View source for Henry Rector

{{short description|6th governor of Arkansas}}
{{about|the sixth governor of Arkansas|his son, the 28th speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives|Elias W. Rector}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name               = Henry Massie Rector
| image              = Henry Massey Rector.jpg
| order             = 6th
| office            = Governor of Arkansas
| term_start        = November 15, 1860
| term_end          = November 4, 1862
| predecessor       = [[Elias Nelson Conway|Elias Conway]]
| successor         = [[Thomas Fletcher (Arkansas politician)|Thomas Fletcher]] ([[Acting (law)|acting]])
| office1 = [[List of justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court|Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court]]
| term_start1 = February 5, 1859
| term_end1 = May 1860
| predecessor1 = [[Christopher C. Scott]]
| successor1 = Hulbert F. Fairchild
| office2            = Member of the<br />[[Arkansas House of Representatives]]<br />from [[Pulaski County, Arkansas|Pulaski County]]
| alongside2         = Joseph Stillwell
| term_start2        = November 6, 1854
| term_end2          = November 3, 1856
| predecessor2       = William E. Ashley<br />Benjamin F. Danley
| successor2         = Lorenzo Gibson<br />Samuel W. Williams
| office3            = Member of the [[Arkansas Senate]]<br />from [[Saline County, Arkansas|Saline]] and [[Perry County, Arkansas|Perry]] counties
| term_start3        = November 4, 1848
| term_end3          = November 1, 1852
| predecessor3       = ''New constituency''
| successor3         = ''Constituency abolished''
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1816|5|1|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = {{Nowrap|[[Louisville, Kentucky]], U.S.}}
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1899|8|12|1816|5|1}}
| death_place        = {{Nowrap|[[Little Rock, Arkansas]], U.S.}}
| resting_place      = [[Mount Holly Cemetery]],<br />{{Nowrap|Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.}}
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|34|44|15.3|N|92|16|42.5|W|region:US-AR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| party              = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Jane Elizabeth Field|November 20, 1838|November 20, 1857|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Ernestine Flora Linde|1859}}
}}
| children           = [[Elias W. Rector]] (son)<br />[[James Rector]] (grandson)
| allegiance         = {{flag|Confederate States|1865}}
| branch             =  <!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not add the State flag adopted by the General Assembly in 1913 (14 years after Rector's death) as it would be historically inaccurate. Thank you. -->[[Arkansas Militia in the Civil War|Arkansas Militia]]
| branch_label       = Service
| rank               = Private
| serviceyears       = 1862–1865
| battles            = [[American Civil War]]
| battles_label      = Wars
}}

'''Henry Massie Rector''' (May 1, 1816{{spaced ndash}}August 12, 1899) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the sixth [[List of Governors of Arkansas|governor of Arkansas]] from 1860 to 1862.

== Early life and education ==
Henry Massie Rector was born in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], the son of Fannie Bardella (Thruston) and Elias Rector.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaWyiHB4OTAC&q=Fannie+Bardella+Thruston&pg=PA235|title=Arkansas Biographical Dictionary|isbn=9780403098514|last1=Onofrio|first1=Jan|date=January 1998|publisher=Somerset Publishers }}</ref> His Rector family descended from the German-speaking families of [[Germanna]] in the [[Colony of Virginia]], though both parents were also of English descent.<ref>Biographical and pictorial history of Arkansas, Volume 1  By John Hallum page 405</ref> He was educated by his mother and attended two years of school in Louisville. He moved to Arkansas in 1835, where he was later appointed [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshal]].

== Political career ==
Rector was elected to the Arkansas Senate and served in that body from 1848 to 1850. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1854. From 1853 to 1857, he served as U.S. Surveyor-General of Arkansas for several years.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=119|title= Henry Massie Rector (1816–1899) |publisher= The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture |access-date=August 10, 2012}}</ref> From 1855 to 1859, he served in the Arkansas House of Representatives and spent one term as a justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_arkansas/col2-content/main-content-list/title_rector_henry.html|title=Arkansas Governor Henry Massey Rector|publisher= National Governors Association|access-date=August 10, 2012}}</ref>

===Governor of Arkansas===
{{Main|1860 Arkansas gubernatorial election}}
Rector was elected Governor of Arkansas in 1860. During his term Arkansas [[secession|seceded]] from the [[United States|U.S.]] and was admitted into the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]]. The constitution of Arkansas was rewritten reducing the term of office for Governor to two years. At the Arkansas secession convention in March 1861, Rector addressed the convention in an oratory urging the extension of slavery:

{{blockquote|text=The area of slavery must be extended correlative with its antagonism, or it will be put speedily in the 'course of ultimate extinction.' {{omission}} The extension of slavery is the vital point of the whole controversy between the North and the South {{omission}} Amendments to the federal constitution are urged by some as a panacea for all the ills that beset us. That instrument is amply sufficient as it now stands, for the protection of Southern rights, if it was only enforced. The South wants practical evidence of good faith from the North, not mere paper agreements and compromises. They believe slavery a sin, we do not, and there lies the trouble.|author=Henry Massey Rector|source=Arkansas Secession Convention (March 2, 1861).<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://civilwartalk.com/threads/fighting-for-slavery.80951/page-5|date=1861|title=Arkansas Secession Convention|page=4}}</ref>}}

Rector left office in 1862 and served as a private in the state [[militia]] for the rest of the war. He participated in the [[1874 Arkansas Constitutional Convention]].

== Personal life ==
Rector was the first cousin of Representative [[Henry Wharton Conway|Henry Conway]], Governor [[James Sevier Conway|James Conway]] and Governor [[Elias Nelson Conway|Elias Conway]]. Rector was also a third cousin of General [[James Lawson Kemper|James Kemper]]. He was a first cousin of fellow Confederate general [[Alexander E. Steen|Alexander Steen]].

His son, [[Elias W. Rector|Elias]], ran for Governor of Arkansas twice and served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for several terms, served as Speaker of the House, and married the daughter of Senator [[James Lusk Alcorn|James Alcorn]] of [[Mississippi]]. His grandson, [[James Rector|James]], was the first Arkansan to participate in the [[Olympic Games]].

== Death ==
Rector died in [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] and is buried in [[Mount Holly Cemetery]] there.

== Memorials ==
Rector Street in Little Rock is named after him. The north-bound frontage road along [[Interstate 30]] bears his name. The northeast Arkansas town of [[Rector, Arkansas|Rector]] is also named after him.

== See also == <!-- EDITORS NOTE: This section should primarily contain lists linked to the main article which are directly related to the person. Thank you. -->
* [[List of governors of Arkansas]]
* [[The Family (Arkansas politics)]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{Find a Grave|10401}}
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/reade-rector.html#948.76.24 Henry Massey Rector] at [[The Political Graveyard]]

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{{succession box |title=[[List of Governors of Arkansas|Governor of Arkansas]] |years=1860–1862 |before=[[Elias Nelson Conway|Elias Conway]] |after=[[Thomas Fletcher (Arkansas politician)|Thomas Fletcher]]<br />{{small|[[Acting (law)|Acting]]}}}}
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{{Governors of Arkansas}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rector, Henry Massey}}
[[Category:1816 births]]
[[Category:1899 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:1852 United States presidential electors]]
[[Category:Methodists from Arkansas]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American proslavery activists]]
[[Category:American surveyors]]
[[Category:Arkansas lawyers]]
[[Category:Democratic Party Arkansas state senators]]
[[Category:Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court]]
[[Category:Law enforcement officials from Arkansas]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Holly Cemetery]]
[[Category:Confederate States of America state governors]]
[[Category:Conway–Johnson family]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Arkansas]]
[[Category:Farmers from Arkansas]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Louisville, Kentucky]]
[[Category:People of Arkansas in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Politicians from Hot Spring County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Politicians from Saline County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:People pardoned by Andrew Johnson]]
[[Category:U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law]]
[[Category:United States Marshals]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly]]