ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, Volume 26(Autumn 1967), p. 226

The Life of Archibald

By MELINDA MEEK

Warren

CHAPTER III: THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

WITH HIS SERVICE IN CONGRESS COMPLETED, ARCHIBALD Yell was free to devote his energies to his private affairs. He spent much of his time seeing to business interests, which his Congressional responsibilities had forced him to neglect. Yell was also very concerned with the outcome of the Tennessee state elections, for his friend, James K. Polk, was seeking the office of governor. When election news reached Arkansas in late August 1839, Yell was elated over Polk's victory. He believed Polk's "regeneration" of Tennessee would do more to secure the re-election of Martin Van Buren as president in 1840 than any other single event (1).

Yell spent several weeks in August 1839 in Ozark, the town which he owned with David Walker and William Haile, selling lots and making deeds to land already sold. He also attended to the sale of Arkansas lands that he had purchased for Polk and others (2). Financially, this was a prosperous period for Yell. By 1840 in Washington County alone, he paid taxes on 800 acres of land and eight Negro slaves (3). Yell had enough cash on hand at this time to enable him to offer Polk a loan of one to three thousand dollars, after the newly-elected Tennessee governor wrote Yell of the financial troubles he was having as the result of an expensive gubernatorial campaign (4).

____________________

(1) Archibald Yell to James K. Polk, Waxhaws, Sept. 1, 1839 and Sept. 7, 1839, James K. Polk Papers, Library of Congress; Archibald Yell to William Moore, Waxhaws, Sept. 1, 1839, William Moore Letters, Library of Congress.

(2) Yell to Polk, Ozark, Aug. 14, 1839, and Waxhaws, Sept. 15, 1839, Polk Papers.

(3) Tax Assessment Records for Washington County, 1836-1846, Arkansas History Commission.

(4) Yell to Polk, Waxhaws, Sept. 15, 1839, Polk Papers.

Contents	Words	Questions	Related Links	Next