Stephen W. Dorsey | |
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| United States Senator fromArkansas | |
| In office March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1879 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin F. Rice |
| Succeeded by | James D. Walker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1842-02-28)February 28, 1842 |
| Died | March 20, 1916(1916-03-20) (aged 74) Los Angeles, California |
| Resting place | Fairmount Cemetery inDenver, Colorado |
| Political party | Republican |
| Signature | .png) |
Stephen Wallace Dorsey (February 28, 1842 – March 20, 1916) was aRepublican politician who representedArkansas in theUnited States Senate from 1873 to 1879, during theReconstruction era.
He was born inBenson inRutland County, Vermont, and subsequently moved toOberlin, Ohio, where he attendedpublic schools.
In 1861, he joined the 1st Ohio Light Artillery of theUnion Army as a private during theAmerican Civil War.[1] By the end of the war, he became a colonel.[1] After the war he returned to Ohio and settled inSandusky where he was employed by theSandusky Tool Company and subsequently became its president. Named president of theArkansas Railway Company, he relocated toHelena, Arkansas.
He was elected as a Senator from Arkansas on March 3, 1873. He was a chairman of theCommittee on District of Columbia (Forty-fifth Congress).
Less than a year prior to the outbreak of theBrooks-Baxter War, a conflict over the governorship of Arkansas, Dorsey initially supported GovernorElisha Baxter. However, he, along with the majority of the state’s carpetbagger Republicans—often called “Mistrals”—later shifted allegiance to Brooks’s claim. During this tumultuous period, CongressmanJasper D. Ward fromIllinois visited Arkansas to evaluate the situation on behalf of the Poland Committee. Ward was hosted by Dorsey, who played a pivotal role in ensuring that Ward’s report favored the reinstatement of Brooks as governor. Despite these efforts, the attempt proved ultimately unsuccessful. TheDemocratic Party gained complete control of the state assembly with the adoption of the new 1874 Arkansas Constitution and the election ofAugustus Garland, leading to Dorsey not seeking reelection in 1879.[2]
In 1880, when the Republicans nominatedJames A. Garfield forU.S. President andChester A. Arthur forvice president, Dorsey became the secretary of theRepublican National Committee. His reputation was tarnished, though, by theStar route scandal, in which Dorsey and his partners were accused of defrauding the government of $412,000. Dorsey was defended by noted criminal law attorneyRobert G. Ingersoll. Though he was found not guilty, the cost of his defense and the damage to his reputation all but destroyed Dorsey's political and financial ambitions.[3]
In 1876, he was made a member of the Republican National Committee. In 1878, he built theDorsey Mansion in New Mexico.
After Dorsey, no other Republican served as a Senator from Arkansas untilTim Hutchinson in 1997, and no other Republican served in the state's Class 3 Senate seat untilJohn Boozman in 2011.
He engaged incattle raising andmining inNew Mexico andColorado and subsequently moved toLos Angeles,California, where he resided until his death in 1916. He is interred atFairmount Cemetery inDenver, Colorado.
The town ofClayton, New Mexico, is named for a son of Senator Dorsey.
| U.S. Senate | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Arkansas 1873–1879 Served alongside:Powell Clayton,Augustus H. Garland | Succeeded by |
| Class 2 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
