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.