Jordan Edgar Cravens (November 7, 1830 – April 8, 1914) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a

U.S. Representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

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 1877 to 1883, he served three terms in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, first as an Independent Democrat, then as a Democratic He was the cousin of

William Ben Cravens William is a male given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norm ...

Biography

Born in Fredericktown, Missouri in 1830, Cravens was the son of Nehemiah and Sophia Thompson Cravens. He moved with his father to Arkansas the following year, and attended the common schools. He was graduated from the Cane Hill Academy at Boonsboro (now Canehill), Washington County, Arkansas, in 1850. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He commenced practice in

Clarksville, Arkansas Clarksville is a city in Johnson County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 9,178, up from 7,719 in 2000. As of 2018, the estimated population was 9,743. The city is the county seat of Johnson County. It is nestled ...

. Prior to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, he we was elected as member of the State house of representatives in 1860.

Personal life

Cravens owned slaves. He married Emma Batson and they had five children, Jeane, Jane, Felix, Sallie, and Samuella. Emma Batson's father was

Felix Ives Batson Felix Ives Batson (September 6, 1819 – March 11, 1871) was a prominent American lawyer and politician from Arkansas. Born in Dickson County, Tennessee, he later moved to Clarksville, Arkansas and established a law practice. He was admitted ...

an Arkansas Supreme Court judge who during the American Civil War, represented the First Congressional District of northwest Arkansas in the First Confederate Congress and the

Second Confederate Congress The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia S ...

House of Representatives.

Civil War

Cravens entered the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

in 1861 as a private in Company C,

17th Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Lemoyne's) The 17th (Lemoyne's) Arkansas Infantry (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment did not yet have the required 10 companies when it was ordered east of the Mississippi River with the rest of ...

. When that regiment underwent consolidation in May 1862, Cravens was elected Colonel of the new unit: the 21st Arkansas Infantry Regiment. The 21st Arkansas was surrendered, at Vicksburg, Mississippi, on July 4, 1863. After being declared exchanged, on September 12, 1863, Cravens' unit was consolidated with the 14th Powers' Arkansas, 15th (Northwest) Arkansas, and the 16th Arkansas, to form a new unit: the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment (Trans-Mississippi) Department. He was named colonel of the new organization.

Post-war career

At the close of hostilities, Cravens returned to Clarksville where he served as prosecuting attorney of Johnson County in 1865 and 1866 and then as member of the Arkansas State Senate from 1866 until 1868. He did not seek re-election and returned to his law practice.

Congress

In 1876, Cravens was elected as an Independent Democrat to the

Forty-fifth Congress The 45th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1877, ...

, winning a contested three-way race with 37% of the vote. His margin of victory was fewer than 300 votes over second-place candidate John McClure. In 1878, he was reelected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

46th Congress The 46th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1879, ...

, then won a third term in 1880 with 58% of the vote, defeating former congressman Thomas Boles In 1882, Cravens lost in the Democratic primary to local judge John H. Rogers. In all, Cravens served in Congress from March 4, 1877, until March 3, 1883.

Later career

He then resumed the practice of law in

. He remained active in politics, being mentioned for various offices, including governor and a return to Congress. In 1889, he won election as a local circuit court judge, serving from 1890 until 1894.

Death

Cravens died in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

on April 8, 1914, (age 83 years, 152 days) and is interred at Oakland Cemetery, Clarksville, Arkansas.

References

External links

Retrieved on 2009-05-13 *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cravens, Jordan Edgar 1830 births 1914 deaths People from Madison County, Missouri American people of English descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives Democratic Party Arkansas state senators Arkansas state court judges Arkansas lawyers People from Clarksville, Arkansas 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American lawyers Confederate States Army officers People of Arkansas in the American Civil War Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves