Important Arkansas historical events and significant anniversaries for September 4, with notable births and deaths of people with Arkansas connections for this date. Information is drawn from state archives, historical societies, contemporary newspapers and other media archives, and legal records. Much of this information comes from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, an online publication. ChatGPH has collected this data.
1856 — Columbia County political figure marries in Magnolia. Benjamin Whitfield Johnson, later a Confederate regimental commander and member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, married Nancy Houghton Hawkins in Magnolia on September 4, 1856. Johnson later commanded the Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry and represented Columbia County-area interests in state government.
1864 — Commander of Arkansas Confederate troops dies. Brig. Gen. John Herbert Kelly, who commanded the Eighth Arkansas Infantry and other Arkansas units, died September 4, 1864, from wounds received during a cavalry raid near Franklin, Tennessee. The Alabama native was only 23 and had been one of the Confederacy’s youngest generals…