J. (Jewell) Newton Bell, Jr. (1919-2008) was born in Griffin, Georgia, in 1919, to Jewell N. Bell (1880-1961) and Harriet Belle Stanley Bell (1896-1970). He earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia in 1940 and was the 15th registered landscape architect for the state of Georgia. Bell worked for Monroe's Landscape and Nursery Company in Atlanta, Georgia, where he prepared landscape plans for the Piedmont Driving Club in 1940. Bell joined the Air Force in 1942 and during World War II, drew targeting maps for bombing raids in the South Pacific theater and performed damage assessment after bombing raids. After being discharged from service, Bell began his landscape architecture business in Griffin. He worked on residential, public, and commercial buildings such as banks, government buildings, and churches in cities including Griffin, Athens, Perry, Newnan, and Covington. Bell later opened an antique and interior decorating business in Griffin and married Leila Searcy (1922-2015).