Fayetteville in Washington County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)
Archibald Yell
Second Governor of Arkansas
Photographed By Marilyn Heifner
1. Archibald Yell Marker
Inscription.
Archibald Yell was Arkansas’s first congressman and its second governor. Likely born in Tennessee in the late 1790s, Yell received limited formal education but a sound instruction in law, which became his calling. Yell’s close friendship with Tennessee congressman (and future president) James Polk led to his appointment by President Andrew Jackson as a territorial circuit judge in Fayetteville in 1835. His colorful nature and his influential role in drafting the Arkansas state constitution in 1836 quickly gained him a popular following and a term in Congress from 1836 to 1839. He declined reelection to run for governor, a post he held from 1840 to 1844. Yell returned to Congress from 1845 to 1846, but with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, resigned his position and enlisted in a regiment of Arkansas volunteer cavalry, where he was elected regimental colonel. He was killed in the Battle of Buena Vista, February 23, 1847, leading a charge against advancing Mexican lancers. Although Yell dueled and brawled, he was an eloquent politician who supported public schools, an end to debtors’ prisons, and better control of banks. He also helped found the state’s first Masonic lodge, the same lodge that, together with the Odd Fellows, administered this cemetery from 1870 to 1915.
Archibald Yell was Arkansas’s first congressman and its second governor. Likely born in Tennessee in the late 1790s, Yell received limited formal education but a sound instruction in law, which became his calling. Yell’s close friendship with Tennessee congressman (and future president) James Polk led to his appointment by President Andrew Jackson as a territorial circuit judge in Fayetteville in 1835. His colorful nature and his influential role in drafting the Arkansas state constitution in 1836 quickly gained him a popular following and a term in Congress from 1836 to 1839. He declined reelection to run for governor, a post he held from 1840 to 1844.
Yell returned to Congress from 1845 to 1846, but with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, resigned his position and enlisted in a regiment of Arkansas volunteer cavalry, where he was elected regimental colonel. He was killed in the Battle of Buena Vista, February 23, 1847, leading a charge against advancing Mexican lancers. Although Yell dueled and brawled, he was an eloquent politician who supported public schools, an end to debtors’ prisons, and better control of banks. He also helped found the state’s first Masonic lodge, the same lodge that, together with the Odd Fellows, administered this cemetery from 1870 to 1915.
Erected by
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Fayetteville Evergreen Cemetery Association. (Marker Number 39.)
Location. 36° 3.867′ N, 94° 10.15′ W. Marker is in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in Washington County. In the Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville. Adjacent to Archibald Yell's grave, located in the north central part of the cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 644 W Center Street, Fayetteville AR 72701, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 26, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 23, 2023, by Ashley Sides of Little Rock, Arkansas. This page has been viewed 79 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 23, 2023, by Ashley Sides of Little Rock, Arkansas. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
