Elbert H. English

Elbert Hartwell English (March 6, 1816 – September 1, 1884)[1][2] was chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1855 to 1864, and again from 1874 to 1884.

He read law to gain admission to the bar at Athens, in 1839, and served two terms in the Alabama Legislature.

In 1844 he moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and opened an office, and in a few months was made reporter of the supreme court.

After the war he returned to the private practice of law, upon the termination of the Reconstruction era in 1874, he was elected chief justice by the people.

The duty of supplying its imperfections, of mitigating its hardships, he left to the legislature, where it properly belongs.