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Campana de Peter Hansborough

James W. Henderson"},"predecessor1":{"wt":"[[George Tyler Wood|George T. Wood]]"},"successor1":{"wt":"[[J. W. Henderson|James W. Henderson]]"},"state2":{"wt":"[[Texas]]"},"distr...

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Peter Hansborough Bell (11 de mayo de 1810 [ Nota 1 ] – 8 de marzo de 1898) fue un oficial militar y político estadounidense que se desempeñó como el tercer gobernador de Texas y representó al estado durante dos períodos en la Cámara de Representantes de los Estados Unidos . 

El condado de Bell, en el centro-este de Texas, lleva su nombre.

Fondo

Bell nació en el condado de Culpeper, Virginia, el 11 de mayo de 1810. [ 1 ] [ Nota 1 ] Se educó en Virginia y Maryland antes de emigrar a Texas . [ 2 ]

En marzo de 1836, Bell era miembro del Ejército Texano bajo el mando de Sam Houston y estuvo presente en la Batalla de San Jacinto . En 1841, como miembro de los Texas Rangers del Capitán John Coffee "Jack" Hays , participó en la Batalla del Paso de Bandera, estratégicamente ubicado como paso que separa el Valle de Guadalupe del Valle de Medina. Su servicio militar fue distinguido y el General Houston lo nombró ayudante general en su estado mayor . [ 3 ] Para 1839, Bell había sido ascendido a inspector general del ejército de la República de Texas . [ 2 ]

En 1845, Bell fue nombrado capitán de los Texas Rangers . [ 2 ] Al mando del distrito de Corpus Christi , protegió la principal ruta comercial entre Texas y México de los forajidos. [ 3 ] Con el estallido de la guerra mexicano-estadounidense , Bell se convirtió en teniente coronel del Segundo Regimiento de Voluntarios Montados de Texas. [ 1 ] Sus acciones durante la batalla de Buena Vista fueron particularmente destacadas. [ 2 ] Tras la guerra, regresó a los Rangers y sirvió en la frontera occidental. [ 4 ]

Gobernación

During the 1849 Texas gubernatorial election, Bell ran on a platform advocating strong frontier defense and support of Texas's territorial claim to New Mexico. To this end, he called for expending additional resources to eradicate the Native American population and sending troops to Santa Fe in support of Texas's claim to Santa Fe County. This platform allowed him to defeat incumbent Governor George T. Wood by a vote of 10,319 to 8,754.[5]

Shortly after Bell's December 1849 inauguration at age 39, the Texas Legislature created three new counties from the southern section of Santa Fe County. The governor sent Robert Neighbors to oversee the organization of the new counties. Neighbors found that the inhabitants of the new counties were hostile to Texas interests and that residents of Santa Fe had written their own constitution.

After Neighbors's report became public in June 1850, Governor Bell, aged 40, called a special session of the legislature to deal with these developments. The session was held in August, and Bell's plans were to send the Texas Militia to seize control of Santa Fe from the United States government. The issue was resolved several months later in the Compromise of 1850; Bell signed Texas's acceptance legislation on November 25, 1850.[6]

Bell won re-election in 1851, largely thanks to his aggressive policies and his being the most Southern of the five candidates. Highlights of his second term were payment of Texas's public debt and resolution of land-claim disputes between empresarios and their colonists. Bell left the governorship before the end of his term to take a seat in the United States Congress.[7]

Later life

Beginning in 1853, Bell represented Texas's western district in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms.[1] During this time, he became friends with United States Secretary of WarJefferson Davis. He also met and married Ella Rives Eaton of North Carolina. After his marriage, Bell never returned to Texas during his lifetime.[7]

Following his 1857 marriage, Bell and his wife settled in Littleton, North Carolina. When the American Civil War began, he raised and paid to equip a regiment with his personal funds. He then served as the regiment's colonel.[1]

Having grown wealthy and living "in lordly style" from his ownership of over 500 slaves,[8] he was "impoverished" when the Union freed them after the Civil War.[9] After the Texas Legislature learned this, they awarded the former governor an annual pension of US$150 and 1,280 acres (5.2 km2).[7] in the Fishing Creek Township of Granville County NC, which would later be known as Bryan's Hill (located on Jefferson Davis Highway between Oxford and Creedmoor NC). Bell died in Littleton on March 8, 1898, at the age of 87.[10] His body was reburied with honors in Austin, Texas, in 1929.[7]

Bell County, Texas is named after him.

Notes

  1. 12Various sources give multiple dates in May 1810 and May 1812 for Bell's birth. Bell's gravestone uses a May 1812 date.

References

  1. 1234Coyner 1899, pp. 49–53.
  2. 1234White 1899, pp. 67–68.
  3. 12Hendrickson 1995, p. 54.
  4. ↑Hendrickson 1995, pp. 54–56.
  5. ↑Hendrickson 1995, p. 53.
  6. ↑Hendrickson 1995, p. 56.
  7. 1234Hendrickson 1995, p. 57.
  8. ↑Coyner 1899, p. 51.
  9. ↑"Texas Archival Resources Online". txarchives.org. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  10. ↑"Death List of a Day". New York Times. March 12, 1898. p. 7.

Works cited

  • Coyner, C. Luther (1899). "Peter Hansborough Bell". The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association. 3 (1). Texas State Historical Association: 49–53. JSTOR 30242699.
  • Hendrickson, Kenneth E. Jr. (1995). Chief executives of Texas: from Stephen F. Austin to John B. Connally, Jr. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0-89096-641-9.
  • White, James T. (1899). The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. IX. New York: James T. White & Co. OCLC 1759175.