Alfred W. Arrington

Background

Alfred W. Arrington was born on September 17, 1810 in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States. His father, Archibald Arrington, a Methodist minister, married Miss Moore, a lady of Highland Scotch origin.

Education

He received a good education, and absorbed while still young an extraordinary amount of miscellaneous knowledge.

Career

In 1819 he accompanied his father to Arkansas, then almost a wilderness, and in 1828 became an itinerant Methodist preacher. Possessing a natural gift of eloquence, he met with great success. For five years he traveled, preaching through Arkansas, Indiana, and Missouri, but being assailed with doubts as to the truths of religion, he abandoned the ministry in 1834 and commenced to study law.

He was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1835, but moved to Arkansas, where he acquired a flourishing practise, and was elected a member of the state legislature. He had no interest in politics, however, and on completion of his term went to Texas.

In 1847 he visited the East, and, using the pseudonym "Charles Summerfield, " published The Desperadoes of the South West, an eloquently written but lurid picture of lynch law drawn from personal experience. He remained in Boston and New York for two years, contributing Sketches of the South and South West to the newspapers and writing The Mathematical Harmonies of the Universe, a somewhat abstruse essay which was translated into French and German. Returning to Texas in 1849, he was elected judge of the 12th (Rio Grande) judicial district of that state in 1850. This position he retained for five years, but the climate commenced to affect his health and he was compelled to resign in 1856.

He moved to New York, engaged in literary work, and published The Rangers and Regulators of the Tanaha (1856), again using the pseudonym "Charles Summerfield. " This novel, in which he essayed to give a picture of the transition stage of Southwestern life, was somewhat heavy in style and sentiment, occasionally relieved by brilliance of language.

In 1857 he went to the Northwest, settled in Chicago, and there resumed the practise of law. His ornate oratory appealed to Western audiences and juries, whilst his thorough knowledge of law and innate dialectical skill enabled him to achieve outstanding success before the appellate tribunals, particularly in constitutional cases.

He died in Chicago. During his later years, as a relaxation from professional work and with no idea of publication, he had composed a number of poems, and these were collected and published after his death under the title, Poems by Alfred W. Arrington (1869).

Achievements

• During his life Arrington wrote several books and poems.

Works

More photos

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  • Poems

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The Rangers And Regulators Of The Tanaha, Or Life Among The Lawless: A Tale Of The Republic Of Texas (1856)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • By Alfred W Arrington The desperadoes of the South-West: containing an account of the Cane-Hill murders, together with the Paperback

Religion

Before his death Arrington abandoned his skepticism and been received into the Catholic faith.

Views

He disliked the restraints of society and lived, as far as an active professional career would permit, a solitary life, and the instability of purpose which distinguished him up to middle age was an effective obstacle to his attainment of definite eminence in either literature or law.

Personality

Although sometimes eccentric, his briefs were models and his arguments cogent.

Of brilliant ability and altogether exceptional powers of oratory, he was a disappointment as far as actual attainment was concerned.

Connections

There is no record of his own family.

Father:

Archibald Arrington

Mother:

Miss (Moore) Arrington