Charles Jasper Bell (January 16, 1885 – January 21, 1978) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Born in

Lake City, Colorado Lake City is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town, statutory town that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Hinsdale County, Colorado, Hinsd ...

, Bell attended the country schools in

Jackson County, Missouri Jackson County is located in the western portion of the U.S. state of Missouri, on the border with Kansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 717,204. making it the second-most populous county in the state (af ...

, Lees Summit (Missouri) High School, and the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

. He graduated from the Kansas City School of Law in 1913 and was admitted to the bar the same year, commencing to practice in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. He served as a member of the city council of Kansas City from 1926 to 1930 and as a member of the committee to draft the administrative code, which the current general law of

, is based on. Additionally, he served as judge of the circuit court of

, from 1931 until his resignation in 1934. Bell was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the seventy-fourth through Eightieth Congresses, serving from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1949. He served as chairman of the Committee on Elections No. 1 during the Seventy-sixth and Seventy-seventh Congresses, and of the Committee on Insular Affairs in the Seventy-eighth and Seventy-ninth Congresses. Bell also served as a member of the Filipino Rehabilitation Commission in 1945 and 1946. He did not run for reelection in 1948 to the

Eighty-first Congress The 81st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 194 ...

, and resumed the practice of law, specifically managing private investments. He died in

, on January 21, 1978. He was interred in Blue Springs Cemetery,

Blue Springs, Missouri Blue Springs is a city in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. Blue Springs is located east of Kansas City. It is the 8th largest city in the Kansas City metropolitan area and 10th largest city in the state of Missouri. As of the 2020 cens ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Charles Jasper 1885 births 1978 deaths University of Missouri alumni American Disciples of Christ Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri People from Hinsdale County, Colorado 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives