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\'IRGI.\'IA BIOGRAPHY
kansas denounced him as an abolitionist, he
was opposed to the policy of coercion,
thinking chat it would provoke civil war.
Upon President Lincoln's call for troops tc
coerce Soulii Carolina, Mr. Fishback, by
advice of his constituents, voted for seces-
sion in the hoj)c that when the north saw
the withdrawal of all the southern states, it
nii,<,dit he forced into accejiting the Critten-
den compromise. All efTorts at compromise
failing, however, when the war broke out
he went north, and during the occupation of
Little Rock by the Federal troops in 1863,
lie established a newspaper there called the
"Unconditional Union." While editing the
paper, he, as commander, was raising the
I'ourth Arkansas Cavalry for the Federal
service. When about nine hundred men
had enlisted, he was elected to the United
States senate by the Union legislature, and
thus was never mustered into service. Un-
der the proclamation of President Lincoln
the reorganization of the state had been at
length accomplished. Mr. Fishback having
such influence with the convention in charge
that he was called upon to write the greater
part of the constitution of 1864, sometimes
called the "Fishback Constitution." He was
advised that if the word "white" as a pre-
requisite to voting was not stricken out,
the state would not be received into the
Union, and he would not get the seat in
the senate to which it was known he would
be elected. Helieving, however, that it
would not be safe to confer the suffrage
upon such a large mass of ignorance, he re-
fused to strike it out. His was the first
case from the south of an effort to restore
representations in congress. President I-in-
ci/ln's cabinet recognized the senators, but
other leaders of the party in power, headed
by Sumner and Wade, took the ground that
as the state had run down like a watch, and
could only be wound up by some extran-
eous power, that power was congress, and
that no scjuthern states should be therefore
not seated. In 1865 he was appointed treas-
ury agent for Arkansas, a position which he
refused to accept until told that by so donig
he could save the people many millions of
money. His conduct of that oftice added
largely to his popularity. In 1874 he was
elected to the constitutional convention
which framed the present constitution, and
in 1877, 1879, and 1885 served in the legis-
lature. He was the author of what is known
as the "Fishback Amendment" to the con-
stitution of Arkansas, by which the legis-
lature is forbidden ever to pay certain
fraudulent state bonds issued during recon-
struction. During the summer of 1892,
contrary to the policy of his opponents, he
made no canvass for the nomination for gov-
ernor. His cause was taken up by the
people, however, and he received 540 votes
out of 628 in the nominating convention,
while his plurality at the polls was larger
than that received by any other governor
since reconstruction times. Immediately
after election he accepted the urgent invita-
tion of the national Democratic committee,
and coming north, made a number of
s]ieeches in New York and Indiana, which
met with gratifying success. His adminis-
tration was marked by continual prosperity.
It was at the instigation of Gov. Fishback
that the go\eriiors of the southern states
met in convention at Richmond, Virginia, in
April. 1893. one of the most important and
distinguished assemblies ever held in Amer-
ica, and of which he was made president.
In 1867 he was married to Adelaide, daugh-
