Lafayette S Gregg was a lawyer and politician from Fayetteville, Arkansas.
20 Facts About Lafayette Gregg
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Lafayette Gregg remained closely associated with the university and city throughout the last 20 years of his life, and served as an influential advocate.
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Lafayette S Gregg was born February 6,1825, in Moulton, Alabama.
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Lafayette Gregg was the son of Henry Gragg and Mary Murrell.
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Lafayette Gregg taught school to support himself until passing the bar exam and establishing a law practice, ultimately rising to become a prominent attorney in town.
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Lafayette Gregg won election to represent Washington County in the Arkansas House of Representatives during the Tenth Arkansas General Assembly alongside three other representatives.
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Lafayette Gregg was later elected prosecuting attorney for the Fourth Circuit on August 23,1856.
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Lafayette Gregg was a lifelong Republican who opposed Arkansas's secession from the United States and maintained loyalty to the United States during the Civil War.
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Lafayette Gregg was elected Chancellor of the Pulaski Chancery Court on November 25,1865, and later an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.
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Lafayette Gregg worked with fellow Fayetteville booster David Walker to ensure the Arkansas Industrial University would be established in Fayetteville.
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Lafayette Gregg was drafted by the Republicans to oppose incumbent Governor Simon P Hughes in the 1886 Arkansas gubernatorial election.
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Lafayette Gregg was soundly defeated, which was typical of Republican candidates during the Solid South period that followed the Reconstruction era.
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Lafayette Gregg personally oversaw construction of University Hall, now known as Old Main.
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Lafayette Gregg simultaneously undertook construction of a large brick residence with similar styling two blocks away, now known as the Lafayette Gregg House.
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Lafayette Gregg served as a professor of constitutional law following creation of the law department in 1890.
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Lafayette Gregg founded and served as president of the Bank of Fayetteville, managed a 400 acres farm, practiced law, and served as a state and local booster during the final years of his life.
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Lafayette Gregg donated land to the American Missionary Association for a school for Black children and advocated for Arkansas's inclusion in the Columbian Exposition.
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Lafayette Gregg served as chair of the Arkansas Banking Association in 1891.
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Lafayette Gregg died at home on November 1,1891; courts, businesses, banks, and the university all closed on the day of Lafayette Gregg's funeral.
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Lafayette Gregg is buried in nearby Evergreen Cemetery with several other influential Fayetteville residents.