William Walker Mansfield (1830 - 1912)

Born 16 Jan 1830 in Scottsville, Allen County, Kentucky

Husband of Sarah Henderson (Shores) Mansfield — married 27 Oct 1837 in Mulberry, Arkansas

Died 27 Jul 1912 at age 82 in Ozark, Franklin County, Arkansas

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Janne Gorman [send private message]

Biography

William W. Mansfield was born in 1830 at Scottsville, Kentucky. He studied law, and at the age of 22 settled at Ozark, Franklin County, Arkansas. The town of Mansfield Arkansas was named for him. ^[1]

William married Sarah Henderson Shores of Franklin County, and had seven children: George W., John H., Mary Amanda, Walter N., Asher Caruth, W. W. Mansfield Jr., and Sallie Adelaide.

William Mansfield served as justice of the peace as well as a school teacher. He was representative from Franklin County in the General Assembly of 1859, a delegate to the secession convention of 1861, a member of the constitutional convention of 1874, and during the first election held under the new constitution, was elected judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit.

At the close of his term, he returned to practicing law. In 1882, he ran for congress but was defeated, and in 1883, Mansfield was appointed by Governor Berry to compile a digest of the statutes of the state. The work was published in 1884, and is usually referred to as “Mansfield’s Digest.”

He was reporter for the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1887 until 1890, and in 1891 was appointed associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, a position in which he served until 1894. William W. Mansfield died in July, 1912.

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield,_Arkansas

• http://ahc.digital-ar.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16790coll17/id/251
• Find A Grave Memorial# 45033041