Arkansas Governors and United States Senators

Part 1

E-text prepared by Shannon Seyler

ARKANSAS GOVERNORS AND UNITED STATES SENATORS

John L. Ferguson State Historian

Arkansas History Commission Little Rock

1970

INTRODUCTORY

This list of Arkansas governors and United States senators, with brief biographies of each person who has served in these offices, is intended to benefit students and others who have expressed interest in a published summary of such information. We have omitted the dozens of "acting governors," including some who served for substantial periods of time, as well as senators who held office only briefly. Copies of this publication are free, and the material is not copyrighted or restricted.

GOVERNORS OF THE TERRITORY OF ARKANSAS

On March 2, 1819, Arkansas was legally separated from Missouri and became the Territory of Arkansas. The act became effective on July 4 following. During the territorial period the governors were appointed by the President of the United States, with the approval of the United States Senate, for terms of three years.

1. James Miller, 1819-1824

Lawyer, soldier. Born in New Hampshire, 1776. Educated at Amherst Academy and Williams College, Massachusetts. Admitted to bar, 1803. Married Martha Ferguson, 1801; two children. Married Ruth Flint, 1806; five children.

Commissioned major of infantry in regular army, 1808. Lieutenant colonel, 1810; colonel, 1812; brigadier general, 1814. Hero of Battle of Lundy's Lane, Canada, 1814. Received Congressional gold medal for gallantry, 1814. Resigned from army, 1819.

Governor of Arkansas, 1819-1824. United States collector of customs, Salem, Massachusetts, 1824-1849. Died 1851.

2. George Izard, 1825-1828

Soldier. Born in England, 1776. Attended military schools in England, Germany, and France. Commissioned lieutenant in artillerists and engineers, United States Army, 1794. Captain, 1799. Resigned from army, 1803. Married Elizabeth Carter Shippen, 1803; three children.

Accepted new commission as colonel of artillery, 1812. Brigadier general, 1813; major general, 1814. Honorably discharged, 1815. Governor of Arkansas from 1825 until his death in 1828.

3. John Pope, 1829-1835

Lawyer. Born in Virginia, 1770. Married Ann Henry Christian, c.1795. Married Elizabeth Johnson, 1810; two children. Married Frances Watkins Walton, 1820.

State senator, Kentucky, 1798-1799, 1825-1829. Member, Kentucky House of Representatives, 1802, 1806-1807, 1823-1825. United States senator from Kentucky, 1807-1813. Professor of law, Transylvania University, 1813-1816. Secretary of State of Kentucky, 1816-1819. Governor of Arkansas, 1829-1835. Congressman from Kentucky, 1837-1843. Died 1845.

4. William S. Fulton, 1835-1836

Lawyer. Born in Maryland, 1795. Graduated from Baltimore College, 1813. Moved to Tennessee after serving in War of 1812. Admitted to bar, 1817. Military secretary to General Andrew Jackson in Florida campaign of 1818. Moved to Alabama, 1820. Married Matilda Nowland, 1823; four children.

Elected judge of county court, Florence, Alabama, 1822. Secretary of Territory of Arkansas, 1829-1835. Last governor of Territory of Arkansas, 1835-1836. United States senator from Arkansas, 1836-1844. Died 1844.

GOVERNORS OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS

Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the twenty-fifth state on June 15, 1836. From 1836 until 1874, governors were elected for four-year terms. During the remainder of our history the term of office has been two years.

1. James S. Conway, 1836-1840

Planter, surveyor, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1798. Came to Arkansas from Missouri, 1820. Married Mary Jane Bradley, 1826; six children.

First surveyor-general of Arkansas Territory. Inaugurated as first governor of the State of Arkansas, September 13, 1836. In 1840 retired to "Walnut Hill," his plantation in Lafayette County. Died 1855.

2. Archibald Yell, 1840-1844

Part 2

Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1797 or 1799. Served in War of 1812, and in Seminole War of 1818. Married Mary Scott, 1821; two children. Married Ann Jordan Moore, 1827; four children. Married Maria Ficklin, 1836.

Member, Tennessee House of Representatives, 1827. Came to Arkansas 1831. Receiver at federal land office in Little Rock, 1831-1832. Moved to Fayetteville, 1834. Territorial judge, 1835-1836. Congressman, 1836-1839, 1845-1847. Governor, 1840-1844.

Left Congress in 1846 to become colonel of First Arkansas Volunteer Cavalry, Mexican War. Killed at Battle of Buena Vista, Mexico, 1847.

3. Thomas S. Drew, 1844-1849

Planter, peddler, lawyer, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1802. Came to Arkansas 1818. Clerk of Clark County, 1823-1825. Moved to what is now Randolph County, 1826. Married Cinderella Bettis, 1826, five children.

Judge of Lawrence County, 1832-1833. Delegate to Arkansas constitutional convention, 1836. Governor, 1844-1849. Resigned as governor, 1849, and returned to Pocahontas. Moved to Hood County, Texas, after death of his wife in 1872. Died in Texas, 1879.

4. John S. Roane, 1849-1852

Planter, lawyer, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1817. Attended Cumberland College, Princeton, Kentucky. Came to Arkansas 1837, settled at Pine Bluff. Moved to Van Buren 1842. Speaker, Arkansas House of Representatives, 1844-1845.

Served in Mexican War. Returned to Pine Bluff, 1848. Governor, 1849-1852. Married Mary K. Smith, 1855; five children. Brigadier general, Confederate Army. Died 1867.

5. Elias N. Conway, 1852-1860

Surveyor, public official, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1812; younger brother of Governor James S. Conway. Came to Arkansas from Missouri 1833. Territorial auditor, 1835-1836. State auditor, 1836-1849. Governor, 1852-1860. Never married. Died 1892.

6. Henry M. Rector, 1860-1862

Planter, lawyer, Independent Democrat. Born in Kentucky, 1816. Came to Arkansas from Missouri, 1835; settled in Hot Springs. Married Ernestine Flora Linde, 1860; one child.

Appointed federal marshal, 1842. State senator, 1848-1852. Moved to Little Rock, 1854. Member, House of Representatives, 1854-1855. Associate justice, Supreme Court, 1859-1860. Governor, 1860-1862. Delegate, constitutional convention of 1874. Died 1899.

7. Harris Flanagin, 1862-1865

Lawyer, Confederate. Born in New Jersey, 1817. Moved to Clark County, Arkansas, from Illinois, 1837. Married Martha E. Nash, 1851; five children.

Member, House of Representatives, 1842-1843. Delegate, secession convention, 1861. Colonel, Confederate Army. Governor, 1862-1865. Delegate, constitutional convention of 1874. Died 1874.

8. Isaac Murphy, 1864-1868

Teacher, lawyer, Unionist Democrat. Born in Pennsylvania, 1799. Settled in Tennessee, 1830; came to Arkansas 1834. Married Angelina A. Lockhart, 1830; eight children.

Member, House of Representatives, Washington County, 1848-1849. Went to California 1849, returned 1853. Moved to Huntsville, Madison County, 1854. State senator, 1856-1857.

Delegate, secession convention of 1861; only member who refused to vote for secession of Arkansas from the Union. Served with Union Army, 1861-1863. Organized Unionist state government in Little Rock, 1864; served as governor until displaced by Radical Republicans, 1868. Died in Huntsville, 1882.

9. Powell Clayton, 1868-1871

Civil engineer, soldier, Republican. Born in Pennsylvania, 1833. Educated in the common schools, the Partridge Military Academy in Bristol, Pennsylvania, and in an engineering school at Wilmington, Delaware. Moved to Kansas, 1855; became city engineer of Leavenworth, Kansas, 1859.

Brigadier general, Union Army; came to Arkansas with army during Civil War. At close of war, settled on a cotton plantation near Pine Bluff. Married Adeline McGraw, 1865; five children.

Governor, 1868-1871; resigned in 1871 to become United States senator for term ending 1877. Moved from Little Rock to Eureka Springs, 1882. United States ambassador to Mexico, 1897-1905. Lived in Washington, D.C. from 1912 until his death in 1915.

Note: The unexpired portion of Powell Clayton's term as governor, 1871-1873, was completed by Ozra A. Hadley, president of the State Senate.

10. Elisha Baxter, 1873-1874

Lawyer, Republican. Born in North Carolina, 1827. Married Harriet Patton, 1849; six children. Came to Arkansas 1852, settled in Batesville. Member, House of Representatives, 1854-1855, 1858-1859. Prosecuting attorney, 1861-1862.

Part 3

Raised and commanded Fourth Arkansas Mounted Infantry Regiment (Union) during Civil War. Elected to State Supreme Court, 1864, and then to United States Senate, but not allowed to take his seat. Circuit judge, 1868-1873. Governor, 1873-1874; his term of office was cut short by the Brooks-Baxter War and the adoption of a new state constitution. Died 1899.

11. Augustus H. Garland, 1874-1877

Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1832. His parents came to what is now Miller County, Arkansas, 1833; later the family located in Washington, Hempstead County. Educated in a private school at Washington; at St. Mary's College, Lebanon, Kentucky; and at St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Kentucky, where he graduated 1849. Married Virginia Saunders, 1853; eight children. Moved to Little Rock, 1856.

Delegate, secession convention, 1861. Delegate to Provisional Congress of Confederate States, 1861; Confederate congressman, 1861-1864; Confederate States senator, 1864-1865. Governor, 1874-1877. United States senator, 1877-1885. Attorney General of the United States under President Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889; first Arkansan to hold a cabinet post. Died 1899.

12. William R. Miller, 1877-1881

Lawyer, Democrat. Born at Batesville, Arkansas, 1823. Clerk of Independence County, 1848-1854. Married Susan Elizabeth Bevens, 1849; seven children.

State auditor, 1854-1855, 1857-1860, 1861-1864, 1866-1868, 1874-1877, 1887. Accountant of Real Estate Bank of Arkansas, 1855-1856. Governor, 1877-1881; first native Arkansan to hold office. Died 1887.

13. Thomas J. Churchill, 1881-1883

Planter, soldier, lawyer, Democrat. Born in Kentucky, 1824. Educated at St. Mary's College and Transylvania University. Served in Mexican War. Moved to Arkansas 1848, acquired a plantation near Little Rock. Married Anne Maria Sevier, 1849; six children.

Postmaster at Little Rock, 1857-1861. Major general, Confederate Army; commanded at the Battle of Arkansas Post, 1863. State treasurer, 1874-1881. Governor, 1881-1883. Died 1905.

14. James H. Berry, 1883-1885

Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Alabama, 1841. When he was seven, his father moved to Carrollton, Carroll County, Arkansas. Attended Berryville Academy. Served in Confederate Army; lost a leg at Battle of Corinth. Married Elizabeth Quaile, 1865; six children. Moved to Bentonville, 1869.

Continue reading Arkansas Governors and United States Senators free in the Wunder reader →