When the rival villages of Duck Creek and
Embree combined around a new post office
in 1887, the resulting community acquired
a compromise name - Garland.
A.H. Garland, the town's namesake, was born
in Tennessee, but moved at an early age with
his family to Arkansas.
After a brief stint teaching school, he began
"reading the law," which soon became his
passion as well as his profession. Tensions
leading toward civil war drew him to public
life, first as a delegate to the secession
convention in Arkansas, then as a member of
both the Confederate Legislature and Senate.
Following the war "Gus" Garland gained
national attention when he successfully
challenged The Iron Clad Oath, which barred
the former Confederate from practicing law.
He also secured a pardon from President
Andrew Johnson and later served as Arkansas'
Acting Secretary of State, Governor and U.S.
Senate. When President Grover Cleveland