Jacob Frolich | |
|---|---|
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| Secretary of State of Arkansas | |
| In office 1879–1885 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 15, 1837 Oberndorf, Germany |
| Died | April 25, 1890 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Resting place | Oakland-Fraternal Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Newspaper publisher |
Jacob Frolich (November 15, 1837 – April 25, 1890) was a German-born, American politician who served as Arkansas Secretary of State from 1879 to 1885. He served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was the founder and publisher of the White County Record, a Democratic Party-affiliated newspaper that took a strong stance against Radical Republicans and Reconstruction efforts in Arkansas after the Civil War. He was a leader in the White County, Arkansas, branch of the Ku Klux Klan and was indicted for the murder of an agent of the Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton investigating Klan activity in White County. He fled to Canada to avoid arrest but returned a year later to face trial and was acquitted of the crime.
He served as assistant secretary of the Arkansas Senate in 1874 and chief secretary in 1878. He served as Adjutant general in the Arkansas militia from 1877 to 1879. He worked in the Grover Cleveland administration as chief clerk of the Mineral Division of the Interior Department and as chief financial clerk of the Patent Office.