William King Sebastian (June 12, 1812May 20, 1865) was an American politician and lawyer from

Helena, Arkansas Helena is the eastern portion of Helena–West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. It was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the n ...

. He represented

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 ...

as a U.S. Senator, Democrat, from 1848 to 1861. Sebastian withdrew from the Senate at the start of 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 ...

and was later formally expelled by the Senate. He took no active part in the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

government, and was reinstated by a posthumous resolution in 1877.

Early life

Sebastian was born in

Centerville, Tennessee Centerville is a town in Hickman County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,489 as of the 2020 Census. It is the county seat and the only incorporated town in Hickman County. It is best known for being the hometown of American comed ...

on June 12, 1812; sometime around 1834 he graduated from Columbia College, also in Tennessee, and began studying law. He moved to Arkansas in 1835, where he was admitted to the bar and began practice in

;Fay Hempstead, ''Historical Review of Arkansas'' (1911)
p. 451-52
later he became a cotton planter. From 1835 to 1837 he was a prosecuting attorney; he served as a circuit court judge from 1840 to 1843, in which year he was made an associate justice of the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...

. In 1846 he became a member 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 ...

, serving as its president until 1847. Also in 1846 he served as a

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 app ...

on the Democratic ticket.

Political career

In 1848, upon the death of

Chester Ashley Chester Ashley (June 1, 1790 – April 29, 1848) was an American politician who represented Arkansas in the U.S. Senate from 1844 until his death. Early life Ashley was born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1790; while a child he moved with his ...

, he was appointed to the United States Senate, subsequently being elected in his own right. He was reelected in 1853 and 1859. During his time in the Senate, he served as the chair of the Committee on Manufactures, as well as on the Committee on Indian Affairs. He supported Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada

Edward Fitzgerald Beale Edward Fitzgerald "Ned" Beale (February 4, 1822 – April 22, 1893) was a national figure in the 19th-century United States. He was a naval officer, military general, explorer, frontiersman, Indian affairs superintendent, California rancher, ...

's plans to form a series of Indian reservations in California, garrisoned by a military post, on government owned land. The Indians were to support themselves by farming. The first of these reservations, the

Sebastian Indian Reservation The Sebastian Indian Reservation (1853-1864), more commonly known as the Tejon Indian Reservation, was formerly at the southwestern corner of the San Joaquin Valley in the Tehachapi Mountains, in southern central California. It was located in the ...

was named for him.

Later life

When the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

began, "he did not resign, as did all the other southern senators save Andrew Johnson, but remained a melancholy and helpless spectator of events". In July 1861 he was expelled for his suspected support of the Confederacy. Upon his ejection from the Senate, Sebastian returned to Helena, where he lived for the duration of the Civil War and practiced law. After federal troops occupied Helena, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1864 and resumed the practice of law; he died there on May 20, 1865, and is buried in a private family cemetery in Phillips County. Sebastian County, Arkansas is named for him. In 1877, the Senate revoked the resolution of expulsion which they had passed upon Sebastian, and consequently paid the compensation due to his children.Petition of the Children and Only Heirs of the Late Senator William K. Sebastian of Arkansas
43rd Congress.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastian, William K. 1812 births 1865 deaths 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians American planters American slave owners Arkansas lawyers Arkansas state court judges Democratic Party Arkansas state senators Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court Burials in Arkansas Democratic Party United States senators from Arkansas Expelled United States senators People of Arkansas in the American Civil War People from Centerville, Tennessee People from Helena, Arkansas People of Tennessee in the American Civil War United States senators who owned slaves

Early life

Political career

Later life

See also

References

Further reading

External links