Ancestry:

John Bell was the second son of Dr. John Wills Hood and Theodosia French. His siblings included brothers William and James, an older sister Olivia, and a younger sister Elizabeth.

John Bell's mother, Theodosia French, was the daughter of James French and Keziah Callaway. James had served in the Revolutionary War, and had built a home for his family on land he had acquired from famed Kentucky Indian fighter Simon Kenton. Keziah Calloway was the daughter of Col. Richard Callaway, who had served under George Washington in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. In 1780 Col. Callaway, an associate of Daniel Boone, was ambushed and killed by Indians near Fort Boonesborough.

John Wills Hood, born on January 1, 1798, was the son of Lucas Hood, an adventuresome and pugnacious veteran of the Indian Wars. John W., along with brothers William and Andrew, would forgo the military bent of their father, and turn to the study and practice of medicine in the small Clark County, Kentucky town of Winchester. In 1823 John would move to the town of Owingsville, some 25 miles to the east, with his young bride, the former Theodosia French. John W. would spend the next decade frequently traveling to Philadelphia for extended periods of medical study at University of Pennsylvania. He was enrolled there in 1829, 1830, and 1834, and studied at the Jefferson Medical College of Virginia in 1834 and 1835.

John Wills Hood's father Lucas "Luke" Hood had arrived in Lincoln County, Kentucky with his wife Frances in 1784, emigrating from Pennsylvania. He had apparently served in the Revolutionary War, along with his two brothers Andrew and Thomas. However, Luke appeared to be a more restless spirit than his two younger brothers, as they would become founding fathers and prominent citizens of Greenup County, Kentucky. Luke took up no land, but turned to fighting Indians. He was among General Harmar's Kentucky militia on an ill-fated expedition against the Shawnee Chief Little Turtle on the upper Miami River of Ohio in 1790. Three years later he served as a spy and scout for Mad Anthony Wayne, and fought in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. It is recorded in the Doyle Collection that Luke was scalped and left for dead after one altercation with Indians.

Luke Hood was born in 1758 in Frederick County, Virginia (now Berkeley County, West Virginia), one of seven children of Lucas Hood and Johanna van Stockholm. The elder Lucas was born in New York City on October 2, 1708, the son of Jasper and Tryntje Hood.

At six feet, two inches tall, with blonde/auburn hair, John Bell Hood's physical characteristics can probably be attributed to his Nordic ancestry. The earliest of his known direct paternal lineage is his great-great grandfather Jaspar Hoed, whose name was later Anglicized to Jasper Hood. Jasper married Tryntje Luykas (aka Catrina Andries) in the Dutch Reformed Church of New Amsterdam (now New York City) on June 7, 1696. It is presumed that Jasper was of Danish ancestry, Tryntje was certainly Dutch. Although the confirmed identity of Jasper's father has not been established, it is reasonably certain that his name was Jan Hoed, and that other of Jan's family members were named Jaspar, a common Danish and northern European name. Jasper and Tryntje's first son was named Jan, and in the Dutch primitive patronymic system the first born son was named after the paternal grandfather.

Although nothing is known of Jan Hoed (John Hood), extensive information exists on the parents and grandparents of John Bell Hood's great-great grandmother Tryntje Luykas, and her family. Among the earliest marriage records of the Dutch Reformed Church was that of Luykas Andrieszen and Aefje Laurens on May 20, 1655. Baptism records indicate a daughter Tryntje, born on July 23, 1673 in New Amsterdam.

Luykas Andrieszen (John Bell Hood's great X 3 grandfather) was the son of Andries Luykaszen (Hood's great X 4 grandfather) and Jennetje Sebyns, and both father and son are both identified frequently as "Skipper" or "Captain" in numerous court, church, marine and civil records of the early Dutch colony. Both sailed the waters of northern New England and the Hudson River as merchant marine ships captains, appearing to have been prosperous and prominent early colonial citizens.

Voluminous records exist as well on the parents of Hood's great X 3 grandmother Aefje Laurens. Her parents are clearly identified as Laurens Corneliszen van der Wel and Lysbeth Thyssen.. Laurens arrived in the New Amsterdam colony around 1640 from Amsterdam, Holland. He became heavily involved in the maritime shipping industry, and was a prominent citizen involved in early colonial politics.