James Martin Bell

Who was James Martin Bell?

James Martin Bell was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.

Born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, Bell attended the public schools. He studied law in Steubenville, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1817 and commenced practice in Cambridge, Ohio. He served as major general of the Fifteenth Division, Ohio Militia. He served as prosecuting attorney of Guernsey County 1818–1832. He served as member of the State house of representatives 1826–1831, serving as speaker in 1830 and 1831. He served as master commissioner in 1827. He was in the Justice of the Peace in 1830. County school examiner in 1830.

Bell was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1834 to the Twenty-fourth Congress. He resumed the practice of law. He served as mayor of Cambridge from 1838 to 1840. He died in Cambridge, Ohio, on April 4, 1849. He was interred in Founders' Burial Ground.