Carroll Co., AR - Biographies - Gov. Powell Clayton

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Gov. Powell Clayton was born in Delaware County, Penn., on August 7, 
1833. His father, John Clayton, was sixth in line of descent from 
William Clayton, who came from England to Pennsylvania with William 
Penn in 1681. John Clayton wedded Ann, a daughter of Capt. George 
Clark, of the British army. When twenty years of age Powell Clayton 
entered Capt. Alden Partridge's Military Academy at Bristol, Penn., 
and also studied civil engineering. In 1859 he was made engineer and 
surveyor of Leavenworth, Kas. On May 29, 1861, he enlisted in the 
United States army as captain of the First Kansas Infantry. At 
Wilson's Creek his company lost forty-nine out of seventy-four men, 
and in February, 1862, he was made lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth 
Kansas Cavalry, and the following March was promoted to the position 
of colonel of the regiment, and was given command of the post of Pine 
Bluff, which he successfully defended against Gen. Marmaduke. For his 
gallant service at Pine Bluff and Mount Elba, where he captured 300 
prisoners, 60 wagons and $60,000 cash in pay master's chest, President 
Lincoln made him brigadier-general in August, 1864. He served until 
hostilities ceased, and was mustered out of service on August 24, 
1865. After his marriage with Miss B. A. McGraw, a daughter of an old 
citizen of Helena, Ark., he settled on a plantation in Jefferson 
County, Ark. The Republican party organized in Arkansas in 1867, and 
he made the first canvass for the adoption of a constitution, which 
was adopted, and in February, 1868, Mr. Clayton was nominated for 
governor of the State, and was afterward elected. Vigor and 
determination marked his administration. He met the Ku Klux Klan and 
order of the White Camelia promptly and firmly. Martial law was 
proclaimed and three brigades of State Militia were called out. Gov. 
Clayton's course was endorsed by the Legislature and the loyal people. 
In January, 1871, he was elected United States Senator as a 
Republican. He resigned the governor's office on March 25, 1871, and 
took his seat in the Senate. In the XLIII Congress he was chairman of 
the joint committee on enrolled bills, and a member of the committee 
on military affairs and Territories, and also a member of the select 
committee on levees of the Mississippi River. In 1877 he returned to 
Little Rock and remained there until 1882, when he came to Eureka 
Springs as president of the Eureka Springs Railroad Company. After the 
road was built he was made general manager, and is now president and 
manager. He was the prime mover in organizing the improvement company 
of Eureka Springs, of which he is president. Besides his interests at 
Eureka Springs he owns a plantation on the Arkansas River fifteen 
miles below Pine Bluff, 40,000 acres in Southeast Arkansas, and 
considerable property at Hot Springs and Little Rock. To him and wife 
have been born four children, viz.: Lucy, Mrs. F. F. Gilbert, of 
Chicago; Powell, now attending the Pennsylvania Military Academy; 
Charlotte and Kathleen. Gov. Clayton still takes an active interest in 
politics, and is now chairman of the Republican State Central 
Committee of Arkansas, and a member of the National Committee. He is a 
member of the G. A. R. and Loyal Legion.