John Calhoun Bell

John Calhoun Bell (December 11, 1851 - August 12, 1933) was a U.S. Representative from Colorado.

Born near Sewanee, Tennessee, Bell attended public and private schools in Franklin County.He studied law in Winchester, Tennessee, and was admitted to the bar in 1874.He moved to Colorado in 1874 and commenced practice in Del Norte, moving to Saguache, Colorado, the same year. County attorney of Saguache County, Colorado, from 1874 to May 1876.He moved to Lake City, Colorado, in 1876.

Bell was elected county clerk of Hinsdale County in 1878.He served as mayor of Lake City in 1885.He moved to Montrose, Colorado, in 1886 and continued the practice of law.He served as judge of the seventh judicial district of Colorado from 1889 until his resignation in 1892, having been elected to Congress.

Bell was elected as a Populist to the Fifty-third and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1903).He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1902 to the Fifty-eighth Congress.He served as member of the United States Industrial Commission in 1900 and 1901.He resumed the practice of law in Montrose, Colorado.He served as judge of the Court of Appeals of Colorado 1913-1915.He again resumed the practice of law.He served as member of the State board of agriculture 1931-1933.He died in Montrose, Colorado, August 12, 1933.He was interred in the Cedar Cemetery.

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