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Page: of 68
their presence, another was their quick resentment of an insult offered to one of them,
which they never permitted to go unavenged.
They were all men of the highest character
and always appeared most elegantly attired.
No two men had a greater influence on early
Arkansas affairs than General William and
Colonel Elias Rector, and no two brothers had
an equal prominence in the West. (7)
Henry Massey Rector, a fifth generation descendent
was born at Louisville, Kentucky on May 1, 1816. the
son of Elias and Fannie Thurston Rector. In 1835 he
moved to Arkansas to look after the great landed interests
inherited from his father. He studied law and in 1842
was appointed United States Marshal for the District of
Arkansas by President Tyler. He later served in both the
State Senate and legislature, and from 1853 to 1857 was
Surveyor-General of Arkansas. In 1858 he was elected an
associate justice of the Supreme Court. In 1859 he entered the race for governor as an independent Democratic
candidate and defeated an array of gentlemen. He was a
natural born orator with a commanding appearance, and
was conceded by the ablest judges of his time to have
been the greatest debater that Arkansas had ever known.
He was sworn in as governor on November 16,
1860 and the following vear the Civil War
began. He was a defender of slavery and a
secessionist and was called the ‘War Governor
of Arkansas’. He died in Little Rock at the old
Rector residence, a landmark of the tewn, in
August, 1899. With him died the last link of
antebellum family influence and power.(7).