Arkansas Governors and United States Senators

Arkansas Governors and United
States
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)
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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.