Elias Nelson Conway

Infobox Governor
name = Elias Nelson Conway


order = 5th
office = Governor of Arkansas
term_start = 1852
term_end = 1860
lieutenant =
predecessor = John S. Roane
successor = Henry M. Rector
birth_date = birth date|1812|5|17|mf=y
birth_place =
death_date = death date and age|1892|2|28|1812|5|17
death_place =
party = Democrat
spouse =
profession =
religion =

Elias Nelson Conway (May 17 1812ndash February 28 1892) was a Democratic Governor of Arkansas.

Elias Nelson Conway was brother to James Sevier Conway, the first governor of Arkansas. He and his family moved to Missouri. Conway attended Bonne Femme Academy in Boone County, Missouri.

In 1833 Conway moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. He studied surveying and served as the state auditor from 1835 to 1849. In 1844 Conway was offered, but declined, the nomination for Governor in 1844. In 1852 the nomination was offered again and Conway accepted. His election campaign was successful and became Governor of Arkansas.

The Conway administration focused on physical improvement of the state. He formed the Chancery Courts and eased the state's financial problems. When Conway left office in 1860 and the state treasury held a surplus.

Conway retired from public life, becoming a bit of a recluse. Conway is buried at the historic Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Conway was first cousin to Senator Ambrose Hundley Sevier and Governor Henry Massey Rector.

As a surveyor, Conway ordered David Dale Owen to survey west of Little Rock. The Natural Steps, Natural Steps, Arkansas, were first written about and drawn by David Dale Owen (Principal Geologist)in his Second Report of a Geological Reconnaissance of the Middle and Southern Counties of Arkansas (1859) ordered by Elias Nelson Conway, Governor of Arkansas.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9756 Find-A-Grave profile for Elias Nelson Conway]
*Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture entry: [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=96 Elias Nelson Conway]