John Fell was an American merchant and jurist. Born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, he was engaged in overseas trade and had acquired a small fleet of ships by the time he moved to Bergen County

Bergen County, New Jersey

Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, in the 1760s, and lived at "Peterfield", a home in present-day Allendale, New Jersey

Allendale, New Jersey

Allendale is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 6,505.Allendale was formed on November 8, 1894 from portions of Franklin Township, Hohokus Township and Orvil Township at the height of the Boroughitis phenomenon then...

 that has become known as the "John Fell House". He served as judge of the court of common pleas in Bergen County from 1766 to 1774. With the coming of the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, he became chairman of Bergen County's committee of correspondence

Committee of correspondence

The Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of American Revolution. They coordinated responses to Britain and shared their plans; by 1773 they had emerged as shadow governments, superseding the colonial legislature...

 and the committee of safety

Committee of Safety (American Revolution)

Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community...

. He was Bergen County's leading delegate to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey

Provincial Congress of New Jersey

The Provincial Congress of New Jersey was a transitional governing body of the Province of New Jersey in the early part of the American Revolution. It first met in 1775 with representatives from all New Jersey's then-thirteen counties, to supersede the Royal Governor...

 in 1775. In 1776 Fell was elected to a one-year term in the New Jersey Legislative Council

New Jersey Legislative Council

The New Jersey Legislative Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776 until it was replaced by the New Jersey Senate under the Constitution of 1844.-History:...

representing Bergen County.

Sources

• Purcell, L. Edward. Who Was Who in the American Revolution. New York: Facts on File, 1993. ISBN 0-8160-2107-4.