UNITED STATES SENATORS FROM ARKANSAS
Each state is entitled to two United States senators. Until 1913, senators were elected by state legislatures; since that time, by popular vote. Our first senators, chosen in 1836, were Ambrose H. Sevier and William S. Fulton. In the following pages, biographies of Sevier and his successors are given first.
1. Ambrose H. Sevier 1836-1848
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1801. Came to Arkansas from
Missouri, 1821. Clerk, Territorial House of Representatives, 1821.
Member, Territorial House of Representatives, Pulaski County, 1823,
1825; speaker, 1827.
Territorial delegate to Congress, 1828-1836. United States senator, 1836-1848. United States Minister to Mexico, March-June 1848. Died 1848.
2. Solon Borland, 1848-1853
Physician, Democrat. Born in Virginia, 1808. Attended schools in North
Carolina; studied medicine; located in Little Rock, Arkansas. Major,
First Arkansas Volunteer Cavalry, Mexican War.
United States senator, 1848-1853. United States Minister to Central
American Republics, 1853-1854. Brigadier general, Confederate Army.
Died 1864.
3. Robert W. Johnson, 1853-1861
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Kentucky, 1814. Moved with his father to
Arkansas, 1821. Graduated from St. Joseph's College, Bardstown,
Kentucky, 1833, and from Yale Law School, 1835. Practiced law in Little
Rock, Arkansas, 1835-1847.
Prosecuting attorney, 1840-1845. Congressman, 1847-1853. United States senator, 1853-1861. Delegate to provisional Confederate Congress, 1861-1862. Confederate States senator, 1862-1865. Practiced law in Washington, D.C. after the war. Died 1879.
4. Charles B. Mitchel, 1861
Physician, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1815. Graduated from University of Nashville, Tennessee, 1833, and from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1836. Moved to Washington, Arkansas, where he practiced medicine for twenty-five years.
Member, House of Representatives, Hempstead County, 1848-1849. Receiver of public moneys, 1853-1856. United States senator, 1861. Confederate States senator, 1862-1864. Died 1864.
Note: Arkansas was not represented in the United States Senate from
its secession in 1861 until the state was readmitted to the
Union in 1868.
5. Benjamin F. Rice, 1868-1873
Lawyer, Republican. Born in New York, 1828. Member, Kentucky House of
Representatives, 1855-1856. Moved to Minnesota, 1860. Captain, Union
Army.
Settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1864. Active in organizing Republican party in Arkansas. United States senator, 1868-1873. Moved to Colorado 1875, and to Washington, D.C. 1882. Died 1905.
6. Stephen W. Dorsey, 1873-1879
Businessman, Republican. Born in Vermont, 1842. Moved to Ohio and
settled in Oberlin. Served in Union Army. After Civil War, returned to
Ohio; became president of Sandusky Tool Company. Elected president,
Arkansas Railway Company. Moved to Arkansas, settled in Helena.
United States senator, 1873-1879. After his service in Senate, devoted
himself to cattle raising and mining in New Mexico and Colorado.
Resided in Colfax County, New Mexico; Denver, Colorado; and Los
Angeles, California. Died 1916.
7. James D. Walker, 1879-1885
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Kentucky, 1830. Attended private schools in
Kentucky, and Ozark Institute and Arkansas College, Fayetteville,
Arkansas. Moved to Arkansas 1847. Admitted to bar 1850; practiced law
in Fayetteville. Colonel, Confederate Army; captured at Oak Hills,
Missouri in 1861 and spent two years in military prison.
Resumed practice of law in Fayetteville, 1865. United States senator, 1879-1885. Died 1906.
8. James K. Jones, 1885-1903
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Mississippi, 1839. Moved with his parents to Dallas County, Arkansas, 1848. Served in Confederate Army. Admitted to bar 1874 and commenced practice in Washington, Arkansas.
State senator, 1873-1877; president of Senate, 1877. Congressman, 1881-1885. United States senator, 1885-1903. Chairman, Democratic National Committee, 1896, 1900. Died 1908.
9. James P. Clarke, 1903-1916
(See "Governors of the State of Arkansas," number 18).
10. William F. Kirby, 1916-1921
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in what is now Miller County, Arkansas, 1867. Studied law at Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee; graduated 1885. Admitted to bar 1885, commenced practice in Texarkana, Arkansas.
Member, House of Representatives, Miller County, 1893, 1897. State senator 1899, 1901. Author of "Kirby's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas," 1904. Moved to Little Rock, 1907. Attorney General, 1907-1909. Associate justice, Supreme Court, 1910-1916, 1927-1934. United States senator, 1916-1921. Died 1934.
11. Thaddeus H. Caraway, 1921-1931
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Missouri, 1871. Moved with his parents to
Clay County, Arkansas, 1883. Graduated in 1896 from Dickson (Tennessee)
College. Admitted to bar 1900, commenced practice in Osceola, Arkansas.
Moved to Lake City, Craighead County, 1900, and to Jonesboro, 1901.
Prosecuting attorney, 1908-1912. Congressman, 1913-1921. United States senator, 1921-1931. Died 1931.
12. Hattie W. Caraway, 1931-1945
Democrat, wife of Senator Thaddeus H. Caraway. Born in Tennessee, 1878. Graduated from Dickson (Tennessee) Normal College, 1896. Married and thereafter located in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Appointed United States senator to succeed her husband 1931; elected
1932 and 1938; served 1931-1945. Member, United States Employees'
Compensation Commission, 1945-1946. Member, United States Employees'
Compensation Appeals Board, 1946-1950. Died 1950.
13. James William Fulbright, 1945-
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Missouri, 1905. Moved with his parents to Fayetteville, Arkansas 1906. Was graduated from University of Arkansas, 1925; as a Rhodes scholar from Oxford University, England, 1928; and from law department of George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 1934. Admitted to District of Columbia bar, 1934.
Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, 1934-1935. Instructor in law, George Washington University, 1935; lecturer in law, University of Arkansas, 1936-1939. President of the University of Arkansas, 1939-1941. Congressman, 1943-1945. United States senator since 1945.
1. William S. Fulton, 1836-1844
(See "Governors of the Territory of Arkansas," number 4).
2. Chester Ashley, 1844-1848
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Massachusetts, 1790. Moved with his parents
to Hudson, New York, during infancy. Was graduated from Williams
College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and the Litchfield (Connecticut)
Law School.
Admitted to bar 1817 and commenced practice of law in Hudson, New York.
Moved to Edwardsville, Illinois, 1818; to St. Louis, Missouri, 1819;
and to Little Rock, Arkansas, 1820. United States senator 1844-1848.
Died 1848.
3. William K. Sebastian, 1848-1861
Lawyer, planter, Democrat. Born in Tennessee, 1812. Was graduated from
Columbia College, Tennessee, about 1834. Commenced practice of law in
Helena, Arkansas, 1835.
Prosecuting attorney, 1835-1837. Circuit judge, 1840-1842. Associate
justice, Supreme Court, 1843-1845. Member and president of State
Senate, 1846-1847. United States senator, 1848-1861. Expelled from
Senate, 1861; returned to Helena and practiced law; took no part in
Confederate war effort. Moved to Memphis, 1864. Died 1865.
In 1877, the United States Senate revoked his expulsion and paid the full amount of his compensation to his children.
Note: Arkansas was not represented in the United States Senate from its secession in 1861 until the state was readmitted to the Union in 1868.
4. Alexander McDonald, 1868-1871
Businessman, banker, Republican. Born in Pennsylvania, 1832. Attended
Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, Pennsylvania; and Lewisburg
University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Moved to Kansas, 1857. Served in
Union Army. Came to Arkansas 1863, settled in Little Rock.
United States senator, 1868-1871. Engaged in development of railroads.
Moved to New York City, 1900. Died 1903.
5. Powell Clayton, 1871-1877
(See "Governors of the State of Arkansas," number 9)
6. Augustus H. Garland, 1877-1885
(See "Governors of the State of Arkansas," number 11)
7. James H. Berry, 1885-1907
(See "Governors of the State of Arkansas," number 14)
8. Joseph T. Robinson, 1913-1937
(See "Governors of the State of Arkansas," number 23)
9. John E. Miller, 1937-1941
Lawyer, banker, Democrat. Born in Missouri, 1888. Attended Southeast
Missouri State Teachers College, Cape Girardeau; and Valparaiso
(Indiana) University. Graduated from law department, University of
Kentucky, 1912. Admitted to bar 1912, commenced practice in Searcy,
Arkansas.
Delegate, constitutional convention of 1917-1918. Prosecuting attorney, 1921-1923. Congressman, 1931-1937. United States senator from 1937 until he resigned in 1941 to become United States district judge for the western district of Arkansas.
11. Lloyd Spencer, 1941-1943
Banker, Democrat. Born in Missouri, 1893. Moved to Okolona, Arkansas, 1902. Attended Henderson College, Arkadelphia. Served in United States Navy, First World War, 1918. Moved to Hope, Arkansas, 1921.
Appointed to United States Senate 1941; term expired 1943. Served in
United States Navy, Second World War, 1943.
12. John L. McClellan, 1943-
Lawyer, Democrat. Born in Sheridan, Arkansas, 1896. Attended public schools. Admitted to bar 1913, commenced practice in Sheridan. First lieutenant, United States Army, First World War, 1917-1919.
Moved to Malvern, Arkansas, 1919. Prosecuting attorney, 1927-1930.
Congressman, 1935-1939. Resumed practice of law in Camden, Arkansas.
United States senator since 1943.