The Family (Arkansas politics)

The Family (also called The Dynasty) was a political group of several Democrats and interrelated families whose men were active in Arkansas from the territorial era until the American Civil War. Several were politically powerful in Kentucky, and later Mississippi.[1][2]

Founded by James Sevier Conway after the killing of his brother Henry Wharton Conway by Robert Crittenden in a duel, the Family became a political force due to its money and wide-ranging state and national political influence. Since most members were related by blood or marriage, the group was nicknamed "The Family".[3]

As the state legislature disfranchised blacks after the Reconstruction era, when the Democratic Party regained control, the state effectively had one party. The Democratic Party dominated all elections in the state until after passage of federal civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s. In 1966, the Republican Winthrop Rockefeller was elected as governor.[1]

Beginning

The Family developed following a fatal duel between former friends Robert Crittenden and Henry Wharton Conway on October 27, 1827 near Napoleon, Arkansas.

Conway had served as territorial delegate for Arkansas, with Crittenden acting behind the scenes on his behalf. After the resignation of Territorial Governor Miller in 1824, Conway nominated Crittenden to fill the position. President James Monroe appointed George Izard instead.

Crittenden continued as secretary of state. He and Conway disagreed over the latter's decision not to seek re-election in 1825.[4] Conway defeated Robert Oden, who was backed by Crittenden.

After a period of public conflict through the newspapers, Crittenden challenged Conway to a duel. Conway fired first and hit a button on Crittenden's coat; Crittenden shot and hit Conway, who died of his wounds weeks later. By firing at Conway after having been hit, Crittenden broke the dueling etiquette. His political career suffered. Conway's brother James formed a political alliance with Ambrose H. Sevier and supported his appointment to fill the deceased Conway's territorial seat.[4]

The duel caused realignments and a split in Arkansas politics. Crittenden supporters later became the Whig Party. The Conways and Seviers led the Democrats in opposition to Crittenden.[3]

Member families

The alliance between the immediate Conway and Sevier families later broadened to include Conway's cousins Elias and Wharton Rector. Additional political families were linked by marriage. Henry Conway had married the daughter of Benjamin Johnson, a superior court judge in Arkansas Territory. Sevier had married a sister of Robert Ward Johnson, a member of a powerful Kentucky political family. Johnson served as a Congressman and US Senator from Arkansas in the antebellum years and was part of the Family. The group was a staunch supporter of Andrew Jackson and Jacksonian policies.[1]

Members

Sevier and Conway came from prominent political families. This list shows the first generation of politicians - of their father's generation, followed by their own generation, and then their descendants:

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Democratic Party". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. The Butler Center. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  2. Scroggs, Jack B. (Autumn 1961). "Arkansas Statehood: A Study in State and National Political Schism". Arkansas Historical Quarterly (Arkansas Historical Association) 20: 227–244.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "The Family". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. The Butler Center. May 2, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  4. 4.0 4.1 White, Lonnie J. (1964). Politics on the Southwestern Frontier: Arkansas Territory, 1819–1836. Memphis, Tennessee: Memphis State University Press.
  5. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/serr-sevigny.html#R9M0JCC8G
  6. Samuel Cole Williams, History of the Lost State of Franklin (New York: The Press of the Pioneers, 1933), pp. 310–311.
  7. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/johnson7.html#R9M0J26R6
  8. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000154
  9. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000143
  10. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000712
  11. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/conrey-coogan.html#RFZ16UGDX
  12. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/serr-sevigny.html#R9M0JCC4W
  13. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/conrey-coogan.html#RFZ16VFB6
  14. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000172/
  15. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/reade-rector.html#RKD178KUO
  16. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/churchill.html#RKD17PR9X