The Biographical Dictionary of America/Arrington, Alfred W.

ARRINGTON, Alfred W., lawyer, was born in Iredell county, N. C., Sept. 10, 1810, son of Archibald Arrington, a representative to the 27th and 28th congresses for North Carolina. He received a fair education, and at the age of nineteen entered the itinerant ministry of the M. E. church. He preached with great success in Indiana and Missouri until 1824, when he relinquished the ministry for the study of law. Being admitted to the bar, he practised successfully in Missouri, and in 1836 he removed to Arkansas and was elected to the state legislature. In 1844 he withdrew his name from the Whig electoral ticket, and supported James K. Polk for President. He soon after removed to Texas, and in 1850 he was elected judge of the 12th district court. He left Texas in 1857 for Wisconsin, and finally settled in Chicago, Ill., where he acquired eminence as a constitutional lawyer. He was an impassioned speaker. His "Apostrophe to Water" was used by John B. Gough in his lectures with thrilling effect. He wrote under the pen name of "Charles Summerfield," and his poems and sketches were largely read. His "Sketches of the Southwest" and the "Rangers and Regulators of Tanaha" were published in 1857; and a volume containing a sketch of his character, his memoirs, and a collection of his poems, was issued in 1867. He died in Chicago, from overwork, Dec. 31, 1867.