Hugh French Thomason (February 22, 1826 – July 30, 1893) was an American politician who served as Arkansas state representative from

Crawford County Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States: * Crawford County, Arkansas * Crawford County, Georgia * Crawford County, Illinois * Crawford County, Indiana * Crawford County, Iowa * Crawford County, Kansas * Crawford County, ...

from 1887 to 1889 and as Arkansas state senator from 1881 to 1885. He previously served in the

Provisional Congress of the Confederate States The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, also known as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing body ...

representing

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

from 1861 to 1862.

Early life

Thomason was born in

Smith County, Tennessee Smith County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,166. Smith County is located in the region of the state known as Middle Tennessee. Its county seat is Carthage. The county was organized in ...

, on February 22, 1826. His father moved to

Washington County, Arkansas Washington County is a regional economic, educational, and cultural hub in the Northwest Arkansas region. Created as Arkansas's 17th county on November 30, 1848, Washington County has 13 incorporated municipalities, including Fayetteville, Arka ...

, when he was three years old. He was educated principally at

Cane Hill Cane Hill Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon. The site is owned by GLA Land and Property. History The hospital has its origins as the third Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, designed by Charle ...

, Arkansas, and studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at Fayetteville, in the office of W. D. Reagan. He afterwards removed to Van Buren and engaged in the practice of law.

Political career

Thomason first came into prominence as a politician as

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

when he canvassed the state against the celebrated

Thomas C. Hindman Thomas Carmichael Hindman Jr. (January 28, 1828 – September 28, 1868) was an American lawyer, politician, and a senior officer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, he later moved to Miss ...

. He was

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

of the 4th Judicial Circuit from 1853 to 1854 and a member of the secession convention in 1861. In 1868 he was elected to the lower house of the legislature. He was a candidate for congress in 1872 and was defeated by

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

W. W. Wilshire. He was one of the delegates to the

congress of the Confederate States The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and permanent legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned with measures to establish a new nat ...

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, with Robert W. Johnson,

Albert Rust Albert Rust (April 4, 1870) was an American politician and slaveholder, who served as a delegate from Arkansas to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

, William W. Watkins, and Augustus H. Garland from May 18, 1861, to February 17, 1862. He represented

in the constitutional convention in 1874. he was elected State Senator in 1881 and attended two sessions of the

state senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

. He was returned to the lower house in 1886.

Later life

Thomason was elected judge of the 15th judicial circuit in September 1890, which position he held at the time of his death. He was buried at

Fairview Cemetery (Van Buren, Arkansas) Fairview Cemetery, also known as the Van Buren Cemetery, is a historic cemetery on the east side of Arkansas Highway 59 in Van Buren, Arkansas. The cemetery's oldest graves date to 1816, the period of the region's settlement, and include some o ...

, on July 31, 1893, with Masonic honors.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*
Hugh French Thomason
at ''

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...