Bell, John (1797-1869) Field Flowers
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09009 Author/Creator: Bell, John (1797-1869) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Autograph manuscript signed Date: 19 June 1836 Pagination: 3 p. ; 19.5 x 13.5 cm. Order a Copy
Poem of several stanzas written by Bell and his wife but signed only by John Bell. According to pencil note on page two, the first half of the poem is in the hand of Mrs. Bell and the second half in the hand of John Bell. Poem begins, "Flowers of the field how must ye seem/Mans frailty to Paurtray/Blooming so fair in mornings beam/Passing at eve away." John Bell's written half begins, "O, what sad train of thought and feeling/So unlike all that's gay and pleasing,/Stealing oe'r my own fair one's bosom ..."
Bell was Speaker of the House of Representative 1834-1835 and Senator from Tennessee 1847-1859. He was a candidate for president in the 1860 election under the Constitutional Union ticket. Bell married Jane Yeatman in 1835. His first wife, Sally Dickinson, died in 1832, leaving five children.
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