields since Joaquín Murieta. He will be remembered primarily for attempting the first stage holdup in California.
Bibliography
Boessenecker, John. Badge and Buckshot: Lawlessness in Old California. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. An authoritative narrative on lawlessness in the Old West. Provides a candid account of the sometimes ragged past of this important period in American history.
Drago, Sinclair. Road Agents and Train Robbers: Half a Century of Western Banditry. New York: Dodd, 1973. Does an excellent job of dispelling common misconceptions about criminal activities of well-known outlaws in the last half of the nineteenth century.
Secrest, William B. California Desperadoes: Stories of Early California Outlaws in Their Own Words. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press, 2000. The author has compiled an amazing collection of rare photographs and first-person accounts of authentic Old West desperadoes.