Harris Flanagin

{{short description|Governor of Arkansas from 1862 to 1864, and in exile from 1864 to 1865}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Harris Flanagin

| image = Governor Harris Flanigin.jpg

| order = 7th

| office = Governor of Arkansas

| term_start = November 15, 1862

| term_end = April 18, 1864
In exile
April 18, 1864 – June 1, 1865{{efn|Flanagin's last official act as governor was to preside over the Arkansas Military Board during its final meeting at Washington, Arkansas, on June 1, 1865;{{cite book |author=|title=Minute Book of the Military Board of Arkansas, 1862-1865 |location=Washington, Arkansas |page=228}} six days after the Trans-Mississippi Department was surrendered to U.S. authorities at New Orleans.}}

| predecessor = Thomas Fletcher (acting)

| successor = Isaac Murphy

| office1 = Member of the Arkansas Senate
from Ouachita and Clark counties

| term_start1 = November 6, 1848

| term_end1 = November 4, 1850

| predecessor1 = B. W. Pearce

| successor1 = Constituency abolished

| office2 = Member of the
Arkansas House of Representatives
from Clark County

| alongside2 = Joshua D. Stewart

| term_start2 = November 7, 1842

| term_end2 = November 4, 1844

| predecessor2 = Simeon Buckner
Archibald H. Rutherford

| successor2 = Joseph Gray
William Owens

| birth_date = {{birth date|1817|11|3}}

| birth_place = Roadstown, New Jersey, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1874|10|23|1817|11|3}}

| death_place = Arkadelphia, Arkansas, U.S.

| resting_place = Rose Hill Cemetery,
Arkadelphia, Arkansas, U.S.

| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|34|7|8.3|N|93|3|42.6|W|region:US-AR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| party = Democratic (from 1856)

| otherparty = Whig (until 1856)

| spouse = {{marriage|Martha Eliza Flanagin|July 3, 1851}}

| children = 3

| allegiance = Confederate States

| branch = Army

| branch_label = Branch

| serviceyears = 1861–1862

| rank = Colonel

| commands = 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles

| battles = {{tree list}}

| battles_label = Battles

}}

Harris Flanagin (November 3, 1817{{spaced ndash}}October 23, 1874) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 7th governor of Arkansas from 1862 to 1864, and in exile until 1865. Prior to this he was a Confederate States Army officer who commanded infantry in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

Early life and education

Flanagin was born in the Roadstown section of Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey, to James, a farmer and cabinetmaker, and Mary (née Harris) Flanagin. He was educated at a Quaker school in New Jersey and then went on to teach at Clermont Seminary in Frankford (present-day Philadelphia). Soon after he moved to Illinois, where he again tried teaching and while at this work studied law.{{cite web |title=Harris Flanagin |date=January 15, 2019 |publisher=National Governors Association |url=https://www.nga.org/governor/harris-flanagin/ |access-date=March 29, 2020}} In 1838 Flanagin moved to Arkansas, settling first at Pine Bluff, then Little Rock, then Clark County in 1839, and Arkadelphia in 1842. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1842 to 1844 and the Arkansas Senate from 1848 to 1850. He was married on July 3, 1851, to Miss Martha Eliza Nash of Lafayette County.Newberry, Farrar. "Harris Flanagin." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 17 (Spring 1955): 3–20. During the American Civil War Flanagin was promoted to colonel,{{cite book |editor-last=Evans |editor-first=Clement A. |editor-link=Clement A. Evans |date=1899 |title=Confederate Military History. Vol. I |url=https://archive.org/details/confederatemilit01evanuoft |location=Atlanta, Ga. |publisher=Confederate Pub. Co. |page=[https://archive.org/details/confederatemilit01evanuoft/page/718 718] |lccn=02017198 |oclc=951143 |ol=OL7023000M |via=Internet Archive}} commanding the 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles.{{cite book |editor-last=Evans |editor-first=Clement A. |editor-link=Clement A. Evans |date=1899 |title=Confederate Military History. Vol. X |url=https://archive.org/details/confederatemilit10evanuoft |location=Atlanta, Ga. |publisher=Confederate Pub. Co. |page=[https://archive.org/details/confederatemilit10evanuoft/page/285 285] |lccn=02017198 |via=Internet Archive}}

Governor of Arkansas

In 1862, Flanagin was elected governor of Arkansas and resigned from the Army to take office.{{cite book |editor-last=Yearns |editor-first=W. Buck |date=1985 |title=The Confederate Governors |url=https://archive.org/details/confederategover00year |publisher=University of Georgia Press |location=Athens |isbn=082030719X |lccn=84000154 |ol=OL2838407M |via=Internet Archive}} His administration dealt primarily with war related measures and maintaining order and continuing government while undergoing an invasion. The government was faced with shortages of critical items, rising prices, care of fallen soldier's families, and related problems. During the American Civil War, the state government was forced to suspend the collection of taxes and financed the war with paper "war bonds". When on September 10, 1863, the capital of Little Rock fell to Union forces and Arkansas's state government fled the city, he seized as many government documents as he could and reestablished the capital at Washington, Arkansas. While governor Flanagin remained in Confederate controlled southwest Arkansas, a Union administration under provisional governor Isaac Murphy was inaugurated April 18, 1864, in the Arkansas State House at Little Rock.

Later life and death

After the American Civil War, Flanagin returned the state archives and resumed his law practice in Arkadelphia. He died and is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Arkadelphia.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Dougan |first=Michael B. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |publisher=Central Arkansas Library System |title=Harris Flanagin (1817–1874) |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=104 |date=April 25, 2018}}

Electoral history

{{Election box begin no change

| title = 1862 Arkansas gubernatorial election{{cite book|last=Hodges|first=Earle W.|date=1913|title=Arkansas Biennial Report of the Secretary of State|location=Little Rock|publisher=Tunnah & Pittard |page=104}}{{cite book|author=|date=2008 |title=Historical Report of the Secretary of State, 2008|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalreport0000unse/page/620/mode/2up|others=Designed by Jennifer Hughes|publisher=The University of Arkansas Press|page=620|isbn=978-0-615-23214-0|oclc=1193944261|via=Internet Archive}}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Harris Flanagin

| party = Independent (politician)

| votes = 18,139

| percentage = 69.06

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Henry M. Rector (incumbent)

| party = Independent Democrat

| votes = 7,419

| percentage = 28.25