John M. Harrel
John Mortimer Harrell was a prominent lawyer in Little Rock, Arkansas from the 1850s to 1870s. He composed the very first telegram sent from Little Rock to Memphis. During the Civil War he distinguished himself as a cavalry officer in the operations of the West. After the war, Harrell served as Commander of the Southern Arkansas Division, United Confederate Veterans.
In 1861 he was the political editor of the Old Line Democrat. He was the editor of the Southern States, a weekly that succeeded the Old Line Democrat. In 1876 he was one of the editors of the Arkansas Gazette. Soon after this he removed to Hot Springs, where he continued to reside for many years, until the death of his wife, when he moved out of the State. In about 1880 he was the editor of the Hot Springs Telegraph.
During Reconstruction, he was a Democrat and served as secretary of the Democratic convention in 1867. He wrote extensively about politics in Little Rock during this time, keeping newspaper clippings and long commentaries on the articles. His writings were posthumously published in 1893 as "The Brooks and Baxter War", and are one of the most prominent sources on the Brooks-Baxter War. Harrell also wrote the volume on Arkansas in the Confederate Military History.
