View source for Ambrose H. Sevier

{{Short description|American politician (1801–1848)}}
{{redirect|Senator Sevier|the North Carolina State Senate and Tennessee State Senate member|John Sevier}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Ambrose Hundley Sevier
| image name=AR_Sevier_Ambrose.jpg
| office=Acting [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate]]
| term_start=December 27, 1845
| term_end=December 28, 1845
| predecessor=[[Willie Person Mangum]]
| successor=[[David Rice Atchison]]
| jr/sr1=United States Senator
| state1=[[Arkansas]]
| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]
| term1=September 18, 1836 &ndash; March 15, 1848
| preceded1=''(none)''
| succeeded1=[[Solon Borland]]
| office2=Delegate to the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from [[Arkansas Territory]]
| term_start2=February 13, 1828
| term_end2=June 15, 1836
| preceded2=[[Henry Wharton Conway|Henry W. Conway]]
| succeeded2=''Statehood achieved''
| birth_date={{birth date|1801|11|4|mf=y}}
| birth_place=[[Greeneville, Tennessee]], US
| death_date={{death date and age|1848|12|31|1801|11|4|mf=y}}
| death_place=[[Little Rock, Arkansas]], US
| spouse=Juliette Johnson Sevier
| profession=Politician, Lawyer
}}

'''Ambrose Hundley Sevier''' (November 4, 1801 &ndash; December 31, 1848) was an attorney, politician and [[Planter (American South)|planter]] from [[Arkansas]]. A member of the political [[Conway-Johnson family]] that dominated the state and national delegations in the [[Antebellum South|antebellum]] years, he was elected by the legislature as a [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] U.S. Senator. He served as [[Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jxlmbk1ELIC&q=+hanley+&pg=PA280 | title=Publications of the Arkansas Historical Association | date=1908 }}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Ambrose Hundley Sevier was born near [[Greeneville, Tennessee]] in [[Greene County, Tennessee]]. Sevier moved to [[Missouri]] in 1820 and to [[Little Rock, Arkansas]] in 1821. In Arkansas he became clerk of the Territorial [[legislature|House of Representatives]]. He studied law and was admitted to the [[Bar association|bar]] in 1823.

==Marriage and family==
Sevier married Juliette Johnson, the sister of [[Robert Ward Johnson]], who also became an influential politician in the state. Their father Benjamin Johnson had gone to Arkansas as the first territorial judge; in 1836 he was appointed as the first federal district judge when the territory became a state.<ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=1682 James M. Woods, "Robert Ward Johnson (1814-1879)"], ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture'', 2010, accessed 13 November 2013</ref> Ambrose and Juliette had several children.

==Political career==
Sevier was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives and served from 1823 to 1827; he was elected as [[Speaker (politics)|Speaker]] of that body in 1827.

He was elected as a Jacksonian Delegate to the [[Twentieth United States Congress|20th US Congress]] to fill the vacancy caused by the death of [[Henry Wharton Conway]], killed as a result of a duel with a former friend. Sevier was reelected and served as delegate in three successive congresses from 1828 to 1836, when Arkansas was admitted to the Union. Sevier is known as the "Father of Arkansas Statehood".

In 1836 Sevier was elected as the first member of the [[United States Senate]] from Arkansas. He was reelected in 1837 and 1843. He resigned from office in 1848. During the [[Twenty-ninth United States Congress|29th Congress]], he was allowed to hold the seat of President ''pro tem'' of the Senate for a day, though he was not elected to that post. During his tenure, he served as chairman of the Committee on [[Native Americans in the United States|Indian]] Affairs and was a member of the [[Committee on Foreign Relations]].

In 1848 Sevier was appointed a Commissioner to help negotiate the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] at the end of the [[Mexican–American War]].  In December 1848, he was appointed by Polk to head what would later become the [[International Boundary and Water Commission]], but died before being confirmed by the U.S. Senate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of U.S. Commissioners |url=https://www.ibwc.gov/about-us/history-of-us-commissioners/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=IBWC |language=en-US}}</ref>

After completing this project, Ambrose Hundley Sevier died the last day of that year on his [[plantations in the American South|plantation]] in [[Pulaski County, Arkansas]]. He was buried in the historic [[Mount Holly Cemetery]]. The State of Arkansas erected a monument in the cemetery in his honor.

Sevier was part of the powerful "Family" of Democratic politicians in Arkansas, who included his first cousins: Representative [[Henry Wharton Conway]], Governor [[James Sevier Conway]], and Governor [[Elias Nelson Conway]]; brother-in-law Senator [[Robert Ward Johnson]], and son-in-law Governor [[Thomas James Churchill]].

==Legacy and honors==
*He is known as the "Father of Arkansas Statehood."
*[[Sevier County, Arkansas]] is named in his honor.

==See also==
* [[The Family (Arkansas politics)]]

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
{{CongBio|S000256}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| type=Delegate
| state=Arkansas Territory
| before=[[Henry Wharton Conway]]
| reason=[[Arkansas]] admitted to the Union
| years=February 13, 1828 – June 15, 1836}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box|
 state=Arkansas|
 class=3|
 before=''(none)''|
 years=September 18, 1836 – March 15, 1848|
 alongside=[[William Savin Fulton]] and [[Chester Ashley]]|
 after=[[Solon Borland]]}}
{{s-off|us}}
{{succession box|
 title=Chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs|Senate Indian Affairs Committee]]|
 before=[[Hugh Lawson White]]|
 years=1840–1841|
 after=[[James Turner Morehead (Kentucky politician)|James T. Morehead]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs|Senate Indian Affairs Committee]]|
 before=[[Albert Smith White|Albert White]]|
 years=1845–1846|
 after=[[Arthur P. Bagby]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|Senate Foreign Relations Committee]]|
 before=[[William Allen (governor)|William Allen]]|
 years=1846–1848|
 after=[[Edward A. Hannegan]]
}}
{{succession box|
 before=[[Willie Person Mangum]]|
 title=[[President pro tempore of the United States Senate]]|
 after=[[David Rice Atchison]]|
 years=December 27, 1845<sup>(1)</sup>|
}}
{{s-ref|Sevier was not actually elected President pro tempore of the Senate, but was allowed to 'hold the seat' for a day.}}

{{USSenAR}}
{{SenForeignRelationsCommitteeChairmen}}
{{SenIndianAffairsCommitteeChairmen}}
{{USSenPresProTemp}}
{{U.S. Arkansas Representatives}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Politics|United States}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sevier, Ambrose Hundley}}
[[Category:1801 births]]
[[Category:1848 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Greeneville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Conway–Johnson family]]
[[Category:American people of French descent]]
[[Category:Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas Territory]]
[[Category:Jacksonian United States senators from Arkansas]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Arkansas]]
[[Category:Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate]]
[[Category:Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations]]
[[Category:Members of the Arkansas Territorial Legislature]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico]]
[[Category:Arkansas lawyers]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Holly Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]