CLAYTON, Powell (1833-1914)

Republican of Arkansas

0th congressional district

Served in Senate 1871-1877

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Biography

a Senator from Arkansas; born in Bethel, Delaware County, Pa., August 7, 1833; attended the common schools and Partridge Military Academy, Bristol, Pa.; studied civil engineering in Wilmington, Del.; moved to Leavenworth, Kans., where he practiced his profession; appointed city engineer in 1857; at the outbreak of the Civil War entered the Union Army and served until 1865, attaining the rank of brigad ier general; moved to Arkansas and became a planter; elected Governor of Arkansas in 1868; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1877; chairman, Committee on Enrolled Bills (Forty-third Congress), Committee on Civil Service Retrenchment (Forty-fourth Congress); moved to Little Rock, Ark.; member of the Republican National Committee; ambassador to Mexico 1897-1905; lived in retirement until his death in Washington, D.C., on August 25, 1914; interment in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.
Courtesy of Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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