John Sebastian Little (March 15, 1851 – October 29, 1916) was an American politician who served as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and the 21st Governor of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

Biography

John Sebastian "Bass" Little was born in Jenny Lind in

Sebastian County, Arkansas Sebastian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 125,744, making it the fourth-most populous county in Arkansas. The county has two county seats, Greenwood and Fort Smith. Sebastian ...

, the son of Jesse Eaton Little and Mary Elizabeth (Tatum) Little, and grandson of Eaton Tatum and Charlotte Bruer (Reynolds) Tatum. Little attended

Cane Hill College Cane Hill College, originally Cane Hill School, was the first institution of higher learning in Arkansas. It operated in Canehill, Arkansas from 1834 until 1891. History Cane Hill School (1834–1858) Cumberland Presbyterians founded a school in ...

in Washington County for one term. Little taught school and studied law. He was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1873, and in 1876 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the 12th Judicial District. He served in that position until 1882. Little married Elizabeth Jane Irwin on January 4, 1877, in

Paris, Arkansas Paris is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States, and serves as the county seat for the northern district of Logan County; its southern district counterpart is Booneville. Its population was 3,176 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. Geography ...

Career

Little served in the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

in 1884, and in 1886 was appointed judge in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit and served for four years. In 1894 he was elected to fill the unexpired term of U.S. Representative Clifton R. Breckinridge. He served in the

until 1907 when he resigned his seat to take office as Governor of Arkansas. Little was inaugurated in January 1907, and shortly thereafter suffered a nervous breakdown which left him unable to execute his political duties. He was succeeded by the president of the Arkansas state senate,

John Isaac Moore John Isaac "Ike" Moore (February 7, 1856 – March 18, 1937) was a member of the Arkansas Senate and acting governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Biography Moore was born in Lafayette County, Mississippi, and graduated from the University o ...

Death

Little left Arkansas and went to the Texas gulf coast in an effort to rehabilitate. Little never recovered and died in

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, in the

Arkansas State Hospital for Nervous Disorders 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 l ...

. He is buried at the City Cemetery in Greenwood.

References

External links

* Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture entry
John Sebastian Little
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, John Sebastian Democratic Party governors of Arkansas Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives 1851 births 1916 deaths People from Sebastian County, Arkansas Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas 19th-century American politicians