Talk:Pope County Militia War

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added Caronde (talk) 16:22, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

Martial law WAS pushed for by county officials

I agree that it seems dubious and that's why I specifically searched 1872 newspapers with the terms "martial law" and "Pope County." It seems that Governor Hadley, recognizing that he didn't have chance of another term as governor and went against those in power behind him (still researching that angle) who DID want it declared.

Numerous secondary 1872 references refer to the attempts to get martial law declared in Pope County.

"The Radical Deviltries in Pope County, Arkansas (Shooting of Deputy Williams)". The Daily Phoenix. No. 168, Vol. VIII. Columbia, SC: J. A. Selby. October 3, 1872. "... has made a confession... revealing a plot deliberately entered into by officials of the State for the double purpose of gratifying personal malice, and to place the County under martial law for political purposes."

Hickerson, Rev. J. M. P. (September 21, 1872). "Another Letter from Hickerson Defending the People". The Cairo Daily Bulletin. Cairo, Illinois: John R. Oberly. p. 2. "The next step taken to get martial law was to close the clerk's office. Hickox ordered me to close it; said it was unsafe for me to remain in it and do the work. I told him I had no fears. He ordered it closed. I kept it open and done all the business for a month or six weeks... About the fifteenth or twenty-fifth of august (sic) Dodson and Hickox came to Dover and nailed up all the doors of the courthouse except one—locked that one and left. Hickox then sent certain parties with deeds to be recorded, thinking that I had been fastened out and Hickox could then report to Governor Hadley that the office was closed; that his deputy could not feel were secure in the office and had sent deeds and mortgages away without filling or recording the same. But, to his surprise, I took the deeds, unlocked the door with the duplicate key he gave me when I first went into the office—But which he had forgotten—I filed the deed and sent the man away. Here he was foiled again."

"The Latest from the Scene of War - A Black Outlook". Daily Arkansas Gazette. No. 246, 53rd Year. Woodruff, Blocher & Adams. September 11, 1872. p. 4. "Dodson and his militia are camped at Stuart's, about two miles from town. Dodson forces the different merchants of the town to give him coffee, flour, etc., for his men, and he pays them in orders on the county. To a lady, whose husband is a merchant but is absent from the town, on remonstrating against letting him have goods on such terms, Dodson said if she didn't like it that martial law would be declared in a few days, then she could get state scrip. "

"Pope County". Memphis Daily Appeal. September 25, 1872. "The county officials then hurried to the Governor to secure martial law, saying that the people bushwhacked them when taking prisoners to Dardanelle for a trial. The Governor came up here and found it all a lie, and made a great many promises to the people, none of which he has carried out."

A correspondent for the New York Tribune wrote from Russellville on August 10, 1872:

The gist of the Pope County affair is this: A sheriff and a clerk finding their terms of office about to expire, and nine-tenths of the people determined to put honest men in their places, connive to have martial law declared so that there will be no election, and they could hold over. They take a Deputy-Sheriff and a School Superintendent into the plot.

After being mortally wounded just two months later, Williams admitted his alleged shooting in July was a ruse, part of a plot "arranged in Little Rock and perfected at the celebration on the 4th of July," a plot whose purpose was to maintain county officials' control of the county through the 1872 election.

Caronde (talk) 22:16, 9 March 2023 (UTC)

Encyclopedia of Arkansas - inaccuracy of article on Pope County Militia War

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas article on the Pope County Militia War would not meet Wikipedia standards for factual accuracy if it were submitted as a Wikipedia article. It has insufficient references and does not maintain a neutral point of view. It mixes facts from different events. While I will use the Encyclopedia of Arkansas in some instances, it is with caution. For instance, the following, where I have not been able to find any contemporary sources for: "Some sources claim that George W. Newton was the assassin."

Some specific erroneous statements:

However, violence flared up again with the July 5, 1872, assassination attempt upon Deputy Williams. Not true and Williams later admitted that he had staged this the alleged assassination attempt.

In response, Dodson received permission from Governor Ozro A. Hadley, who was serving as governor following Clayton’s 1871 resignation, to organize a company of militia to clamp down on the violence. Not true. Three days to get permission and then organize a company? This was the frontier. Anytime they wanted to communicate with the governor, they traveled to Little Rock.

On July 8, County Clerk Wallace H. Hickox, Sheriff Dodson, and William A. Stewart, the county superintendent of public instruction, arrested Nicholas J. (Jack) Hale (father of Matt Hale), as well as his son William, Joseph Tucker, and Isham Liberty West. The posse, taking their prisoners to Dardanelle (Yell County), crossed Shiloh Creek in the dark when shots were fired into the group of prisoners. A lot is left out of this. William was mortally wounded but lived long enough to leave an affidavit. His father and Lib West also left affidavits.

There are numerous factual errors in this article, statements of who killed who, why federal troops were at Dover for two years, etc. It doesn't mention that the sheriff, county clerk, and deputy sheriff were arraigned and released on bond as were the other posse members, while the citizens the accused were "honorably acquitted" according to Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge William N. May. Caronde (talk) 00:49, 10 March 2023 (UTC)