From 1879 to 1929, this bell was rung to open court at the Mercer County Courthouse in Princeton. After the courthouse was dismantled in 1929, the bell was used as a dinner bell at the County poor farm at Gardner. Later discarded at the farm, the bell was saved by Mrs. Lida Pine Taliaferro, who with her sisters preserved the bell for the County until 1976, when it was returned to the courthouse for the nationwide Bicentennial bell-ringing ceremony held at 2 PM, July 4, 1976. The bell was mounted by the Mercer County commission: Luther Byrd, president, Joe Coburn, Clarence Six, and Wilson Harvey, Clerk, on November 11, 1977.