ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
William King Sebastian —Justice and Senator
BY J.W. LOONEY Justice Sebastian
William King Sebastian, for whom Sebastian County is named, was one of the state’s most interesting political figures. He is better known for his service as a United States senator than as a justice on the Supreme Court, but in his relatively short time on the court he was involved in resolving some of the most contentious issues to reach the early court. Sebastian was born in Centerville, Hickman County, Tennessee, in 1812 and attended Columbia College in Tennessee graduating in 1834. He came to Arkansas from Tennessee in 1835 at age 23. He settled first in Monroe County then moved to Helena where he practiced law and served as prosecuting attorney in 1836-1837 and Circuit Judge from 1840-1843. There he also prospered as a cotton planter, married Amelia Dunn in 1838, and reared five children. When Justice Townsend Dickinson’s term ended on the court in 1842, he was replaced by George W. Paschal who took office in 1843 but served only about six months before resigning to move to Texas. Sebastian was appointed by Governor Archibald Yell to serve until the legislature could meet. He served the remainder of 1843 and all of 1844. Although he wished to continue on the court, the legislature selected Williamson S. Oldham for the seat. Sebastian was elected to the Arkansas Senate in 1846 and then selected by the legislature in 1848 to fill the seat of Chester Ashley in the United States Senate, defeating Oldham in the balloting. He was subsequently elected for two additional terms. Based on the secession of Arkansas from the Union and his failure to attend a special session of Congress on July 4, 1861, he was expelled from the Senate July 11, 1861. He did not resign from the Senate and apparently gave some thought to returning as the war progressed, apparently encouraged by President Abraham Lincoln to do so. In the end he chose to remain in Helena for a 44
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time, then moved to Memphis. One of Sebastian’s important opinions on the court was the third and final decision on the question of whether the state owed any obligation to Thomas Williamson, who, along with Senator Ambrose H. Sevier, had been appointed commissioners to sell bonds of the Arkansas Real Estate Bank in Washington.1 Sebastian, joined by Justice Thomas Lacy, with Chief Justice Ringo dissenting, relieved the state of responsibility by refusing to change the original decision as set out by Justice Townsend Dickinson in July 1842. Later in the year the court pronounced that the corporate existence of the Real Estate Bank had ceased since it had failed to exercise its franchise as chartered.2 In an era which historian Lawrence Friedman has characterized as “extreme fussiness,” where courts often elevated form over substance, Sebastian recognized the necessity of careful analysis. We would not permit matters of form to be disregarded when their observance protects any legal and important right or privilege. In such case, form is substance, and so intimately connected and blended together that one cannot be invaded without impairing or destroying the other.3 The particular case involved an indictment for murder in which the language used was “against the peace and dignity of the people of the State of Arkansas” rather than the mandated “against the peace and dignity of the State of Arkansas.” While recognizing the importance of form, Sebastian thought this slight deviation was but a “redundancy of words” and an “excess in form” which was “subsidiary to the ends of justice.” Justice Ringo, always concerned with technicalities, would have reversed on the basis of failure to comply precisely with the constitution.
Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Sebastian died May 20, 1865, in Memphis in failing health, insolvent and a widower. His home in Phillips County, within the federal lines, had apparently been sacked and destroyed by federal soldiers. He was buried in the Dunn Family Cemetery in Phillips County. Following the war his children petitioned the Senate to revoke the expulsion and submitted numerous affidavits of acquaintances of Sebastian who testified to his loyalty and his opposition to secession. In 1877 the Senate revoked his expulsion and his children were paid compensation. Endnotes: 1. Real Estate Bank v. Rawdon, 5 Ark. 558 (1844). 2. State v. Real Estate Bank, 5 Ark. 599 (1844). 3. Anderson v. State, 5 Ark. 445 (1844). Further Reading: 1. John Gerald Mula, “The Public Career of William King Sebastian.” M.A. Thesis University of Arkansas (1969). 2. “Petition of the Children and Only Heirs of the Late Senator William K. Sebastian of Arkansas.” Miscellaneous Documents of the Senate of the United States, 43rd Congress. 3. “William King Sebastian (1812-0865).” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. Judge J.W. Looney is a Circuit Judge, 18-W Judicial Circuit (Polk and Montgomery Counties) and Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, University of Arkansas School of Law. This article is provided by the Arkansas Supreme Court Historical Society, Inc. For more information on the Society contact Rod Miller, Arkansas Supreme Court Historical Society: 501-682-6879.