USA > Arkansas > Biographical and pictorial history of Arkansas. Vol I > Part 13
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table; being fond of fun and humor, he indulged his taste in this line by enlivening all at his own, or a friend's table, by anecdotes which caused the greatest roars of laughter. His colleague, Hon. Ambrose H. Sevier, and he made a noble pair. They differed in many things. Sevier was chairman of the com- mittee on Indian affairs, but both were sterling statesmen. Their difference in pronunciation was very marked, especially in the pronunciation of the State they represented. Ashley for instance called it Arkansas, while Sevier called it Arkansaw. This was so marked that Mr. Vice-President Dallas in his great suavity of manner, and not wishing to decide this difficult ques- tion between them, always recognized Mr. Ashley as the senator from Arkansas, while he recognized Mr. Sevier as the senator from Arkansaw."
The Rev. J. W. Moore (father of our honored citizen, C. B. Moore of Little Rock), distinguished for his piety and learn- ing, came to Arkansas at an early period in her territorial pu- pilage. He knew Colonel Ashley intimately in his social, domestic and public relations for a quarter of a century, and has left on record his deliberate judgment as to the character of the man. "He was no common man. The god of nature lav- ished on him a profusion of gifts. To a personal appearance peculiarly dignified and commanding was superadded an intel- lect of the very highest order, capable of vast comprehensions, and the most minute and accurate analysis, trained by a thor- ough course of classical and legal study, to which may. be added manners the most gentle, and conversational powers the most fascinating. It was not left optional with such a man as to whether he would become a popular leader or not. It could not be otherwise. During the long period of our intimate acquaintance I never heard from him a harsh word, or saw him with ruffled temper." If one great trait was more conspicuous in his nature than all others it was found in the hallowed en- dearments of the domestic relations, where it shone with a de- votion rarely equaled, never surpassed.
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GOVERNOR GEORGE IZARD.
BY C. B. MOORE.
[NOTE .-- The following sketch appeared in the Little Rock Gazette of March 22, 1886. It is from the pen of my friend C. B. Moore, with whose permission it is here reproduced.]
GEN. GEORGE IZARD.
To the Editor of the Gazette :
I noticed a few days since an editorial paragraph in the Gazette asking for information "about the life and death of General Izard," formerly governor of Arkansas territory. Every thing relating to the early days of Arkansas possess a peculiar interest to me, and I have been at some pains to col- lect such facts as are at all accessible in answer to your request.
The first governor of the territory was General James Miller, who was known by the soubriquet of "I'll try, sir"-also as the hero of Lundy's Lane-a distinction acquired by his gallant conduct at the battle of Lundy's Lane during the war of 1812. He was appointed governor in 1819, and resigned his office about the beginning of 1825. He was succeeded by General George Izard, of South Carolina, who was appointed governor March 4, 1825, and held the position until his death, in 1828. I incline to the opinion that he was of the family, and possibly the son of Ralph Izard, a distinguished citizen of South Carolina, United States senator from that State, and perhaps at one time minister to the court of St. James. This, however, is mere conjecture, based principally on the fact that one of the sons of Governor Izard, who visited Little Rock after his father's death, was named Ralph, which fact I learn from Mrs. Woodruff, the venerable and honored relict of our esteemed fellow citizen, Wm. E. Woodruff, late deceased.
Governor Izard lived and died in the house corner of Second and Spring streets, now and long occupied as the family resi- dence of S. II. Tucker, Esq. His last official act, as shown by the records in the office of the secretary of State, was the approval of certain bills passed by the territorial legislature October 22, 1828, just one month before his death. He was buried in the old cemetery where the Peabody school is now located.
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In 1843-4, when the dead were removed to Mount Holly, Colonel Chester Ashley had the remains of Governor Izard re-interred in his own family lot in the new cemetery, where they now repose, marked by a plain, substantial tablet, which bears the following inscription :
Here lie the remains of GEORGE IZARD of South Carolina, Formerly major-general United States army, late governor of Arkansas territory, who died November 22, 1828, aged 53 years.
In the New American Cyclopedia is found the following brief notice of this distinguished man :
"George Izard, an American general, was born in South Carolina in 1777, died at Little Rock, Arkansas, November 22, 1828. He received a classical education, and, after a tour in Europe, was appointed in 1794 a lieutenant in the regiment of artillery and engineer in the United States army. In 1803, be- ing then a captain of artillery, he resigned his commission. Upon the breaking out of the war of 1812 with Great Britain he was appointed colonel of the Second Artillery, and was successively promoted to brigadier and major-general. At one period of the war he held the chief command on the north-west frontier. His corps was disbanded in 1815, and in 1825 he became governor of Arkansas territory, in which office he died."
I close this sketch with the following extracts from the diary or "reminiscences" of my father, the late Rev. J. W. Moore, who settled in Little Rock in January, 1828.
"Upon the resignation of Governor Miller, General Izard was appointed his successor. He was major-general in the late war with Great Britain, and at one time had the command of all the American forces on the Canadian frontier. No officer in that war had a more thorough military training. In early life he had been sent to England and France, in both of which countries he spent years in the tactics of war. After his return he connected himself with the army, and in consideration of his
- مجم معتد مامط
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military science and correct deportment, was elected to the highest grade of office. His personal appearance was remark- ably fine. He was near six feet in height, erect and finely proportioned. His physiognomy was intellectual and his eye expressive. In his manners he generally evinced a conscious- ness of his commanding station, and yet he was affable and very agreeable. He was a profound and general scholar. His library was voluminous, composed of learned works in the Latin, Spanish and French languages. He did not live inany months after my arrival at Little Rock. A considerable time before his last illness he had his grave dug and walled with brick, and, I believe, had a coffin prepared. He had seven razors, named for the days of the week, and each engraved with its name on it. I never knew much respecting his religious belief, but am inclined to believe that he had no doubts of the gen- eral truths of Christianity, though not a member of any church. He came to hear me preach when his health permitted, and showed marked respect for the Gospel. Two of his sons caine on after his death to look after his effects. His fine library was boxed up, and in transit eastward was lost by the sinking of a steamboat."
JAMES WOODSON BATES.
BY HON. JESSE TURNER.
Judge Bates was born in Goochland county, Virginia, about 1788. His collegiate attainments were acquired at Yale and Princeton, in the latter of which he graduated about 1810.
About this time Tarlton Bates, an elder brother, of great promise, then practising law at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, was killed in a duel with one Stewart, a rival lawyer. Judge Breckenridge, in his "Recollections of the West," speaks in unqualified terms of commendation of Tarlton Bates.
When quite young Judge Bates attended the trial of Aaron Burr at Richmond, for. treason. He has often spoken to the writer of the prominent actors in that celebrated trial, of Generals Jackson and Wilkinson, and particularly of the very pompous manner of the latter when o the witness stand.
Soon after leaving college young Bates commenced the study of law, but under what auspices is not known to the writer.
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In the mean time Frederick Bates, his brother, was appointed secretary of the territory of Missouri, and was acting governor in the absence of Governor Clark. The west then, as now, was an inviting field for young lawyers. and James followed his brother to Missouri, and settled in St. Louis about 1816.
Soon after the organization of the territory of Arkansas, in 1820, he removed to the Post of Arkansas, the temporary seat of the government, and then commenced the practice of his profession.
His office was scarcely opened for the reception of clients before he was elected our first territorial delegate to congress. His opponent in this election was the celebrated Matthew Lyon, who, after an eventful career in the east, removed to Kentucky, thence to Arkansas. He settled at Spadra Bluff on the Arkansas river, where he was engaged in some govern- ment employment, I believe. The election was closely con- tested. Bates received the certificate of election, and Lyon declared his intention to contest his seat, but died before he could execute his design.
[NOTE .- Matthew Lyon was an educated, brilliant Irishman, born in 1746. He emi- grated to America when quite young, and settled in Vermont among the Green Moun- tain boys, with whom he became very popular. He was a member of congress from Vermont in 1801, when the election of president and vice-president devolved on the house of representatives, voting by States. The choice was between Jefferson and Burr, the two highest candidates in the electoral college, from which each had received an equal number of votes, seventy-three, Adams receiving sixty-five, and Pinckney, sixty-four. Jefferson was the popular choice, but the federal party, favoring centralization, was then strong in congress, and they made an effort to defeat the will of the people, by concentrating their strength on Burr. Burr's strength and that of the federalists who supported him lay chiefly in the New Eng- land States, and Vermont instructed her representatives in congress to cast the vote of the State for Burr. The balloting commenced on the 11th of February, 1801, and continued until the thirty-sixth ballot was reached on the 17th of Febru- ary. On this ballot Matthew Lyon went over to the Jefferson party, and by his dis- affection carmed Vermont for Jefferson, and materially aided in securing his elec- tion. For this he was denounced and ostracised in Vermont, and for this reason he moved to Kentucky about 1803.
During the war of 1812, Lyon obtained very targe contracts from the government to supply the army. The treaty of Ghent found him in possession of a large quan- tity of supplies purchased at war prices, which the government, although in honor bound, refused to take. This disaster reduced Lyon to financial ruin.
He moved to Arkansas about 1818, and located at Spadra on the Arkansas river, where on the Ist of August, 1822, he died in the seventy-sixth year of his age, a very poor, but intellectual and able man. His son inherited and supplemented his father's talents, and was a representative in congress from Kentucky .- THE AUTHOR.]
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In 1823 he was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated by the celebrated Henry W. Conway, an able man, who com- manded not only the influence of his own powerful family, but that of the Rectors, the Johnsons, Roanes and Ambrose H. Sevier, and all the political adherents of General Jackson, then so popular in the south and west. . The influence and strength of this combined opposition could not be overcome.
After his short congressional career closed he moved to the newly settled town of Batesville and resumed the practice of his profession. Batesville was named after him. In Novem- ber, 1825, President Adams appointed him one of the terri- toria! judges, in virtue of which he was one of the judges of the superior or appellate court organized on the plan of the old English court in banc, and all our territorial appellate courts are organized on the same plan. On the accession of General Jackson to the presidency, his commission expired without renewal, and he soon after removed to Crawford county, married a wealthy widow and became stationary on a rich farm near Van Buren. In the fall of 1835 he was elected to the constitutional convention, and contributed his ability and learn- ing in the formation of our first organic law as a State. Soon after the accession of John Tyler to the presidency, he ap- pointed Judge Bates register of the land office at Clarksville in recognition of an old friend. He discharged every public trust and all the duties devolved on him as a private citizen with the utmost fidelity. Strange to say, whilst he possessed the most fascinating conversational powers, he was a failure as a public speaker.
Edward Bates, Mr. Lincoln's attorney-general, was unques- tionably a great orator, but was not the equal of his brother James in that fascinating polish which indicates high and magnetic finish.
He was well versed in the classics and with the best authors of English and American literature. He died at his home in Crawford county in 1846, universally esteemed.
AMBROSE HI. SEVIER.
Ambrose H., the son of Valentine Sevier and Ann Conway, was born in Greene county, Tennessee, on the 4th of November,
18
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1801. His mother was the daughter of Thomas Conway and the celebrated Ann Rector, celebrated for being the noble mother of more distinguished sons than any other matron in American annals. She was sister to our two governors, James Sevier Conway and Elias Nelson Conway, and the four other distinguished brothers mentioned in the history of the Conway family in this volume.
In tracing and following up the ancestral roots of this noble family in the paternal line, we are led to an ancient town in the French Pyrenees, Xavier, taking its name after the family in the remote shadows of the past. Xavier was Anglicized into Sevier after the American branch of the family expatriated themselves. This ancient seat of feudal lords and heraldry was the home of St. Francis Xavier, who, for eminent virtue and exalted piety, was after death canonized by papal fiat and enrolled in the roster of the saints. The mother's ancestral line has a brilliant history, too, in two hemispheres. In following up its historic renown, we are led down the tide of the centuries to the reign of the first Edward and to the noble house of Conway in the north of Wales, in which we find generals and statesmen high in the service of their country in both hemispheres. Her uncle, George Conway, was the first major-general elected by the legislature of Tennessee ; he was succeeded by General Jackson. But it is more particularly with the paternal line we are now dealing.
After the revolt in central Europe against the abuses of papal power, the Xaviers joined the Protestant standard and shared in its glories and in its bitter persecution. After the revocation of the edict of Nantes the prominent leaders fled and found asylum in London, where the name became Angli- cized into Sevier.
Huguenot blood, nursed and absorbed in its Saxon crosses in America, has given us able men in both field and senate.
About 1740 three Sevier brothers crossed over from London and settled in the rich Shenandoah valley. One of these brothers tarried a short time in Baltimore, and there married a belle who bore him three celebrated sons, John, Valentine and Robert Sevier. John was governor of the State of Franklin during its short and memorable existence ; he took his seat in
HON. AMBROSE H. SEVIER.
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congress in 1700, and became the first member of that body from the great Mississippi valley, and in 1796 he became the first governor of Tennessee, and was elected six times to that great office. Valentine became a colonel, and Robert a captain in the revolution, and frontier wars, and John a general as well as governor, but of this we will say more presently.
These pioneer settlers in the Shenandoah valley were not stran- gers to the sword ; all of them were in the regiment commanded by Washington in the French and Indian wars before the revolu- tion, under Lord Dunmore, the last of Virginia's royal govern- ors nominated by the crown ; and two of the three were officers in the revolution. They belonged to a line which gave to freedom a dauntless race of soldiers and republican statesmen. Colonel Valentine Sevier was the father of John Sevier, Jr., who was the father of Ambrose H. Sevier, our subject.
All of these brothers, John, Valentine and Robert, with four more of their kindred of the same name were in the great battle of King's Mountain, where Ferguson's entire army was anni- hilated, after one of the most obstinate conflicts ever fought in this or any other age. Here, on the 7th of October, 1780, the tide of fortune and Lord Cornwallis' line were turned. Val- entine (the grandfather of Ambrose) and Robert, commanded companies in the regiment commanded by their brother, then Colonel John Sevier.
Robert fell mortally wounded in this battle at the head of his charging columns, and he fills a soldier's and a patriot's grave on "fame's eternal camping ground."
The legislature of North Carolina in January, 1781, unani- mously voted a resolution of thanks and sword and pistols to each - Colonels Sevier and Shelby - for their conspicuous gallantry at King's Mountain, and the sword voted to the former now belongs to the State of Tennessee, and is sacredly preserved in the cabinet of her heraldry to attest the renown and chivalry of her sons.
Shelby became the first governor of Kentucky, Sevier the first of Tennessee. Governor Sevier and his two brothers immigrated from Virginia in 1773, and settled at the first set- tlement in Tennessee known as Watauga on the Watauga river, planted in 1769, by one of the most celebrated pioneers in
:
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American history, General James Robertson, one of the an- cestors of our honored Chief Justice, Stirling R. Cockrill. He was also founder of the Cumberland settlements of which Nashville was the first and center. In this connection the anthor calls attention to the slight discrepancy between this statement and that given in the history of the Conway family as to the time and occasion attending the advent of the Seviers in Tennessee. For the statement in that chapter, the author is indebted to Governor Elias N. Conway ; for those in this, he is indebted to Ramsey's History of Tennessee, based on official sources which cannot be doubted. The Seviers were all famous in the Indian wars. Governor Sevier has had no superior as an Indian fighter on the continent. He and his brother Valentine fought an hundred battles and performed prodigies of valor. Their influence for good in the advance guard of civilization in which they lived, cannot be overesti- mated.
About 1792 Colonel Valentine Sevier moved west to the Cumberland settlements and built a station near the present town of Clarksville, Montgomery county, Tennessee. There, on the 11th November, 1794, at an unguarded moment, the station was captured by Indians and his son Joseph was killed, and his daughter, Rebecca, was scalped by the savages, but the colonel held the enemy at bay for two hours, and was finally relieved by reinforcements. In a letter written by him to his brother, Governor Sevier, he says :
" Such a scene no man ever saw; nothing but screams and roaring of guns, and no man to assist me ; the Indians were in every house before discovered. All the men were out but Smidt and me. They killed him, his wife, his son, Ann King, and her son James. I hope Rebecca will recover. You will write our ancient father this horrid news; also tell my son Johnny."
Your affectionate brother, VALENTINE SEVIER.
The son John mentioned in this letter is the father of Ambrose H. Sevier. He married Ann Conway, as we have stated. There is a curious history in the Knox county court,
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as follows: " 1793, May 6-John Sevier produced a license from Governor Blount to practice law, and was admitted." See Ramsey's History of Tennessee, 569. Ambrose H. Sevier was well educated in the English branches, and he studied law under the direction and supervision of his father. In 1820 he set- tled in Missouri, but in the following year moved to Little Rock and commenced the practice of his profession, but soon abandoned law for the more enticing field of politics.
In October, 1821, he was elected clerk of the territorial house of representatives. In 1823 he was elected from Pulaski county to the territorial house of representatives, and succeeded himself in 1825 and 1827, being elected speaker of the house the latter term; 1827 was an eventful year in the life of the rising young man. In August he was elected to the legislature. On the 4th of September he fought a duel with Thomas W. Newton ; a few days afterward he married Miss Juliet, the ac- complished daughter of Judge Benjamin Johnson and sister to the Hon. R. W. Johnson, who was afterward a member of both branches of the national legislature; on the 1st of October he was elected speaker of the house, and in November he became the successful candidate to succeed his uncle Henry W. Conway in congress, after his tragic death in a duel with Robert Crittenden. Politics on the Arkansas frontier was then a very robust and vigorous institution, and one method of prov- ing loyal adhesion to party creed and stern devotion to per- sonal honor was by resort to the code duello. An apt illustra- tion of the punctilious bearing of gentlemen toward each other in those days is found in the duel between Mr. Sevier and Thomas W. Newton. Newton was then a high-strung young man, making his way in the world, on his own responsibility without any adventitious or extrinsic factors of support or reliance, and he banked on that capital with as much assurance as the directors of the Bank of England do on the bullion in their vaults. He was a whig and the warm personal friend of Robert Crittenden.
Sevier on the streets in Little Rock, with language more robust and expressive than elegant, applied, in the hearing of Newton, some harsh criticism to the political course of Mr. Crittenden, not noticing, nor caring particularly who was present. Newton
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stepped up to him and said : "Mr. Sevier, perhaps you are not aware that Mr. Crittenden is not present ?" To which Sevier replied : "Perhaps he has some friend present to represent himn." And Newton with a Chesterfield bow, and wave of the hand said : "Indeed he has, sir, and you will soon hear from him." The duel was fought on the 4th of September, 1827, in the Cherokee nation, now Conway county. The celebrated Geo. W. Jones of Iowa was Newton's second, and the author is in- formed that Major Wharton Rector of the United States Army was Sevier's second. The first and only fire resulted withont injury, their seconds and friends then interceded and prevented any further combat. Major Wharton Rector was also second to Henry W. Conway in his fatal duel with Robert Crittenden, on the 29th of October following, and Mr. Jones was second to Jonathan Cilley of Maine, who was killed in the Dis- trict of Columbia, in a duel with Graves of Kentucky in 183S.
Our distinguished citizen Colonel Richard M. Johnson is the brother-in-law of Mr. Sevier, and the son-in-law of Mr. Newton, and his parlors are adorned with splendid protraits of each of these prominent actors in our early history. The election for a successor to Mr. Conway was warmly contested by three able men, Richard Searcy of Batesville, Judge Andrew Scott of Scotia (the name of his country seat), and Mr. Sevier. The election was held in August, 1828, and resulted in a plurality of fifty-six in favor of Mr. Sevier.
In 1829 the contest for congress was renewed .with great vigor, and pressed with much ability on both sides. In this canvass Sevier was. again opposed by Richard Searcy and was elected by a majority of three hundred and eight. In 1831 the whigs tried the speed of another competitor and put the popular and talented Ben Desha of Batesville on the track with Mr. Sevier as a very promising antagonist, but he was defeated after a very thorough and close contest by four hundred and fifty-three votes. In 1833 the whigs were still undismayed, but fully recognized the fact that none but a man of splendid abilities could reasonably expect to achieve success against Sevier, who added great personal magnetismn and a firm grasp on the popular heart to long service and acknowledged abilities, and stood like Hercules in the path- way of all opposition.
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