Gordon Neill Peay (1819–1876)

Gordon Neill Peay was an Arkansas businessman, banker, soldier, and politician who was a member of the influential Peay family and served as the twenty-third mayor of Little Rock (Pulaski County).

Gordon Peay was born on December 12, 1819, in Nicholasville, Kentucky, to Major Nicholas Peay and Juliette Mildred Neill Peay. Peay’s father was a planter and veteran of the War of 1812 and Indian Wars. The family moved to Little Rock in 1825, one of the first families to settle there. His father opened a hotel and tavern in Little Rock called the Peay Hotel, which would later become the Anthony House; he also served on the Little Rock Board of Trustees, on the Little Rock City Council, and as assistant postmaster.

In 1844, Gordon Peay was elected Pulaski County clerk, a position he would hold until 1857. Peay also served on the Little Rock City Council and was elected mayor of Little Rock, serving from 1859 to 1861.

Peay was closely involved with the Real Estate Bank for much of his adult life. When Arkansas became a state in 1836, one of the first acts of the Arkansas General Assembly was to create the Real Estate Bank. The bank did not begin operating until 1838. Although it was chartered by the state, there was little government oversight of the institution, and by 1842, the bank was in poor condition because of corruption and mismanagement. For a time, Peay served as the cashier of the Real Estate Bank, and when the bank’s central board deeded the assets of the institution to fifteen trustees in 1842, Peay was to serve as the trustees’ secretary. In 1855, the legislature passed an act that transferred the assets of the Real Estate Bank to a receiver appointed by the state. When Charles F. M. Noland, the first receiver of the bank, was removed, Peay was named receiver on April 25, 1855, and he continued to serve in this capacity until his death in 1876.

Peay married Susan Crease, daughter of John H. Crease, on February 22, 1854. They had eight children, including Gordon N. Peay Jr., who would be president of Worthen Bank (1911–1927), and Mollie Crease Peay, who would marry banker W. B. Worthen on June 3, 1879.

Peay was captain of the Capital Guards, a Little Rock–based militia unit. Under Peay’s command, the Capital Guards were instrumental in maintaining the peace between Federal troops and pro-secessionist militias in Little Rock during the Little Rock Arsenal Crisis. With the outbreak of the Civil War and Arkansas’s secession from the Union, the Capital Guards became Company A of the Sixth Arkansas Infantry Regiment (CS). Peay rose to the rank of colonel and served with the unit until he was severely wounded at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 and subsequently resigned his command. Peay returned to Arkansas and was appointed adjutant general of Arkansas by Governor Harris Flanagin, serving from 1863 to 1865. Peay’s home was confiscated during the war, but during Reconstruction, Peay received a pardon and reacquired it.

In 1874, Peay and W. B. Worthen formed Peay & Worthen, a private bank, in Little Rock.

Peay died in Little Rock on December 14, 1876, and is buried at Mount Holly Cemetery.

For additional information:
Collier, Calvin L. First In—Last Out: The Capitol Guards, Arkansas Brigade. Little Rock: Pioneer Press, 1961.

DeBlack, Thomas A. With Fire and Sword: Arkansas, 1861–1874. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press 2003.

“Gordon N. Peay.” Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7421603/gordon_neill_peay (accessed August 7, 2024).

Gitelman, Morton. “The First Chancery Court in Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 55 (Winter 1996): 357–382.

Hempstead, Fay. A Pictorial History of Arkansas: From Earliest Times to the Year 1890. Thompson Publishing Company, 1890.

House, A. F. “Cousin Nick Peay: The Wit and Wisdom of Pioneer Resident.” Arkansas Gazette, August 18, 1974, p. 86.

Peay-Hammond Family Collection, BC.MSS.11.69. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. Central Arkansas Library System, Little Rock, Arkansas. Finding aid online at https://arstudies.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/search/searchterm/MSS.11.69 (accessed August 7, 2024).

Penick-Worthen-Brandon Family Papers, BC.MSS.14.41. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. Central Arkansas Library System, Little Rock, Arkansas. Finding aid online at https://arstudies.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/search/searchterm/BC.MSS.14.41 (accessed August 7, 2024).

Worley, Ted. R. “The Control of the Real Estate Bank of the State of Arkansas, 1836–1855.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 27 (December 1950): 403–426.

John Ahlen
Little Rock, Arkansas