Poindexter Dunn

Poindexter Dunn (November 3, 1834 – October 12, 1914) was a Confederate Army veteran and American politician who served five terms as a U.S. Representative from Arkansas from 1879 to 1889. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arkansas during a significant period in the post–Civil War era, contributing to the legislative process and the representation of his constituents in the United States Congress.

Dunn was born in Wake County, North Carolina, near Raleigh, on November 3, 1834, the son of Grey and Lydia Baucum Dunn. In 1837 he moved with his father to Limestone County, Alabama, where he attended local country schools. He later pursued higher education in Tennessee and graduated from Jackson College in Columbia, Tennessee, in 1854. After completing his college studies, he read law and prepared for a legal career, laying the foundation for his later work as both a lawyer and public official.

In 1856 Dunn moved to St. Francis County, Arkansas, where he established himself as a planter and became a successful cotton grower. During this period he owned slaves, a fact that placed him firmly within the antebellum Southern plantation economy. He entered public life early, winning election to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1858. His personal life included two marriages: he first married Ellenora (also spelled Ellanora) Patton, and later married Anna Fussell, an Arkansas resident, with whom he had two daughters, Anna Mae Estes Dunn and Dorothea Dunn, the latter dying in infancy in 1888.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Dunn joined the Confederate cause and served as a captain in the Confederate States Army. The conflict disrupted his planting interests, and the postwar years required him to rebuild his professional life. Continuing his legal studies after the war, he was admitted to the bar in 1867 and commenced the practice of law in Forrest City, Arkansas. His legal practice, combined with his earlier legislative experience, positioned him as a prominent figure in local and state affairs during Reconstruction and its aftermath.

Dunn was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1889. Over the course of his five consecutive terms, he participated actively in the legislative work of the House during a transformative period in American political and economic life. He served as chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries during the Fiftieth Congress, a role that placed him at the center of debates over maritime commerce and related regulatory issues. After a decade in Congress, he chose not to be a candidate for renomination in 1888.

Upon leaving Congress, Dunn moved to Los Angeles, California, where he continued the practice of law. His experience in national office and his legal background led to further federal service. In 1893 he was appointed a special commissioner for the prevention of frauds on the customs revenue, a position that took him to New York City, where he resided while carrying out his duties. This appointment reflected ongoing federal concerns about customs enforcement during a period of expanding international trade.

Dunn’s later years were marked by a series of relocations tied to business and professional opportunities. In 1895 he moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he engaged in the construction of railroads, participating in the broader development of transportation infrastructure in the South. In 1905 he settled in Texarkana, Texas, which became his final residence. He continued to be identified with the legal profession and with the network of former Confederate officers and Democratic politicians who had shaped Southern public life in the late nineteenth century.

Poindexter Dunn died in Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas, on October 12, 1914, at the age of 79 years and 343 days. He was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Texarkana, Texas. His career spanned the antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction, and Gilded Age eras, encompassing service as a state legislator, Confederate Army officer, attorney, five-term Democratic member of Congress from Arkansas, and later federal commissioner and businessman.