From the book
Territory by Wm. C. Pool
Francis Marion (Frank) Kell, a pioneer settler on the Bosque River near present Clifton, was born in Warren County, Indiana. Kell came to Texas with his parents in 1838 and resided in Anderson and Bell counties before migrating to Bosque County in 1852. He returned to the Columbia Anna Church community of Bell County to marry Sarah Potter in 1852; Kell then brought his bride to his tract of land on the Bosque river. The Clifton Records points out that "Francis Marion Kell moved to Bosque County in 1852 and acquired the tract of land on which Clifton is located and also a considerable portion of the Bosque River valley lands immediately around Clifton which composed the W.H. King survey."
The first home established by the Kells was a "double log house with a dog-run between it; it was located on a hillside east of the Bosque River, probably in the upper pasture land of the Mor Phillips farm. The family resided in this home for more than 20 years. In the '70's a four room house was built. It was later moved by ox-wagons across the river to the site now occupied by the Old Kell House one block east of the Santa Fe railway".
The Kell family maintained a hotel for both local boarders and travelers. Sarah Potter Kell, the mother of 11 children, died in 1871. Later Kell married Emma Biffle.
Frank Kell took an active part in the organization of Bosque County in 1854, served in the frontier guard prior to the Civil War and in the frontier defense forces (Texas State Troops) during the War of the Rebellion, and engaged in farming and stock raising in the Bosque Valley as a primary occupation. On settling on the Bosque in the 1850's, Kell was engaged in the cattle business. Kell later changed from stockraising to farming as a major occupation; he continued to farm until he left the Clifton community to reside with various member of his family. He died in Wichita Falls Texas in 1918.