Samuel BELL, Congress, NH (1770-1850)

BELL, Samuel, (father of James Bell, grandfather of Samuel Newell Bell, and uncle of Charles Henry Bell), a Senator from New Hampshire; born in Londonderry, N.H., February 9, 1770; attended the common schools and New Ipswich Academy; graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., in 1793; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1796 and commenced practice in Francestown, N.H.; moved to Amherst, N.H., in 1810 and to Chester, N.H., in 1812 and continued the practice of law; member, State house of representatives 1804-1807, serving as speaker 1805-1807; member, State senate, serving as president of that body 1807-1809; member, state executive council 1809-1811; judge of the State supreme court 1816-1819; Governor of New Hampshire 1819-1823; elected as an Adams-Clay Republican (later Adams and then Anti-Jacksonian) to the United States Senate in 1823; reelected in 1829, and served from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1835; was not a candidate for reelection in 1834; chairman, Committee on Claims (Twenty-third Congress); affiliated with the Whig Party upon its formation in 1834; retired to his farm; died in Chester, N.H., on December 23, 1850; interment in the Village Cemetery.

Bibliography

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present