Arkansas Encyclopedia of Arkansas History - Encyclopedia Arkapedia

James Philip Eagle

James Philip Eagle (10 August 1837 – 19 December 1904) was a Democratic Governor of the State of Arkansas.

James Philip Eagle was born in Maury County, Tennessee. His family moved to Arkansas early in his life and he was educated in the public schools. From 1873 to 1878 he served as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 1875 Eagle served as speaker of the house. From 1880 to 1904 he served as president of the Baptist State Convention.

In 1888 Eagle was elected Governor of Arkansas. In 1890 he was reelected for a second term. The Eagle administration concerned itself with attracting immigration and support for education. Eagle was sympathetic to women's suffrage and once welcomed Susan B. Anthony to the state though he did not provide active political support.

James P. Eagle died in Little Rock, Arkansas of heart failure. Eagle is buried at the historic Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock.

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Arkansas' gross domestic product for 2005 was $87 billion. Its per capita household median income (in current dollars) for 2004 was $35,295, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The state's agriculture outputs are poultry and eggs, soybeans, sorghum, cattle, cotton, rice, hogs, and milk. Its industrial outputs are food processing, electric equipment, fabricated metal products, machinery, paper products, bromine, and vanadium.

Several global companies are headquartered in the northwest corner of Arkansas, including Wal-Mart (the world's largest public corporation by revenue in 2007), J.B. Hunt and Tyson Foods. This area of the state has experienced an economic boom since the 1970s as a result.

In recent years, automobile parts manufacturers have opened factories in eastern Arkansas to support auto plants in other states. Additionally, the city of Conway is the site of a school bus factory.

Tourism is also very important to the Arkansas economy; the official state nickname "The Natural State" was originally created (as "Arkansas Is A Natural") for state tourism advertising in the 1970s, and is still regularly used to this day.

James Philip Eagle was elected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1902 and was reelected to that position twice more. He continued to be active in the Baptist church. Eagle served on the state capitol commission but was fired by Governor Jeff Davis for allegedly campaigning for an opponent of Davis. Davis was opposed to the construction of the new capitol building.

Mount Holly Cemetery is the original cemetery in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas and is the resting place for numerous Arkansans of note. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been nicknamed "The Westminster Abbey of Arkansas".

The cemetery is the burial place for 10 former Governors of Arkansas, 6 United States Senators, 14 Arkansas Supreme Court Justices, 21 Little Rock Mayors, numerous Arkansas literary figures, Confederate Generals, and other worthies.

Every year in October several drama students from Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School each select a person buried in the cemetery to research. They then prepare short monologues or dialogues, complete with period costumes, to be performed in front of the researched person's grave. Audiences are led through the cemetery from grave to grave by guides with candles. The event is called "Tales from the Crypt". Although it takes place around the same time as the American holiday Halloween, the event is meant to be historic rather than spooky.

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Mount Holly Cemetery


since statehood.