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Below is a family biography included in The History of Carroll County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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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 successful 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 paymaster’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. 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.

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This family biography is one of 82 biographies included in The History of Carroll County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Carroll County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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