Henry Bell VAN RENSSELAER, Congress, NY (1810-1864)

VAN RENSSELAER Henry Bell , a Representative from New York; born at the Manor House in Albany, N.Y., May 14, 1810; was graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1831; commissioned brevet second lieutenant of the Fifth Regiment, United States Infantry, July 1, 1831, and resigned January 27, 1832; engaged in agricultural pursuits near Ogdensburg, N.Y.; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841-March 3, 1843); was associated with mining enterprises; upon the outbreak of the Civil War reentered the military service with the rank of brigadier general in the Union Army and was appointed chief of staff under Gen. Winfield Scott; served as inspector general with the rank of colonel from 1862 until his death; died in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 23, 1864; interment in Grace Episcopal Churchyard, Jamaica, Long Island, N.Y.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present