1870 Letter CHARLES BELL New Hampshire Governor/Senator CIVIL WAR Colonel 18 NH

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1870 Letter CHARLES BELL New Hampshire Governor/Senator CIVIL WAR Colonel 18 NH. He was the editor of the Exeter News Letter for a number of years, and was the author of several historical books. Bell next secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor by a popular vote in the 1881 general election. Offered here is a 2pp. ALS, 4" x 6 1/4" (folded sheet), dated North Hampton, N.H. July 27, 1870, written to Reverend Nason, signed Ch.s H. Bell, with fine content: "... I am greatly obliged for the list of Exeter printed books; and shall find quite a number of new 'specimens' among them. I have concluded to accept your obliging offer to dispose of the lot, (excepting Scott's Commentaries) for the sum of $10... I shall feel really indebted to you for the important aid you have rendered me, in forming a collection of the Exeter imprints..." Folds, pinholes [literally], soil spots/ light toning-- very good overall. CHARLES H. BELL (1823-1893) the forty-seventh governor of New Hampshire, was born in Chester, New Hampshire on November 18, 1823. His education was attained at Pembroke Academy, at Phillips Exeter Academy, and at Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1844. After studying law, Bell established his legal career, serving as the prosecuting attorney for Rockingham County from 1856 to 1866. He also became involved in the literary world. He was the editor of the Exeter News Letter for a number of years, and was the author of several historical books. Bell entered politics in 1858, serving as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, a position he held until 1860, and from which he also served as speaker in 1860. He also served as a member of the New Hampshire State Senate from 1863 to 1864; was senate president in 1864; and served as a member of the U.S. Senate from March 1879 to June 1879. Bell next secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor by a popular vote in the 1881 general election. During his tenure, a state board of health was created; and a liquor prohibition bill was promoted. After completing his term, Bell retired from political life. He stayed active, returning to his literary pursuits and his legal interests. Governor Charles H. Bell passed away on November 11, 1893, and was buried in the Exeter Cemetery in Exeter, New Hampshire. Under the authority of the dispatch of August 22, 1864, above quoted, Governor Gilmore, on the same day, appointed Charles H. Bell of Exeter — afterwards governor — colonel, with authority to raise the Eighteenth New Hampshire Volunteers. Mr. Bell was a gentleman of such position and reputation in the community as to have great influence in attracting volunteers. He at once began to raise the regiment. He designated the recruiting officers for companies A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, and named captains and lieutenants. His active interest in the matter had much to do with the quickness with which these companies were recruited. Col. James W. Carr of Manchester, who had lately retired from the Second New Hampshire Volunteers, in which hard-fighting regiment he had served with distinction for three years, was appointed lieutenant-colonel, and immediately devoted himself to recruiting for the regiment. After the initial organization had begun, however, Colonel Bell became disenchanted with the slowness of the process. In a letter October 24, 1864 to Adjutant-General Head, Colonel Bell resigned his commission, saying: “When I received it I did so with the full belief that the regiment could soon be raised and put into the field, a complete organization, but from various causes I have since had occasion to doubt whether this is likely to be done. If the organization is to be left incomplete of course no colonel can be mustered into the United States service. In this doubtful state of affairs I have reached the conclusion that I ought no longer to quit my urgent private business for the contingency of the completion of the regiment.” The recipient of this letter was undoubtedly Rev. ELIAS NASON (1811–1887), who was one of the most prolific and dedicated historians, book collectors, and writers in 19th-century New England. Rev. Nason moved to Exeter, New Hampshire in 1861 to serve as the pastor of the First Congregational Church of Exeter. He lived right in the heart of town during the intense years of the American Civil War. He did not just collect history; he actively wrote it. While living in town, he was so fascinated by local daily life that he compiled and published literal year-by-year archives of the community. His books included: A Brief Record of Events in Exeter, N.H. During the Year 1861; A Brief Record of Events in Exeter, N.H. During the Year 1862; A Brief Record of Events in Exeter, N.H. During the Year 1863. These books captured everything from the names of every local soldier heading off to war to regional weather patterns and civic town meetings. Rev. Nason was a brilliant, eccentric intellectual who graduated from Harvard University and was a prominent member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He amassed an enormous, legendary personal library of local history, regional pamphlets, rare books, and genealogies. He was also a compulsive diary keeper. He kept exhaustive daily logs of his observations, many of which he wrote in a secret, custom shorthand system. Today, his extensive personal journals, historical papers, and remaining collection items are preserved by the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts.