“One of the most interesting and valuable cargoes to ever pass through, to, or from Lafayette County, Arkansas arrived in Long Prairie aboard a few flatboats, 184 years ago. One member of the “cargo” was nine year old Mary Jane “Polly” Bradley.” – Glynn McCalman at the annual “Conway Days” celebration in 2003.

Mary Jane “Polly” Bradley was born on August 31, 1809, in Wilson County, Tennessee, to John and Jane Barton Bradley. After the War of 1812, her mother and stepfather moved her and her sisters to the Arkansas territory. Her family was among the early settlers on Long Prairie, Arkansas. She met James Sevier Conway, the son of Captain Thomas Conway and Ann Elizabeth Rector, while he was working to survey the territory of Arkansas’ western boundary with the Choctaw Nation. They were married on December 21, 1825, and settled in Hempstead County, now Lafayette County. She would produce ten children, five of whom lived to adulthood.  

In 1836, her husband became the first governor when Arkansas became a state, effectively making her the first Arkansas First Lady. He would only serve one term. After his service was complete, they built a new home. It became a prominent landmark on the route from Washington to Natchitoches, Louisiana. During the Mexican War in 1846, notable leaders, Archibald Yell, Arkansas’ second governor, and John Selden Roane stopped by with their soldiers.

James would pass away in 1855. Polly died on February 15, 1878. They are buried together at Walnut Hill (now known as Conway Cemetery Historic State Park in Lafayette County).

Sources:

McCalman, Glynn. “Polly Conway (1809-1878)”. November 20, 2020. Encyclopedia of Arkansas.  Web.  July 30, 2021.

McCalman, Glynn. “Polly” Bradley: Little Girl on a Flatboat”. April 2003. Read More.