To achieve the heights of a profession often takes hard work and determination. Sometimes it is achieved entirely by accident, as in the case of the bizarre governorship of Xenophon O. Pindall, who served for nearly two years as acting governor.
Pindall was born in Monroe County, Missouri, in 1873. It is a very rural county most well-known for being the birthplace of famed author Mark Twain. His father was a colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and an attorney. At a young age, the family relocated to Desha County, Arkansas.
Pindall's childhood was one marked with tragedy. He watched his three brothers all die in childhood.
His father, who himself would enjoy a successful political career, sent the younger Pindall to local schools in Desha County and eventually to a military school in Missouri. He attended Central College in Missouri before returning to Arkansas for law school. Pindall graduated from the University of Arkansas law school in 1896.
He set up a law firm in Desha County and married in 1902. The same year, Pindall won his first election to the state legislature. Voters were satisfied with his work and re-elected him in 1904. He ran for attorney general in 1906. At this time, party candidates were selected at the state convention rather than by primary election. Delegates narrowly chose William F. Kirby, a future U. S. Senator, over Pindall. He quietly accepted the results and returned home.
However, fate intervened again. In early 1907, the newly elected State Sen. Howard Robb, who represented Drew and Desha counties, suddenly died. A special election was held, and Pindall won, to fill the remainder of the term.
In 1906, while Pindall was nursing his political wounds, Congressman John S. Little was elected governor. He was a kindly man with a reputation for integrity. Unfortunately, he was also plagued with ill health. Little was beset with a string a debilitating illnesses not long after his inauguration in January 1907. This caused problems as he spent most of his time at his home in Greenwood while the legislature was underway.
On February 11, Little decided to leave Arkansas for Texas, hoping to recover his health. As Arkansas did not have a lieutenant governor at this point, the line of succession fell to the President of the State Senate, John I. Moore of Phillips County.
Little's health worsened, and he announced his resignation a few days later. Moore was technically only acting governor, as state law did not allow for the position of governor to be filled on a permanent basis in case of resignation or other causes. Moore served competently through the remainder of the legislative term.
Among the last pieces of business of any regular session of the legislature is the election of officers for the next term, including Speaker of the House and President of the Senate. Pindall, having just won a term in the state senate, impressed his colleagues, who voted him to be the new President of the State Senate.
Because of a quirk in the rules, the term of the outgoing senate president ended with the end of the regular legislative session, which fell on May 14, 1907. Moore was still considered to be a part of the state senate and only the acting governor. As a result, since his term as state senate president ended, he was no longer acting governor. Since the term of the new President of the State Senate had now begun, that made Xenophon Pindall the new acting governor until a new governor would be elected.
As acting governor, he signed into law the state's first pure food and drug law, protecting the state's foods and medicines from contamination. He also enacted a law banning price discrimination, protecting farmers and consumers alike. Most of his time in office was filling administrative functions such as filling appointments to state commissions and boards, various ceremonial duties and issuing pardons.
His term in the state senate ended on January 11, 1909, as the new legislative session opened. However, it would be three more days until the newly elected George Donaghey would be inaugurated as governor. So in the intervening three days, the new President of the Senate, Jesse Martin of Pope County, served as acting governor.
Pindall's improbable rise to the governorship gave a new impetus to reformers in the state to bring back the office of lieutenant governor, which had briefly existed during Reconstruction. After Gov. Joseph T. Robinson resigned in March 1913 to become a U. S. Senator, after only two months as governor, the same pattern surrounding Pindall threatened to begin again. An orderly transfer of power was needed. However, this office would not return to the state until 1927.
Pindall would never again serve in elected office. After his state senate term ended in 1911, he quietly returned to his law practice, with branch offices in both Little Rock and Arkansas City. He never ran for election again.
Pindall met an untimely and tragic death on January 2, 1935. He was walking along the bluffs along the Arkansas River when he slipped and fell to the rocks below. He was 61.
Dr. Ken Bridges is a professor of history and geography at South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado and a resident historian for the South Arkansas Historical Preservation Society. Bridges can be reached by email at kbridges@ southark.edu.