The Project Gutenberg eBook, Arkansas Governors and United States Senators, by John L. Ferguson

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Title: Arkansas Governors and United States Senators

Author: John L. Ferguson

Release Date: December 31, 2005 [eBook #17433]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARKANSAS GOVERNORS AND UNITED STATES SENATORS***

E-text prepared by Shannon Seyler

ARKANSAS GOVERNORS AND UNITED STATES SENATORS

by

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

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