Solomon Bell was the youngest son of Peter Bell. He was born in Hagerstown, Maryland on September 4, 1817. The family moved to Winchester, Virgina in 1824 where he worked for his father briefly. In 1839, he moved to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania to work for his brother John. He returned to Winchester in 1843 when he began marking his own wares. Two years later he joined his brother Samuel in Strausburg, Virgina where they became partners. He never married and died in 1882.