MISSISSIPPI 



the court-house, which it appears was In the 

 .co of Sheriff Crosby. As tax-roll.-, -tor, 

 Sheriil' Cr..-!.y \\.-i-* ivquiivd to give bond, 

 with piml >ec-iinti.-s in tin- MHU of ^sl.uun, 

 .-I -Jn,oiM) as sheriff. During the mim- 

 IIUT >t' I>71 it was cluirged that tin- otlicial 

 liomN, given by Crosby and approved \>\ the 

 . i.t' Supervisors, were almost worth- 

 less. He u as, then-tore, required to give new 

 bonds. "On the day when Cn^lty appeared 

 to tender new bonds," says the Citizens' Ad- 

 "tlie petitioning tux-payers being pres- 

 ent, the board refused to pass upon the new 

 IH.I:.!-.. and announced that their notion would 

 be postpnn, -d until the next morning. On the 

 evening of the same day they met stealthily 

 and in formally, and accepted the new bonds 

 which were notoriously insufficient and almost 

 worthless, the sureties thereon being for the 

 most part public officials residing in different 

 parN of the State, and colored men of small 

 or no means residing in this county. More- 

 over, after this action, at least eight of the 

 sureties of the new bonds applied to the board 

 by written communications to be relieved as 

 such sureties, and although two members of 

 the board twice called meetings to take action 

 in the matter, no quorum could be obtained, 

 and it was well known that neither illness nor 

 disability prevented the attendance of the 

 other members. It was generally believed 

 that the failure to aot was due to the influence 

 of Crosby and the indicted officials who were 

 interested in keeping him in office. After 

 this, Crosby, on the 7th day of November, 

 1874, published a card in the Vicksburg Times, 

 stating that he would not further attempt to 

 give his bonds, and would hold his office until 

 ousted by a judgment of the Supreme Court. 

 In this state of affairs, all confidence in 

 the integrity and competency of these officials 

 being destroyed, a mass-meeting of tax-payers 

 of the county was held in Vicksburg on Wednes- 

 day, December 2, 1874 (this date is important), 

 at which a committee was appointed to wait 

 upon Crosby and Davenport and the Board 

 of Supervisors, and demand their resignations. 

 This committee found only Crosby and Daven- 

 port, by whom they were informed that they 

 would give their answers in half an hour. 

 Failing to receive their answers within this 

 time, the tax-payers proceeded in a body to the 

 court-house to repeat their demand. There 

 they found Crosby only, who, upon demand 

 made (unaccompanied by any threats or ex- 

 hibition of violence), placed his resignation in 

 their hands. Davenport had in the mean time 

 absconded, and has not since been seen in the 

 county." 



Two days after the holding of this meeting, 

 the following proclamation was issued by Gov- 

 ernor Ames : 



EXECUTIVE OlTIOE, STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, } 



JACKSON, Miss., December 4, 1874. f 

 Whereas, Positive information having been re- 

 ceived by me that riotous and disorderly persons 



have combined togther with force and arm*, and by 

 threat* and intimidation have uxpdlvd from hw 

 office the legally-elected Sherilf of Warren County, 

 inn! .lo now resist the execution \<\ him of the lawn 

 State; and 



Whereat, *aid riotous and disorderly persons )iav<- 



combined together with lorco and uruis, and tni.iii: 



threats n.-:iii.-i other county officials whereby uid 



may i.ilicials were compelled to floe for their 



iind 



Whereat, The State courts were in full force and 

 and competent to punish any of such olliciuln, 

 ncHt, until aid courts were paralyzed by the 

 action of such unlawful assemblage ; ana 



Whereat, Such threats and intimidation have been 

 .iiiv.-t.-d exclusively against colored officials ; and 



\Yhereai, It is satisfactorily presented to me that 

 the object of said riotous and disorderly action is to 

 deprive colored men of their civil and political 

 rights because of their color ; and 



Whereat, It is provided by the Constitution and 

 laws of the United States that the protection of thu 

 laws shall not be denied to any citizen because of 

 race or color ; and 



Whereat, It is the duty of the Governor of the 

 State to use all his powers to execute the laws, and 

 to suppress riots and insurrections, as provided iu 

 the State constitution : now, therefore 



I, Adelbert Ames, Govemor of the State of Mis- 

 sissippi, do hereby make proclamation and com- 

 mand said riotous and disorderly persons to disperse 

 and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, and 

 hereafter submit to the legally-constituted authori- 

 ties of the State, and I invoke the aid and coopera- 

 tion of all good citizens to uphold the laws, and pre- 

 serve the public peace. 

 By the Governor : 



JAMES HILL, Secretary of State. 



Governor Ames's proclamation was followed 

 on the next day by an address from the tax- 

 payers of Warren County, signed by Judge 

 Warren Cowan, chairman of the convention. 

 This declares that Governor Ames's proclama- 

 tion is false in representation, and made upon 

 "the ex-parte statements of corrupt partisan 

 office-holders, forgers, embezzlers of public 

 funds, and thieves ; " and further, that Gov- 

 ernor Ames had "directed an ignorant negro, 

 recently from the work-house of the city of 

 Vicksburg, to be prepared with arms and men 

 to endeavor to intimidate the tax-payers of 

 this city and county, and thereby bring on a 

 conflict of races." After protesting against 

 the light in which the tax-payers were placed 

 by Governor Ames, and declaring that they 

 had assembled in a lawful and peaceful man- 

 ner, the proclamation continues : 



1. Having been satisfied that said officials of the 

 county were stealing and plundering our substance. 



2. That they had comoined together and with 

 other officials to prevent each other's punishment, 

 and perpetuate their unlawful and criminal courses. 



3. . The execution of the law was intrusted to these 

 officials, and they had persistently refused to execute 

 it, but had by their acts and assertions defied and 

 insulted our people, already groaning under unjust, 

 unnecessary, and oppressive taxation. 



4. The sheriff 1 of this county, who has the custody 

 of the court-house, has, through his negligence ana 

 carelessness, permitted the destruction of the county 

 records, which furnished testimony of the guilt of 

 the Chanceiy Clerk and others. 



5. The sheriff was about to collect the taxes of the 

 State and county, to an amount exceeding $100,000, 

 and had failed notoriously to give a bond according 



