70 



BELL, JOHN. 



States Bank, and virtually became one of the 

 founders of the Whig party, in 1834. That 

 year Mr. Stevenson left the office of Speaker 

 of the House of Representatives, to become min- 

 ister to England ; and the candidates for the 

 vacant chair were Mr. Bell and Mr. Polk. The 

 former was supported by all the Whigs, and by 

 those Democratic members who were opposed 

 to Mr. Van Buren, and he was elected. He 

 joined with Judge White in the anti-Van Bu- 

 ren movement in Tennessee, which completed 

 his sins in the estimation of President Jackson, 

 who could not, however, prevent his return to 

 Congress, as his popularity in his district re- 

 mained unshaken. When General Harrison 

 became President of the United States, in 1841, 

 lie appointed Mr. Bell Secretary of War, in 

 which office he was continued by President 

 Tyler ; but, when Mr. Tyler vetoed the bill for 

 creating a third United States Bank, Mr. Bell re- 

 signed office, as did all the members of the Cab- 

 inet, except Mr. Webster. The Tennessee Le- 

 gislature then offered him the place of United 

 States Senator, which he refused to accept, on 

 the ground that it ought to be bestowed on Mr. 

 Foster, an eminent Whig. He remained in re- 

 tirement six years, save that he was chosen a 

 member of the State Senate, in 1847. The 

 same year he was elected to the national Sen- 

 ate, to which he was reflected in 1853, thus 

 serving two full terms in that body. His en- 

 tire congressional life extended to twenty-six 

 years. As a member of Congress, Mr. Bell is 

 entitled to honorable mention and remembrance, 

 for he was one of the very few Southern men 

 whose course was really national in its charac- 

 ter. When petitions for the abolition of sla- 

 very in the District of Columbia were first pre- 

 sented to the House of Representatives, he did 

 not join with those who were for suppressing 

 the irrepressible, but voted for their recep- 

 tion. He also opposed " the Atherton gag." 

 For thus acting, he encountered opposition at 

 home ; but his constituents invariably sustained 

 him. He pursued the same course when in the 

 Senate, though the slavery question had then 

 become all-important. It is true he supported 

 the compromises of 1850, but it is not easy to see 

 how he could have done otherwise, when even 

 Mr. Webster was their advocate, and when 

 many other Northern men gave them their 

 voices and their votes. When the Kansas-Ne- 

 braska Bill was brought forward, in 1854, Mr. 

 Bell opposed its passage with all his power, 

 taking a position among its most decided oppo- 

 nents, not only as violating the Missouri com- 

 pact, to which the honor of the South was 

 pledged, but as unsettling the compromise of 

 1850, to which both the great parties had sol- 

 emnly subscribed. Four years later, he was 

 equally earnest in his opposition to the Lecomp- 

 ton constitution that had been framed for Kan- 

 sas. In 1860, Mr. Bell was nominated for the 

 presidency by the " Constitutional Union par- 

 ty," Mr. Everett receiving the nomination for 

 the vice-presidency. This ticket had no chance 



BENTON, NATHANIEL. 



of success, but it was well supported. After 

 the election of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Bell was dis- 

 posed to support his Administration, seeing in 

 his success no reason at all for secession on 

 the part of the South. For some time he re- 

 mained firmly in this position, but at length he 

 was induced " to go with his State." His after- 

 life was without incidents. 



BENTON, NATHANIEL S., an active politi- 

 cian and political leader for many years in 

 New York, born in Cheshire County, New 

 Hampshire, February 19, 1792; died at Little 

 Falls, N. Y., June 29, 1869. He was educated 

 at the Fryeburg Academy, Maine, having for 

 one of his instructors at one time Daniel 

 Webster, who was principal of the institution. 

 During the War of 1812 he served first as 

 private in the Thirty-fourth U. S. Infantry, 

 then as ensign, lieutenant, and adjutant, act- 

 ing on two occasions as Judge-Advocate-Gen- 

 eral at Plattsburg. At the conclusion of the 

 war he studied law, and was admitted to prac- 

 tice. In 1816 he removed from New Hamp- 

 shire to Little Falls in this State. In 1821 he 

 was appointed Surrogate of Herkimer County, 

 which office he held until 1828, when he re- 

 signed, in order to take his seat in the State 

 Senate. He remained in the Senate three 

 years and four months, when he resigned to ac- 

 cept the position of United States District At- 

 torney for Northern New York. This office he 

 held until removed by President Harrison in 

 1841. During this period, in 1832, he was ap- 

 pointed first Judge of Herkimer County by 

 Governor Marcy. In 1845 he was elected Sec- 

 retary of State by the Legislature, which office 

 beheld until 1848, when the new constitution 

 went into effect. At that time the State Su- 

 perintendency of Public Schools was an ex 

 officio duty of the Secretary of State, but gen- 

 erally devolved mainly on a deputy. Mr. Ben- 

 ton had for his efficient deputy Hon. S. S v 

 Randall, since and now Superintendent of 

 Schools in the city of New York, but he gave 

 more personal attention to this department 

 than his predecessors had done. From 1848 

 to 1856 Mr. Benton was not in office, though 

 he had transferred his allegiance to the " Amer- 

 ican party," and was their candidate at one 

 time for Canal Commissioner, and at another 

 for Lieutenant-Governor. In 1855 that party 

 was successful in carrying the State, and in 

 electing a majority of the Canal Board. At 

 that time the Auditor of the Canal Department 

 was chosen by the votes of the Canal Board, 

 and Mr. Benton was elected to that office in 

 1856. He soon began to add to the duties and 

 powers of the office, by securing the passage 

 of certain legislative enactments. One of his 

 first steps was to have the appointment of the 

 Auditor transferred to the Governor and Sen- 

 ate, to fix its duration for three years, and to 

 make the salary $2,500. Other acts were sub- 

 sequently passed increasing the power of the 

 office, and among them was one making the 

 Auditor a member of the Contracting Board. 



