Leona Troxell
Encyclopedia
Leona Anderson Troxell Dodd, known politically as Leona Troxell (April 22, 1913 - July 26, 2003), was a native New York
er who was a pioneer in the development of the Republican Party
in her adopted state
of Arkansas
. She was president of the National Republican Women's Committee from 1963–1967, during which time she became involved in the gubernatorial campaigns of another New York State native, Winthrop Rockefeller
. She was also a former Republican national committeewoman from Arkansas. For a time, she was director of the Arkansas Employment
Security Division in the Rockefeller administration.
Mrs. Troxell was born in Johnstown
in east central Fulton County
in New York to Frank and Clara Anderson. She was the dean of women at Drake University
in Des Moines, Iowa
, before she married Nolan Troxell (1904–1971) and moved to tiny Rose Bud
in White County
north of the state capital of Little Rock
.
In 1968, when Rockefeller was re-elected to his second term as governor
, Mrs. Troxell was the unsuccessful candidate for state treasurer. She was defeated by the Democratic
incumbent
Nancy J. Hall (1904–1991). Troxell polled 218,804 votes (37.4 percent) to Hall's 365,540 (62.6 percent). Troxell won five of the seventy-five Arkansas counties: Searcy, Baxter
, Benton
, Carroll, and Washington
counties, but she did not prevail in her own White County. Hall, the wife of the late Secretary of State C.G. "Crip" Hall, was first elected treasurer in 1962 and served until 1981. Mrs. Hall was also the first woman ever elected to statewide constitutional office in Arkansas.
In 1974, Troxell ran for lieutenant governor
on the Republican gubernatorial ticket headed by the more conservative Ken Coon
. First, she defeated in the GOP primary an African American candidate, Andrew Bearden, who was allied with the controversial newspaper editor, Joseph H. Weston
of Cave City
in Sharp County
in northern Arkansas, whose work had led to a landmark change in state libel law. As the Republican nominee, Troxell pledged to bring "decorum" to the Arkansas State Senate, over which the lieutenant governor presides. However, she was handily defeated by the former Democratic Attorney General
Joe Purcell
(1923–1987) of Benton
, the seat of Saline County. In a heavily Democratic year, Mrs. Troxell received only 121,302 votes (23 percent) to Purcell's 406,040 (77 percent). She carried no counties in what turned out to have been her last venture on a ballot. Coon was defeated by David Hampton Pryor
, but he ran some 65,000 votes ahead of ticket-mate Troxell. Purcell served as lieutenant governor until 1981.
In 1981, Mrs. Troxell questioned the appointment of former Governor Orval Eugene Faubus
as director of the scandal-plagued Arkansas Veterans's Affairs Department. The selection was made by Governor Frank D. White
, only the second Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. ". . . Obviously, I do not want to go back to the kind of regime we had when he was governor . . . Believe me, that was machine politics at its worst," Mrs. Troxell said of the Faubus era (1955–1967). Other leading Republicans, such as former gubernatorial candidate Len E. Blaylock
of Perry County and U.S. Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt
of Harrison
, defended White's selection on grounds that Faubus was ideally suited for the particular position.
Troxell also questioned Governor White over the proposed Equal Rights Amendment
. When White declined to include ERA in the agenda for a special legislative session in the fall of 1981, Troxell attempted to meet with White. "I asked if there was any opportunity for a group to see the governor, but his schedule was completely full," Troxell told the Arkansas Gazette.
Mrs. Troxell was an active member of the Rose Bud First Baptist
Church, having worked over the years with the youth, the choir
, and the Women's Missionary
Union. She established the Nolan and Leona Troxell Perpetual Church Scholarship. In 1994, the Rose Bud congregation named its new church education building after her.
She was a past chairman of the Arkansas Heart
Association and a member of Order of the Eastern Star
.
Mrs. Troxell Dodd died in a nursing home
in Judsonia
in White County. She was survived by two nephew
s, Karl Gustafson of Boulder, Colorado
and Dick Gustafson of Oneonta, New York
. She was preceded in death by her parents, her first husband, her second husband, Russell Dodd, and a sister, Jeanette Gustafson (1919–1997). Services were held at the Rose Bud First Baptist Church. Interment was at the Little Rock National Cemetery
.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
er who was a pioneer in the development of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in her adopted state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. She was president of the National Republican Women's Committee from 1963–1967, during which time she became involved in the gubernatorial campaigns of another New York State native, Winthrop Rockefeller
Winthrop Rockefeller
Winthrop Rockefeller was a politician and philanthropist who served as the first Republican Governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. He was a third-generation member of the Rockefeller family.-Early life:...
. She was also a former Republican national committeewoman from Arkansas. For a time, she was director of the Arkansas Employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
Security Division in the Rockefeller administration.
Mrs. Troxell was born in Johnstown
Johnstown (city), New York
Johnstown is a city and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 Census, the city had population of 8,511. Recent estimates put the figure closer to 8,100. The city was named by its founder, Sir William Johnson after his son John Johnson...
in east central Fulton County
Fulton County, New York
Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 55,531. Its name is in honor of Robert Fulton, who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
in New York to Frank and Clara Anderson. She was the dean of women at Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
, before she married Nolan Troxell (1904–1971) and moved to tiny Rose Bud
Rose Bud, Arkansas
Rose Bud is a town in White County, Arkansas, in the United States. Tammy Tipton Bomar is the current mayor. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 429...
in White County
White County, Arkansas
White County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 77,076. The county seat is Searcy. White County is Arkansas's 31st county, formed on October 23, 1835, from portions of Independence, Jackson, and Pulaski counties and named for Hugh Lawson White, a...
north of the state capital of Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
.
In 1968, when Rockefeller was re-elected to his second term as governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
, Mrs. Troxell was the unsuccessful candidate for state treasurer. She was defeated by the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Nancy J. Hall (1904–1991). Troxell polled 218,804 votes (37.4 percent) to Hall's 365,540 (62.6 percent). Troxell won five of the seventy-five Arkansas counties: Searcy, Baxter
Baxter County, Arkansas
Baxter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is in the northern part of the state, and shares a border with Missouri. It is commonly referred to as the Twin Lakes Area because it is bordered by two of Arkansas' largest lakes, Bull Shoals Lake and Norfork Lake...
, Benton
Benton County, Arkansas
Benton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, the population was 153,406. The U.S. Census Bureau 2010 population is 221,339. The county seat is Bentonville. Benton County was formed on 30 September 1836 and was named after Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S...
, Carroll, and Washington
Washington County, Arkansas
Washington County is a county located in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 203,065. The county seat is Fayetteville. Washington County is Arkansas's 17th county, formed on October 17, 1828, and named for George Washington, the first President of the...
counties, but she did not prevail in her own White County. Hall, the wife of the late Secretary of State C.G. "Crip" Hall, was first elected treasurer in 1962 and served until 1981. Mrs. Hall was also the first woman ever elected to statewide constitutional office in Arkansas.
In 1974, Troxell ran for lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
on the Republican gubernatorial ticket headed by the more conservative Ken Coon
Ken Coon
Kenneth Lloyd "Ken" Coon, Sr. , is a Little Rock educator, professional psychologist, and counselor who was also a pioneer in the development of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Arkansas. He was the GOP state chairman from 1988—1990...
. First, she defeated in the GOP primary an African American candidate, Andrew Bearden, who was allied with the controversial newspaper editor, Joseph H. Weston
Joseph H. Weston
Joseph H. Weston was a controversial newspaper editor in Cave City in Sharp County in northern Arkansas, whose work led to a change in his state's libel law....
of Cave City
Cave City, Arkansas
Cave City is a city in Independence and Sharp counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The population was 1,946 at the 2000 census. The city was named for a large cave underneath the Crystal River Tourist Camp, which is the oldest motor court in Arkansas...
in Sharp County
Sharp County, Arkansas
-External links:*...
in northern Arkansas, whose work had led to a landmark change in state libel law. As the Republican nominee, Troxell pledged to bring "decorum" to the Arkansas State Senate, over which the lieutenant governor presides. However, she was handily defeated by the former Democratic Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Joe Purcell
Joe Purcell
Joseph Gregory Purcell -References:...
(1923–1987) of Benton
Benton, Arkansas
Benton is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Arkansas, United States and a suburb of Little Rock. It was established in 1837. According to a 2006 Special Census conducted at the request of the city government, the population of the city is 27,717, ranking it as the state's 16th largest...
, the seat of Saline County. In a heavily Democratic year, Mrs. Troxell received only 121,302 votes (23 percent) to Purcell's 406,040 (77 percent). She carried no counties in what turned out to have been her last venture on a ballot. Coon was defeated by David Hampton Pryor
David Pryor
David Hampton Pryor is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. Pryor also served as 39th Governor of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979 and was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1960 to 1966...
, but he ran some 65,000 votes ahead of ticket-mate Troxell. Purcell served as lieutenant governor until 1981.
In 1981, Mrs. Troxell questioned the appointment of former Governor Orval Eugene Faubus
Orval Faubus
Orval Eugene Faubus was the 36th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1955 to 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against the desegregation of Little Rock public schools during the Little Rock Crisis, in which he defied a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court by ordering the...
as director of the scandal-plagued Arkansas Veterans's Affairs Department. The selection was made by Governor Frank D. White
Frank D. White
Frank Durward White was the 41st Governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas since Reconstruction. He served a single two-year term from 1981 to 1983. He is one of only two people to have defeated President Bill Clinton in an election. Frank Durward White (June 4, 1933 – May 21, 2003) was...
, only the second Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. ". . . Obviously, I do not want to go back to the kind of regime we had when he was governor . . . Believe me, that was machine politics at its worst," Mrs. Troxell said of the Faubus era (1955–1967). Other leading Republicans, such as former gubernatorial candidate Len E. Blaylock
Len E. Blaylock
Len Everette Blaylock, Sr. , is a retired farmer, educator, small businessman, and Republican politician from tiny Nimrod in Perry County in northwestern Arkansas. He was state welfare commissioner under Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, the GOP gubernatorial nominee , the U.S...
of Perry County and U.S. Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt
John Paul Hammerschmidt
John Paul Hammerschmidt is an American politician from the U.S. state of Arkansas. A Republican, Hammerschmidt served for thirteen terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from the northwestern Arkansas district before he retired in 1993...
of Harrison
Harrison, Arkansas
Harrison is a city in Boone County, Arkansas, United States. It is the county seat. According to 2007 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 13,108. Boone County was organized in 1869, during reconstruction after the civil war. Harrison was platted and made the county seat. It is...
, defended White's selection on grounds that Faubus was ideally suited for the particular position.
Troxell also questioned Governor White over the proposed Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
. When White declined to include ERA in the agenda for a special legislative session in the fall of 1981, Troxell attempted to meet with White. "I asked if there was any opportunity for a group to see the governor, but his schedule was completely full," Troxell told the Arkansas Gazette.
Mrs. Troxell was an active member of the Rose Bud First Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church, having worked over the years with the youth, the choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, and the Women's Missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
Union. She established the Nolan and Leona Troxell Perpetual Church Scholarship. In 1994, the Rose Bud congregation named its new church education building after her.
She was a past chairman of the Arkansas Heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
Association and a member of Order of the Eastern Star
Order of the Eastern Star
The Order of the Eastern Star is a fraternal organization that both men and women can join. It was established in 1850 by Rob Morris, a lawyer and educator from Boston, Massachusetts, who had been an official with the Freemasons. It is based on teachings from the Bible, but is open to people of all...
.
Mrs. Troxell Dodd died in a nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
in Judsonia
Judsonia, Arkansas
Judsonia is a city in White County, Arkansas, United States. Rickey Veach is the current mayor. The population was 1,982 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Judsonia is located at ....
in White County. She was survived by two nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
s, Karl Gustafson of Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
and Dick Gustafson of Oneonta, New York
Oneonta, New York
Oneonta is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, had a population of 13,901. Its nickname is "City of the Hills." While the word "oneonta" is of undetermined origin, it is popularly believed to mean "place of open rocks" in the Iroquois language...
. She was preceded in death by her parents, her first husband, her second husband, Russell Dodd, and a sister, Jeanette Gustafson (1919–1997). Services were held at the Rose Bud First Baptist Church. Interment was at the Little Rock National Cemetery
Little Rock National Cemetery
Little Rock National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery, located two miles south of the city of Little Rock, in Pulaski County, Arkansas. It encompasses , and as of the end of 2005, had 25,172 interments. It is currently closed to new interments.- History :The area around Little Rock...
.