Richard C. Byrd
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Richard C. Byrd
|office = Acting Governor of Arkansas
|term_start = January 10, 1849
|term_end = April 19, 1849
|predecessor = Thomas S. Drew
|successor = John S. Roane
|office1 = 6th President of the Arkansas Senate
|term_start1 = November 4, 1848
|term_end1 = November 4, 1850
|predecessor1= William K. Sebastian
|successor1 = John R. Hampton
|office2 = Member of the Arkansas Senate
from Arkansas, Jefferson and Desha counties
|term_start2 = November 2, 1846
|term_end2 = November 4, 1850
|predecessor2= J. Yell
|successor2 = N. B. Burrow
|office3 = Member of the Arkansas Senate
from Pulaski County
|term_start3 = November 2, 1840
|term_end3 = November 4, 1844
|predecessor3= New constituency
|successor3 = T. W. Newton
|office4 = Member of the Arkansas Senate
from Pulaski, White and Saline counties
|term_start4 = November 5, 1839
|term_end4 = November 2, 1840
|predecessor4= John McLean
|successor4 = Constituency abolished
|office5 = Member of the
Arkansas House of Representatives
from Pulaski County
|alongside5 = John H. Cocke
|term_start5 = September 12, 1836
|term_end5 = November 5, 1839
|predecessor5= New constituency
|successor5 = Absalom Fowler
L. Gibson
|office6 = Member of the
Arkansas Territory Legislative Council
from Pulaski County
|alongside6 = Samuel M. Rutherford
|term_start6 = October 7, 1833
|term_end6 = October 5, 1835
|predecessor6= Samuel M. Rutherford
Peter B. Crutchfield
|successor6 = William Gumming
Absalom Fowler
|office7 = 2nd Auditor of Arkansas Territory
|term_start7 = November 20, 1829
|term_end7 = November 5, 1831
|president7 = Andrew Jackson
|predecessor7= George W. Scott
|successor7 = Emzy Wilson
|birth_date = {{Nowrap|ca. 1805}}
|birth_place = Mississippi Territory (present-day Alabama)
|death_date = {{Death date and given age|1854|6|1|48–49}}
|death_place = Jefferson County, Arkansas
|resting_place = Flat Bayou Cemetery,
Jefferson County, Arkansas
|resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|34|21|30.3|N|91|52|09.5|W|region:US-AR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|party = Democratic
|spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Ann L. Byrd||October 28, 1835|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Mary E. Byrd||July 31, 1851|end=died}}
- {{marriage|Rachael E. Byrd|November 11, 1852}}
}}
}}
Richard C. Byrd (ca. 1805 – June 1, 1854) was an American politician who served as acting governor of Arkansas from January 10 to April 19, 1849, following the resignation of Thomas S. Drew.
Biography
Byrd was born circa 1805 in Mississippi Territory (present-day Alabama).{{cite book |author= |title=Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. NARA Microfilm Publication, M432, 1009 rolls. Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives}} Byrd, merchant and farmer, moved to Arkansas in 1826. He served as the second auditor of Arkansas Territory from 1829 to 1831,{{cite book |last=Woodruff |first=Wm. E. Jr. |date=1879 |title=The Arkansas Year Book for 1879 |url=https://archive.org/details/arkansasyearbook00unse |number=1 |location=Little Rock |page=[https://archive.org/details/arkansasyearbook00unse/page/8/mode/2up 8] |oclc=1156050724 |ol=26455327M |via=Internet Archive}} and in the Territorial Legislature from 1833 to 1835. Byrd served as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1836, and the Arkansas Senate in 1840, 1842, 1846, and 1848.
Byrd had an unsuccessful gubernatorial run in 1844.{{cite web| url=https://www.nga.org/governor/richard-c-byrd/|title= Arkansas Gov. Richard C. Byrd |website=National Governors Association|date= January 15, 2019 |access-date=March 19, 2021}} When Governor Thomas S. Drew resigned from office on January 10, 1849, Byrd was president of the Senate and became acting governor. He left the office on April 19, 1849,{{cite book |last=Pope |first=William F. |editor-last=Pope |editor-first=Dunbar H. |date=1895 |title=Early days in Arkansas |url=https://archive.org/details/earlydaysinarkan00pope |location=Little Rock, Ark. |publisher=Frederick W. Allsopp |page=[https://archive.org/details/earlydaysinarkan00pope/page/76/mode/2up 77] |lccn=rc01001258 |oclc=1042982348 |ol=23296431M |via=Internet Archive}} and returned to his mercantile store in Jefferson County, Arkansas. Byrd died at his home in Jefferson County following a lengthy illness.
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/button-byrer.html#132.19.69 Richard C. Byrd] at The Political Graveyard
{{Navboxes
|title=Offices and distinctions
|list1=
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box |title= Auditor of Arkansas Territory | years = 1829 – 1831 | before = George W. Scott |after = Emzy Wilson}}
{{s-bef|before=Samuel M. Rutherford|before2=Peter B. Crutchfield}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the
Arkansas Territory Legislative Council
from Pulaski County|with=Samuel M. Rutherford|years=1833 – 1835}}
{{s-aft|after=William Gumming|after2=Absalom Fowler}}
{{succession box |title=Governor of Arkansas
{{small|Acting}} | years = 1849 | before = Thomas S. Drew |after =John S. Roane}}
{{s-par|us-ar-hs}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
from Pulaski County|with=John H. Cocke|years=1836 – 1839}}
{{s-aft|after=Absalom Fowler|after2=L. Gibson}}
{{s-par|us-ar-sen}}
{{s-bef|before= John McLean}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Arkansas Senate
from Pulaski, White and Saline counties|years=1839 – 1840}}
{{s-non|reason=Constituency abolished}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Arkansas Senate
from Pulaski County|years=1840 – 1844}}
{{s-aft|after=T. W. Newton}}
{{s-bef|before=J. Yell}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Arkansas Senate
from Arkansas, Jefferson and Desha counties|years=1846 – 1850}}
{{s-aft|after=N. B. Burrow}}
{{s-bef|before=William K. Sebastian}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|President of the Arkansas Senate}}|years=1848 – 1850}}
{{s-aft|after=John R. Hampton}}
{{s-end}}
}}
{{Governors of Arkansas}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrd, Richard C.}}
Category:19th-century American merchants
Category:Acting governors of Arkansas
Category:American militia generals
Category:American slave owners
Category:Democratic Party Arkansas state senators
Category:Burials at Flat Bayou Cemetery
Category:Businesspeople from Arkansas
Category:Democratic Party governors of Arkansas
Category:Farmers from Arkansas
Category:Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives
Category:Members of the Arkansas Territorial Legislature
Category:Military personnel from Arkansas
Category:Politicians from Jefferson County, Arkansas
Category:Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas
Category:19th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly