Bell, Hiram Parks

BELL, Hiram Parks, a Representative from Georgia; born near Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga., January 19, 1827; attended the public schools at Cumming, Forsyth County, Ga.; taught school for two years, during which time he studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1849 and commenced practice in Cumming; member of the secession convention in 1861 and opposed the secession ordinance; commissioner from Georgia to solicit the cooperation of Tennessee in the formation of a southern confederacy; member of the State senate in 1861, but resigned to enter the Confederate Army; during the Civil War was commissioned captain and later promoted to lieutenant colonel and colonel of the Forty-third Georgia Regiment; member of the Second Confederate Congress in 1864 and 1865; member of the Democratic State executive committee 1868-1871; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-third Congress (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1875); delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1876; was chosen a member of the Democratic National Committee from the State at large; elected to the Forty-fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Benjamin H. Hill and served from March 13, 1877, to March 3, 1879; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1878; member of the State house of representatives in 1898 and 1899; served in the State senate in 1900 and 1901; died in Atlanta, Ga., August 17, 1907; interment in Cumming Cemetery, Cumming, Ga.