Arkansas Governors and United States Senators | Page 5

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,