Hiram Bell Farmstead in the 19th century

Hiram Bell (April 22, 1808 – December 21, 1855) was an American politician who was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from the Ohio's Third Congressional District. Bell was born in Salem (now

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, and attended the public schools of his native town. In 1826, his parents moved the family to Hamilton, Ohio. There he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1829, when he commenced practice in

Greenville, Ohio Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Darke County, Ohio, United States, located near the western edge of Ohio about 33 miles northwest of Dayton. The population was 13,227 at the 2010 census. History Historic Native American tribes in ...

. Hiram Bell married Lusina Clark in Darke County on July 25, 1832; they had two children. In 1829 and 1834 he was elected auditor of

Darke County, Ohio Darke County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,881. Its county seat is Greenville. The county was created in 1809 and later organized in 1817. It is named for William Darke, an officer in the ...

. He served three terms in the

Ohio house of representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...

in 1836, 1837, and 1840. In 1850, he ran successfully for Congress as a Whig from the third district. After the redistricting following the 1850 census, he did not stand for re-election in the new district in 1852. He engaged in the practice of law in Greenville where he died a few years later, aged 47. He is interred in the Greenville Cemetery.

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Hiram 1808 births 1855 deaths People from Derby, Vermont Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Greenville, Ohio People from Hamilton, Ohio Members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)