Junius Marion Futrell

Junius Marion Futrell was governor of the State of Arkansas from March 13, 1913, to July 23, 1913, and again from January 10, 1933, to January 12, 1937.

Futrell was born in rural Greene County, Arkansas, to Confederate Army veteran Jepthra Futrell and Arminia Levonica Eubanks Futrell on August 14, 1870. He attended Arkansas Industrial University from 1892 to 1893. He became a schoolteacher from 1893 to 1896. He married Tera A. Smith in 1893. In 1896 he was elected representative to the Arkansas General Assembly. He served two more terms in 1900 and 1902. Between 1906 and 1910 he was the circuit clerk for Greene County. He became a state senator in 1913. Upon the resignation of governor Joseph Taylor Robinson, Futrell became interim governor in 1913. He was succeeded as governor by George Washington Hays in a special election on July 23, 1913.

During World War I Senator Futrell supported the Arkansas Council of Defense. In 1932 Futrell ran for governor of Arkansas, defeating his chief Democratic challenger Dwight H. Blackwood. Faced with the Great Depression Futrell cut state spending by more than fifty percent in his first term in office. He proposed to end state support for high school education and pursued a decidedly Luddite agenda.

Futrell died on June 20, 1955.