On the morning of May 19, 1874, Joseph Brooks cleaned out his belongings from the gubernatorial office in the 1842 Arkansas State Capitol (now the Old State House) and disappeared to points unknown.
The beginning of the end of his stint claiming to be Arkansas Governor came on May 15 when President US Grant accepted the recommendation of his Attorney General that found Elisha Baxter was the duly elected Governor of Arkansas.
Following Brooks’s departure, the grounds and building were in shambles. A Gazette reporter noted that barricades had been built on the lawn of the building. The front and back doors remained, but their facings had been removed to make it easier to roll big weapons and equipment in and out of the building.
Inside, furniture was in disarray and broken. The bookcases in the state library had been turned on their sides to serve as tables. The reporter described the smell as composed of “a mixed perfume of sour bacon and human beings.”
In preparation for the return of Gov. Baxter, crews were busy trying to restore order in the building. The Senate Chambers were nearly put back in order that day, but the House Chambers needed more attention.
As another illustration of the disarray in state government between April 15 and May 19, the state treasurer, Henry Page, told the newspaper that he had not cut a single check at the request of the Brooks administration. He stated that he had not denied the request, he just delayed responding to it.
Finally that day, Governor Baxter arrived at the head of a ceremonial parade of carriages. Among those who accompanied the governor was Arkansas Gazette founder William Woodruff. In the next carriage, future US Senator and Attorney General Augustus Garland sat with reporters from the New York Times and Arkansas Gazette.
Upon arriving at the Capitol grounds, Baxter delivered a speech. 101 guns were fired in salute to him. The cannon on the capitol grounds (nicknamed Old Lady Baxter) was shot off several times. A retinue of Little Rock’s ladies pulled the lanyard to detonate the cannon.
As part of President Grant’s order to end the Brooks-Baxter War, the ground was laid for a new Arkansas Constitution, the end of Reconstruction, and the re-enfranchisement of Democratic voters. In short order, the 1874 constitution, under which Arkansas still operates, was adopted. Many of the Republicans and African American office holders soon found themselves out of power. And African Americans were completely disenfranchised.
It would be 92 years before Arkansas would again elect a Republican to be Governor. The adoption of the new constitution took the term of governor and other constitutional officers from four years to two years. In 1874, he retired to Batesville and lived there until his death in 1899. Brooks remained in Little Rock until his death in 1877.
Today, the sermon for the Royal Wedding was delivered by the Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church.
On May 18, 1937, Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. was born in Little Rock. His father worked for Colonial Bakery and later the Little Rock Fire Department. His mother worked for Sears and later state government.
Starting at 9:00 p.m. on May 18, 1963, the Beaux Arts Ball capped off the opening weekend festivities for the Arkansas Arts Center.
Special guests for this black tie event included Oscar winner Joan Fontaine, cartoonist Charles Addams (creator of The Addams Family), and James Rorimer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 