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James Miller
Born: April 25, 1776, at Peterborough, New Hampshire
Died: July 7, 1851, at Temple, New Hampshire
Buried: Temple, New Hampshire (pres.)
Served: 1819-1825
James Miller, Arkansas’s first
territorial governor, was educated
for the law but in 1808 entered the
United States army as major and was
made lieutenant-colonel in 1810. He
distinguished himself during the War
of 1812 at the battle of Lundy’s
Lane; for this service he was brevetted
brigadier-general, and received a gold
medal from Congress. He was appointed
governor of Arkansas in 1819 and held
that post until 1825. Miller was slow
to arrive in Arkansas after his appointment
and spent much time out of the territory,
but during his administration the foundations
of the territorial government were
laid: courts and jails were established,
property tax assessment procedures
put in place and voting by voice rather
than by ballot established for general
elections. During the Miller administration
the territorial capitol was removed
from Arkansas Post to Little Rock.
Ill health and, probably, a disinclination
toward frontier life led Miller to
resign the governorship but he subsequently
regained his health and served as customs
collector of the port of Salem, Massachusetts,
from 1825 until 1849.
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George Izard
Born: October 21, 1776, at London, England
Died: October 22, 1828, at Little Rock, Arkansas
Buried: Mount Holly Cemetery, Little Rock (reinterred 1843; original grave site unknown)
Served: 1825-1829
George Izard, Arkansas’ second
territorial governor, emigrated with
his family to the United States at
the age of sixteen. Trained first as
a lawyer, then as a military engineer,
Izard served with competence during
the War of 1812; one historian notes
that Izard “was the only officer
of the war of 1812 who had been completely
educated in the schools.” General
Izard resigned from the army in January
1815, lived with his family in Philadelphia
and was appointed governor of Arkansas
in 1825. His service as governor was
uneventful; the territory’s militia
was organized and the Choctaw and Quapaw
nations relocated to the Indian Territory
but little else distinguished the Izard
administrations. Izard made few friends
in Arkansas, preferring to spend his
time with his extensive library and
his collection of razors. Izard died
during his second term from complications
following an attack of gout.
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John Pope
Born: 1770, in Prince William County, Virginia
Died: July 12, 1845, at Springfield, Kentucky
Buried: Springfield (Kentucky) Cemetery
Served: 1829-1835
John Pope was brought
to Kentucky in boyhood. He lost one
arm through a farm accident, thus forcing
a change of life plans. Pope settled
on the study of law and was admitted
to the Kentucky bar in 1794. He was
for several years a member of the Kentucky
state house of representatives and
in 1807 was elected to the United States
Senate as a Democrat, serving from
1807 until 1813. During the 1820s he
remained active in politics, notably
as a friend and supporter of Andrew
Jackson. In 1829 Pope received the
governorship of Arkansas from the Jackson
administration. During his service,
Pope advocated “internal improvements”–that
is, road-building–and attracted
notice for his veto in 1831 of a bill
which would have transferred land granted
the territory for the construction
of a territorial courthouse or capitol,
to territorial secretary Robert Crittenden
in exchange for Crittenden’s
already-built mansion house. Pope insisted
that the seat of government be located
in the heart of Little Rock’s
business district, on a bluff overlooking
the Arkansas River. After his term,
Pope returned to Kentucky where he
practiced law until he was again elected
to Congress, and twice re-elected,
serving from 1837 until 1843.
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William Savin Fulton
Born: June 2, 1795, in Cecil County, Maryland
Died: August 15, 1844, at “Rosewood”, near Little Rock, Arkansas
Buried: Mount Holly Cemetery, Little Rock
Served: 1835-1836
William Savin Fulton studied law and served during the War of 1812 as an aide on the staff of Colonel Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry. After the war, he returned briefly to the law before becoming private secretary to General Andrew Jackson during his campaign against the Seminoles of Florida. At its close he settled in Alabama for the practice of the law. In 1829 President Jackson appointed Fulton secretary of the territory of Arkansas, and in 1835 its governor, which office he held until the territory became a state. During Fulton’s brief governorship he courted controversy by opposing the drafting of a proposed state constitution without prior approval by Congress. Over his objections the document was drafted, adopted by the constitutional convention, then submitted to Congress; it was approved, after hot debate. Fulton was then chosen as one of Arkansas’s first U. S. senators, serving from December 1836 until his death. |
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