Joshua Fry Bell

Joshua Fry Bell (November 26, 1811 – August 17, 1870) was a Kentucky slave owner[1] and political figure.

For other people named Joshua Bell, see Joshua Bell (disambiguation).
Joshua F. Bell
A man with receding black hair, a mustache, and a beard wearing a white shirt and black jacket
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 4th district
In office
March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1847
Preceded byGeorge Caldwell
Succeeded byAylette Buckner
31st Secretary of State of Kentucky
In office
July 2, 1849 – March 16, 1850
GovernorJohn J. Crittenden
Preceded byOrlando Brown
Succeeded byJohn William Finnell
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
In office
1862-1867
Personal details
Born(1811-11-26)November 26, 1811
Danville, Kentucky
DiedAugust 17, 1870(1870-08-17) (aged 58)
Danville, Kentucky
Political partyWhig
Alma materCentre College
ProfessionLawyer

Bell was born in Danville, Kentucky, where he attended public schools and then Centre College, where he graduated in 1828. He next studied law in Lexington, Kentucky, and travelled around Europe for several years before returning home and being admitted to the bar.

Bell owned four slaves as of the 1850 census, and 14 as of the 1860 census.[2]

Bell was elected as a Whig to the 29th Congress in November 1844. He did not seek reelection and served a single term in the House, March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1847. He was the Kentucky Secretary of State in 1849, and was sent by Kentucky as a commissioner to the Peace Conference held in Washington, D.C. in February 1861, in an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to stave off what became the American Civil War.

Bell served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1862 to 1867. Union Democrats attempted to nominate him for Governor of Kentucky in 1863, but he declined the nomination.

Joshua Fry Bell died in 1870 in Danville at the age of 58 and was interred at Bellevue Cemetery.[3] Bell County, Kentucky is named in his honor.[4]

References
  1. "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-27, retrieved 2022-01-30
  2. "Joshua Fry Bell · Civil War Governors of Kentucky". discovery.civilwargovernors.org. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  3. Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961. Government Printing Office. 1961. p. 539. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  4. The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1. Kentucky State Historical Society. 1903. pp. 34.
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