Russell Elrod (1904–1985)

Russell Elrod was elected to the Arkansas Senate in 1944 and served through 1968, having been defeated by the first Republican in the Senate since Reconstruction. He served with five governors: Ben Laney, Sid McMath, Francis Cherry, Orval Faubus, and Winthrop Rockefeller. His tenure stretched from the days of racial segregation, the initiation of the civil rights movement, and the commencement of the relative progress of the Rockefeller administration.

Russell Elrod was born on November 30, 1904, on a small farm in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) five miles west of Siloam Springs (Benton County). His mother was a member of the Cherokee Tribe, and the land was thus acquired by his family through Cherokee allotment during the Dawes Rolls period. He was the oldest of four brothers. He was educated in Siloam Springs after finishing sixth grade at Moseley School in Oklahoma, and he graduated from John Brown College (now John Brown University) in Siloam Springs in 1928. He majored in journalism and was the editor of the yearbook, the Jebroco.

During that period, the entire family moved to California, and he interrupted his education to join his parents and brothers there. They were “Okies” seeking better jobs. Russell returned to Arkansas and attended the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville (Washington County) for two years before he ran out of money; he took the bar examination, passed it in 1933, and commenced the practice of law in Siloam Springs.

In 1941, he married Doris Smith, who managed his law practice and, during his long absences in the Senate, was referred to as “the best lawyer in Siloam Springs without a license.” They had three children.

He served as city attorney for twelve years and ran for Benton County prosecuting attorney, a race he lost. Two years later, he ran for Senate, won, and began his twenty-three-year career representing Benton and Carroll counties in northwestern Arkansas. In that era, virtually all of the political power in Arkansas was in the central and eastern areas of the state—Pulaski County and the Delta. Wealth literally sprang from the ground in the form of cotton, a commodity that was lacking in the hills of the Ozarks. Despite those headwinds, Elrod quickly developed a reputation of quiet effectiveness and was elected president pro tempore of the Senate in 1953, defeating Ellis Fagan of Little Rock (Pulaski County). While in that position, he was occasionally acting governor of Arkansas.

Republican Winthrop Rockefeller’s election as governor in 1966 ushered in an era of change unseen in Arkansas since the Civil War. There being no Republicans in the Senate during Rockefeller’s first term, he turned to Elrod, a Democrat and the senior senator at the time, to manage his 1967 legislative agenda.

Because of his legislative skills, Elrod was known as “The Little Fox of Benton County” or just “Fox.” His work included support for the University of Arkansas, legislation creating a turnpike authority, and legislation permitting appeals from regulatory decisions to be heard in the county of origin rather than Pulaski County (known as the Elrod Amendment). In his book Call the Roll, Representative Jerry Hinshaw, a Republican, named Elrod one of the “Famous Arkansas Legislators of the 20th Century.”

After losing his Senate seat to Jim Caldwell in 1968, he returned to his law practice and cattle farms in Siloam Springs; his land included the original Cherokee allotment land in Oklahoma, the place of his birth. He died on December 3, 1985, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Siloam Springs.

For additional information:
“Elrod President Pro Tem.” Arkansas Gazette, January 13, 1953, p. 1B.

Hinshaw, Jerry E. Call the Roll: The First 150 Years of the Arkansas Legislature. Little Rock: Rose Publishing, 1986.

“Turnpike Panel Bill Is Passed.” Arkansas Gazette, November 17, 1966, p. 1B.

“WR’s Session Summary: When All Is Said, Done, Assembly Did Good Job.” Arkansas Gazette, April 1, 1967, p. 10A.

John Elrod
Conner & Winters, LLP