Painting, Portrait - Governor William M. Fishback
Object number2006.023.16
Credit LineOld State House Museum collection
Terms
William Fishback was born Nov. 5, 1831 in Culpepper County, Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia and studied law. After college, he moved to Springfield, Illinois where he was admitted to the bar and set up practice. During his years of practicing law in Springfield, he came into contact with Abraham Lincoln, whose own law firm sent Fishback his first client. In 1858, Fishback moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas and set up practice there. Fishback was a Unionist. When the Civil War broke out, he voted first against Arkansas' secession from the Union and then changed his vote in the second vote. He felt that secession would stave off rather than cause war. When it became clear war was inevitable, he went to Missouri and took an oath of allegiance to the U.S. During the first years of the war, he served as editor for the St. Louis Democrat. When Little Rock fell to Union forces, Fishback returned to Little Rock and started a newspaper, The Unconditional Union. After the war, He was instrumental in writing the union Constitution in 1864 which became known as the "Fishback Constitution". He became governor in 1893. He died in 1903 and is buried in Oak Cemetery in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Status
On view
