Jacob Frolich
Jacob Frolich | |
|---|---|
_-_1877_Arkansas_Senate_Secretary.png) | |
| Secretary of State of Arkansas | |
| In office 1879–1885 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 15, 1837 Oberndorf, Germany |
| Died | April 25, 1890 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Resting place | Oakland-Fraternal Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Newspaper publisher |
Jacob Frolich (November 15, 1837 – April 25, 1890) was a German-American politician who served as Arkansas Secretary of State from 1879 to 1885. He was the founder and publisher of the White County Record, a Democratic Party-affiliated newspaper.
Biography
[edit]He was born on November 15, 1837,[1] in Oberndorf, Germany, to John Frolich and Marie Elizabeth Herrman. He emigrated to the United States with his family. The family lived in New Orleans and other locations before they settled in Searcy, Arkansas. At the age of 14, he worked as a printer for several years in Evansville, Indiana, St. Louis and New Orleans. He worked as a clerk in a mercantile business in New Orleans for several years. He returned to the printing business and worked in Baton Rouge and other locations in Louisiana.[2]
He served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War in special service with the Army of Tennessee and with the Washington Artillery of New Orleans. He was wounded several times[2] and was promoted to Colonel.[3] He purchased Curran Hall after the American Civil War.
In 1866, he founded the White County Record newspaper in Searcy.[4] It was a Democratic Party-affiliated paper. The paper had a strong stance against Radical Republicans and Reconstruction efforts after the Civil War.[5] After an argument with the editor of the Little Rock Republican he printed that he was "ready, willing and waiting to go hanging, shooting or roasting, provided the occasion offers the editor of the Republican as a victim."[6]
Frolich was reported to lead the Searcy Ku Klux Klan.[5] He and several other men, including Dandridge McRae, were indicted for the 1868 murder of Albert Parker, an agent of Gov. Powell Clayton sent to investigate Klan activity in White County. Frolich fled to Canada and worked as a printer in Windsor, Ontario,[7] for a year. He was eventually allowed bail and returned to Arkansas. He demanded a trial and was acquitted when the prosecutor was unable to produce evidence.[5]
He corresponded with Fontaine Richard Earle.[8]
He served as Secretary of State of Arkansas for three terms, from 1879 to 1885.[9] A portrait of him is part of the Arkansas Digital Archives.[10]
He moved to Washington D.C. and worked in the Grover Cleveland administration. He returned to Arkansas in 1889 and worked as business manager for the Arkansas Gazette newspaper.[1]
He died in Little Rock on April 25, 1890,[1] and was interred at Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock.[2] The Arkansas Digital Archives have a collection of his papers.[11]
Personal life
[edit]He married Mollie Gaines Finley September 2, 1869, and they had three children: Pearl, Finley, and Herman.[11]
References
[edit]Citations
- ^ a b c Allsopp 1923, p. 572.
- ^ a b c Kwas, Mary L. (2011). A Pictorial History of Arkansas's Old State House - Celebrating 175 Years. The University of Arkansas Press. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-1-55728-955-1. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ Allsopp 1923, p. 476.
- ^ Allsopp 1922, p. 476.
- ^ a b c "Jacob Frolich (1837-1890)". encyclopediaofarkansas.net. Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
- ^ Allsopp 1922, p. 477.
- ^ Allsopp 1923, p. 477.
- ^ "Correspondence: Jacob Frolich (Little Rock, Arkansas) to Fontaine Richard Earle, November 5, 1879 | ArchivesSpace at the University of Arkansas". uark.as.atlas-sys.com.
- ^ Allsopp 1922, pp. 571–572.
- ^ "Jacob Frolich". Arkansas State Archives Images Collection, 1830s-current. June 1, 2020.
- ^ a b "Jacob Frolich papers, circa 1880s". Finding Aids. December 31, 1880.
Sources
- Allsopp, Fred William (1922). History of the Arkansas Press for a Hundred Years and More. Parke-Harper Publishing.
  | This article about an Arkansas politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1837 births
- 1890 deaths
- American Ku Klux Klan members
- American newspaper publishers (people)
- Arkansas Democrats
- Bavarian emigrants to the United States
- Confederate States Army officers
- People from Donau-Ries
- People from Searcy, Arkansas
- People of Arkansas in the American Civil War
- Secretaries of state of Arkansas
- Arkansas politician stubs