Powell Clayton

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Powell Clayton

Powell Clayton (born August 7, 1833 in Bethel , Delaware County , Pennsylvania , † August 23, 1914 in Washington DC ) was an American politician and between 1868 and 1871 governor of the state of Arkansas .

Early years

Powell Clayton attended the Partridge Military Academy in Bristol . He then studied engineering in Wilmington , Delaware . In 1855, Clayton moved to Leavenworth , Kansas , where he was employed by the city council as a geometer (land surveyor). When the American Civil War broke out , he joined the First Kansas Infantry Regiment as a captain . In the course of the war he became regimental commander and even brigadier general. Clayton was mainly deployed in Arkansas. He took part in a few battles in which many of his soldiers were also killed. Clayton was also present in the capture of the capital, Little Rock . He later became town commander of Pine Bluff in Jefferson County . There he successfully fended off a Confederate attack. At the end of his military service, he commanded the cavalry division of the Seventh Corps of the Union Army.

Political rise

In August 1865, Clayton retired from the army. He was drawn back to Arkansas, where he and his brothers leased a plantation that had been confiscated by the US Treasury Department . This made him wealthy enough to buy his own plantation. In 1867 he helped build the Republican Party in Arkansas. He was motivated by the attacks on his plantation by some former supporters of the Confederation. Clayton soon rose in the party and was nominated against a native candidate as the top candidate for the gubernatorial election.

Arkansas Governor

After the successful election, Clayton was able to take up his new office on July 2, 1868. The increasing violence became a major problem. Politically it was fought by the conservative forces, while at the same time the Ku Klux Klan appeared with violent activities. The governor responded resolutely to this challenge and declared martial law on eleven counties. In contrast to many other southern states, he succeeded in getting the Klan activities under control at an early stage. He also accepted blacks into the National Guard, which was a scandal in the eyes of conservatives in the country.

These made life difficult for the governor anyway and tried several times unsuccessfully to remove him from his office. The charges against him ranged from corruption to charges of personal involvement in crimes. Clayton was acquitted. But parts of his own party also came up against his policies. Even so, his government was successful. In addition to taking action against the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, the country's railway network was rebuilt and expanded and the school system was improved. In 1871, Clayton was elected to the US Senate . For this reason, he resigned from the office of governor on March 17 this year.

Another résumé

Between 1871 and 1877 Powell Clayton represented his state in Congress in Washington. There he was on several committees and at the same time he was party leader of the Republican Party of Arkansas. He was also on the Republican National Committee and played a significant role in the proceedings of the 1872 gubernatorial election and the subsequent Brooks-Baxter War , which led to the shortening of Governor Elisha Baxter's tenure . He was later director of a railway company and from May 13, 1897 to May 26, 1905, American ambassador to Mexico . In 1912 he moved to Washington, where he died in 1914. He was married to Adaline McGraw, with whom he had five children.

Powell Clayton is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

literature

  • Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 1, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chiefs of Mission for Mexico on the site of the Office of the Historian of the US State Department
personal data
SURNAME Clayton, Powell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Bethel , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH August 23, 1914
Place of death Washington, DC