John Bell Bennett was born on March 15, 1830, in Concord, North Hampshire, where for more than forty years his father, Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, was pastor of the First Congregational Church. He was of French descent through Jean Bouton, who came to this country from England in 1635 and settled in Connecticut.
His mother, Mary Anne Persis Bell, daughter of Gov. John Bell of New Hampshire, was of Norman origin, though after the Conquest the Bells settled in the south of Scotland and later in the north of Ireland, from which country John Bell emigrated to New Hampshire in 1720.
Education
John Bell Bouton grew up in a home where interest in public service and literary pursuits was fostered. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1849, having taken high rank as a scholar. He studied law, but in 1851 became editor of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
Career
In 1857, Bouton removed to New York. In New York Journal of Commerce, he worked as an editor. For about ten years, he was also an editor of Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia.
Severing his business connections in 1889, he made his home in Cambridge, Massachusets, and spent his time in travel and writing.
Achievements
John Bouton's chief achievement was that for many years he worked as one of the editors and owners of the New York Journal of Commerce. His publications include a volume of essays, Loved and Lost (1857); Round the Block, an American Novel (1864) which, though long and tedious, portrays rather well some of the manners of the time in New York, and reveals skill in character portrayal; A Memoir of General Louis Bell (1865); Roundabout to Moscow, an Epicurean Journey (1887), a good-humored and entertaining narrative of travels in Europe; The Enchanted, an Authentic Account of the Strange Origin of the New Psychical Club (1891); Uncle Sam's Church: His Creed, Bible and Hymn-book (1895), a plea for the development of a patriotic cult. He also edited the Autobiography of Nathaniel Bouton (1879).
