Mark Whitaker Izard (December 25, 1799 – August 1866) was an
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 O ...
Democratic
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
is best known for being the 2nd
Governor of the Nebraska Territory.
Izard was born in
Lexington, Kentucky to Nicholas H and Rebecca (Whitaker) Izard on December 25, 1799. His family were among the early settlers of the
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...
area and he was educated there in public schools.
[McMullin & Walker, p. 224] Izard married the daughter of George Shackleford of
Charleston, South Carolina in 1823. The next year he moved his family to
frontier town of
Mount Vernon, Arkansas. Over the next several years he acquired an appreciable amount of land and
slaves.
Mark Izard served in the Arkansas Territorial Council and as a delegate to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention of 1836. He was a member of both the
Arkansas State Senate
The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...
1836, 1838–1840, and 1850–1853; he served as President of the Arkansas Senate. Izard also served in the
Arkansas House of Representatives and served as its speaker. He became the governor of the
Nebraska Territory
The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebrask ...
in 1855 to 1857. He died in 1866 and is buried in
Forrest City, Arkansas
Forrest City is a city in St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States, and the county seat. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who used the location as a campsite for a construction crew completing a railroad between Memphis and Litt ...
.
Mark Izard
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1799 births
1866 deaths
Arkansas state senators
Members of the Arkansas Territorial Legislature
Speakers of the Arkansas House of Representatives
Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives
Nebraska Democrats
Governors of Nebraska Territory
19th-century American politicians
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