Joseph M. Bell - Misplaced Pages

American politician (1787–1851)

Joseph M. Bell

President of the Massachusetts Senate
In office 1849
Preceded by	Zeno Scudder
Succeeded by	Marshall Pinckney Wilder
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
In office 1848–1849
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1845–1847
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
In office 1821, 1828–1830

Personal details
Born	March 21 (or 27), 1787 Bedford, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	July 25, 1851(1851-07-25) (aged 64) Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S.
Political party	Whig
Spouse(s)	Catherine Olcott Helen Olcott Choate
Children	5
Alma mater	Dartmouth College
Occupation	Lawyer abolitionist politician

Joseph M. Bell (March 21, 1787 – July 25, 1851) was a New Hampshire and Massachusetts lawyer, abolitionist, and politician. Bell served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1821 and from 1828 to 1830 and the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847. He served as a member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1848 to 1849 and President of the Massachusetts Senate in 1849.

Early life

Joseph M. Bell was born on March 21, 1787 (or March 27, 1787), in Bedford, New Hampshire to Mary (née Houston) and Joseph Bell. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1807. He then worked as principal of Haverhill Academy in Haverhill, New Hampshire for one year. He studied law; reading law in the offices of Governor Samuel Bell, Judge Samuel Dana and Governor Jeremiah Smith. He was admitted to the bar in 1811.

Career

Bell worked as a cashier with the Coos Bank and later became the bank president. In 1811, he started a law practice in Haverhill. Bell joined the New Hampshire Militia, Second Division, around 1818.

Bell was appointed as Solicitor for Grafton County, New Hampshire. He worked in that role from 1815 to 1820. He served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Haverhill, in 1821 and from 1828 to 1830. Bell ran for U.S. Congress as a Whig in 1835. In 1842, Bell moved his law practice to Boston and partnered with Henry F. Durant, founder of Wellesley College. Bell also practiced law with his uncle and father-in-law Rufus Choate.

Bell represented Boston in the General Court from 1844 to 1847. Bell served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing Suffolk County, from 1845 to 1847. Bell served as a member of the Massachusetts Senate, representing Suffolk County, from 1848 to 1849. He served as President of the Massachusetts Senate in 1849.

Personal life

Bell married Catherine Olcott, daughter of Mills Olcott of Hanover, New Hampshire. Bell married Helen Olcott Choate, daughter of Rufus Choate and niece of his former wife. He had five children, including two daughters. Bell was friends with Daniel Webster.

In December 1821, Bell purchased the Wentworth Brown House in Haverhill. Later in life, Bell lived in Boston. He owned property in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.

Bell died on July 25, 1851, at Saratoga Springs, New York, while on vacation with his family.

Awards

Bell received an honorary LL.D. degree from Dartmouth College in 1837.

References

^ "Over 200 Years of History". wentworthbrownproject.org. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
^ "Genealogies". History of Bedford New Hampshire From 1737. The Rumford Printing Co. 1903. pp. 869–970. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
^ "Military History of New Hampshire". Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New Hampshire for the Year Ending June 1, 1868. John B. Clarke. 1868. pp. 246–248. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
^ "Hon. Joseph Bell". The Pittsfield Sun. July 31, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
"New Hampshire". The Vermont Courier. January 30, 1835. p. 2. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
John R. Vile, ed. (2001), Great American Lawyers: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Santa Barbara, California: SABC-CLIO, p. 106
"State Government, 1845". Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar for 1845. 1845. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
"State Government, 1846". Massachusetts Register and United States Calendar for 1846. hdl:2027/umn.319510022331967 – via HathiTrust.
Capen, Nahum. "State Government, 1847". Massachusetts State Record and Year Book of General Information, 1847. pp. 5 v. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081766754 – via HathiTrust.
^ "Dead". The Recorder. Greenfield, Massachusetts. August 4, 1851. p. 2. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
Calhoun, William (1879). Resolves of the General Court of Massachusetts in the Years 1849; 1851; 1850. Boston, Massachusetts: Secretary of the Commonwealth. p. 268.
Capen, Nahum. "State Government, 1848". Massachusetts State Record and Year Book of General Information, 1848. pp. 5 v. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081766747 – via HathiTrust.
Capen, Nahum. "State Government, 1849". Massachusetts State Record and Year Book of General Information, 1849. pp. 5 v. hdl:2027/chi.108279638 – via HathiTrust.
"Death of Hon. Joseph Bell". The Liberator. August 1, 1851. p. 3. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
Memorial biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Vol. 3. New England Historic Genealogical Society. 1883. p. 434. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
Cogswell, John B. D. (1884). Memoir of Rufus Choate. pp. 427, 429, 434. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Library of Congress.
"Hon. Joseph Bell". New England Farmer. Boston, Massachusetts. August 2, 1851. p. 3. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
"The estate..." Greenfield Democrat. Greenfield, Massachusetts. August 4, 1851. p. 3. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Tufts (A New Nation Votes): Bell, Joseph

Political offices
Preceded byZeno Scudder	President of the Massachusetts Senate 1849	Succeeded byMarshall Pinckney Wilder

v t e Presidents of the Massachusetts Senate
Cushing Powell Adams S. Phillips Adams Cobb Otis J. Bacon S. Dana Otis S. Dana J. Phillips Silsbee Mills S. Leland Lathrop Fowler Saltonstall Thorndike Pickman Bliss Mann M. Lawrence King Quincy P. Leland Robinson Quincy Lincoln Calhoun Scudder Bell Wilder Wilson Warren Cook Benchley Baker Upham Phelps Claflin Clifford Field Pond Brastow Pitman Brastow H. Coolidge Loring Cogswell Bishop Crocker Bruce Pillsbury Boardman Hartwell Sprague Pinkerton Butler G. Lawrence Smith Soule Jones W. Dana Chapple Treadway Greenwood C. Coolidge H. Wells McKnight Allen W. Wells G. Bacon Fish Moran Wragg Cotton Goodwin Hunt A. Coolidge Nicholson Richardson Dolan Richardson Furbush Holmes Powers Donahue Harrington Bulger Birmingham Travaglini Murray Rosenberg Chandler Spilka

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