Marblehead to receive another bell

MARBLEHEAD – UMass doctorate student Chris Benning loves history and the sound of bells – and he’s arranged for the town to add another historic bell to its Abbot Hall collection.This bell, formally accepted by selectmen Wednesday night, is from the USS Marblehead, the Spanish American War vessel whose crew earned more decorations than any other in Navy history. Their mission, cutting a telegraph cable that linked Cuba and Spain, resulted in heavy casualties and led to 39 Medals of Honor. The bell will be placed where Abbot Hall visitors can see it.Benning grew up with a bedroom view of Abbot Hall and a love of history. In 2003 he was teaching at a community college in Oakland, Calif., and researching the Spanish American War.On a visit to the San Francisco Maritime Museum the man who loved to talk about Marblehead’s naval history found the bell on the basement floor, propped up on two-by-fours. It bore the inscription USS Marblehead and the year 1893 and he knew at once what it was."It was a Eureka moment," he said. "I thought, ‘That bell must come home."The homecoming required permission from the U.S. Park Service and took five years to accomplish, but selectmen and Historical Commission members were aglow to see the bell in the selectmen’s meeting room.Benning said the bell symbolized Marblehead’s public-spiritedness."Just think of the valor, blood and honor that bell has seen," said Selectmen Chairman Harry Christensen. "It just reverberates with liberty."