SURNAMES FAMILY TREE HOME The Bell Branch UPDATED    23 Apr 2016 NEW Samuel Bells Born in PA Bef 1850

Samuel Bell (1770-1850) Biographies, p. 162-3 Samuel Bell, lawyer, governor of New Hampshire, senator, was the son of John and Mary Ann (Gilmore) Bell, and a grandson of John Bell, a Scotch-Irishman who settled in Londonderry, NH in 1720. He was born and brought up in Londonderry, working on his father's farm and attending the district school in the winter months. Later he studied at New Ipswich Academy, taught school, and graduated from Dartmouth in 1793. He was admitted to the bar in 1796 and began practice at Francestown, later removing to Amherst, and finally about 1812 to Chester where he maintained a residence henceforth. He was twice married; on Nov. 26, 1797, to Mehitable Dana of Amherst, who died in 1810, and on July 4, 1828, to Lucy Smith, also of Amherst. As a Jeffersonian Republican, he represented Francestown in the legislature 1804-6, being speaker in the last two years. He was president of the state Senate 1807-8 and member of the Executive Council in 1809. After several years' retirement from public affairs, due to ill health, he was appointed associate justice of the superior court in 1816, where he served for three years. In 1819 he was chosen governor. The most important enactment during his administration was the Toleration Act of 1819, which ended the power of the towns to tax for the support of clergymen. He was a pioneer in calling attention to the evils of intemperance and demanding a stricter licensing system. Beginning in 1823 he served two successive terms in the United States Senate. At the expiration of his term, he retired to his farm in Chester where he spent the remainder of his life.