MISSISSIPPI. 



571 



This infonnution relative to the notion of tlip grand- 

 jury 1 received from the foreman of laid jury and 

 u'uer*. No charge wax made against the otti- 

 conduct ol' Slu-riif t'rosby. 1 know that he has 

 de liis i ttlrnii-niH to date. Tliey anticipated 

 l thn loivnuiii tif the grand-jury rei'rm-d to 

 that the county would ' d.-lV.mdi-'i I" cause ' roiby'i 

 MIS not sufficient. Here let me nay, Repuhli- 

 '.i-ial- w ho have to give bonds nro ooiiHtitntly 

 being utta.-U-d through tln-m and embarrassed I,' 

 ire, yet the number of defaulters in the. 

 luring the year have been more numerous 

 mining Di-moi-ratio officials and for a greater amount, 

 ap ay all our reports, than among Republican Mi- 



Tho leaguera pretend to say thut tin 

 jury will be |.a.-,vt-d to acquit Davenport uncl two ex- 

 county officials against whom indietmcnts ha\ . 



.!! as 1 know ao far aa 1 could It-urn 

 from tin- foreman <>f tlio grand-jury tho indictment 

 against Davenport, and the pn tended fear of packed 

 . wriv the only cause of the present usurpations 

 and bloodslu-d in that city. After a meeting of the 

 so-called tax-payers, a committee waited on Crosby 

 and demanded nia resignation. Crosby declined to 

 :. and asked what charges had been preferred 

 gainst him. The chairman of the committee stated 

 they were only instructed to ask his immediate resig- 

 nation. At'terwurd a mob of some six hundred wait- 

 ed on him, and he resigned to save his life BO he 

 has stated to me. The other officials to be waited 

 on made their escape or secreted themselves. 



The Circuit Court was in session, and the judge, 

 being deprived of his sheriff, came down from the 

 bench and was going to leave the room, but (so I am 

 informed by an eye-witness) was forced to return to 

 it and adjourn the court to a given day. 



The following is a note received by me from the 

 judge : 



To His Excellency Governor AMKS : 



It becomes my duty to inform you that an organized mob 

 composed of several hundred armed men have this even- 

 in? taken forcible possession of the court-house and jail 

 of this county, and forced most of the count v officers to re- 

 sign or flee to the country for protection. l"he mob are in 

 possession of the .records of the offices, and threaten vio- 

 lence to any one who does not recognize their authority. 

 My court is in session, but I am powerless and cannot 

 execute the law. Relief must be furnished from abroad 

 in the way of military by the State or General Govern- 

 ment, and that quickly, to prevent general riot and loss 

 of life. Very respectfully, GEORGE E. BROWN, 

 Judge Fifteenth Judicial District. 



Thus anarchy prevailed. Then came the question, 

 Shall the United States be called upon, or shall the 

 State attempt to maintain its authority and laws ? 

 For obvious reasons the President should not be ap- 

 pealed to until the State authorities had acted. Sat- 

 urday Sheriff Crosby returned to Vicksburg. My 

 adjutant-general went the same day. The city was 

 then full of armed men, many having gone there 

 from other towns and from Louisiana. 



The colored men had an understanding to aid 

 Crosby in his effort to regain possession of his of- 

 fice, and started from various parts of the county 

 Monday morning. Early that morning Crosby was 

 seized "by the mob. One of the leading men of a 

 body of men going to Crosby's aid, one Owen, saw 

 him and received nis orders countermanding those 

 previouslv given, and ordering him to desist from 

 further efforts in his behalf. Under a flag of truce 

 Owen returned to his friends, and was reporting his 

 interview with Crosby when the White-Leaguers 

 voted to assault Owen's party, and at once advanced 

 on them and opened fire. It is reported that a few of 

 Owen's men had arms, and at once broke and ran. 

 Then the slaughter began. It is said and believed 

 that some sixty or eighty colored men were killed. 

 The same old story negroes killed by the score, 

 none of their opponents hurt, and still the negro to 

 blame. It is reported to me that unarmed negroes 

 on cotton-bales, going to town, were killed. Also 



men were killed elsewhere without any arm* in their 

 pOMestion. 



Immediately after tlio troubles in Vicksburg 

 Governor A <! a proclamation, widely 



ut'u-r reciting that rioters bad by threats and 

 intimidation expelled tlio hla-rill' of Warn n 

 County, that tlu-y had mudo tli reals against 

 other county officials, compelling them to life 

 for their lives, and that the laws were re- 

 concluded as follows: 



I, Adelbert Ames, Governor of the State of Miscia- 

 M|>I>i, do hereby make proclamation and command 

 .aid rioters and disorderly persons to disperse and 

 retire peaceably to their respective abode*, and here- 

 after submit to the legally constituted authorities 

 of the State, and 1 evoke the aid and cooperation of 

 all good citizens to uphold the laws and preserve 

 peace. ADELBEKT AMES, Governor. 



JAMES HILL, Secretary of State. 



Upon receipt of Ibis, Mayor O'Leary, of 

 Vicksburg, issued a proclamation, which, after 

 repeating the charges and statements of the 

 (lovernor, concluded as follows: 



Now, I, Richard O'Leary, Mayor of the city of 

 Vicksburg, do hereby make my proclamation, re- 

 citing what is known to every citizen of Vicksburg, 

 of every party, color, denomination, and condition 

 of life, that there haa been no riotous assemblage in 

 this city ; that what seems to have given rise to the 

 uncalled-for proclamation of his Excellency wan a 

 quiet and orderly meeting of the owners and tax- 

 payers of the city and county, who, without arms 

 and violence, requested the resignation of irresponsi- 

 ble officials from the office of sheriff and chancery 

 clerk of this county, who had failed to execute bond's 

 an required by law ; that the city government of 

 Vicksburg is amply able to preserve the peace and 

 quiet of said city under all circumstances ; that the 

 laws of the city and of the State of Mississippi have 

 been threatened, and the recitals in the Governor's 

 proclamation tending to produce a contrary impres- 

 sion are meretricious and mendacious, and unjust to 

 the last degree : I therefore warn all persons to be 

 guarded, to preserve good order and respect for law ; 

 and whereas said proclamation has excited the citi- 

 zens of the county, and that I have this moment re- 

 ceived information that armed bodies of colored 

 men have organized and are now marching on the 

 city, I call upon all good citizens to observe the laws 

 of the land, and I warn all such unlawful assem- 

 blages and armed bodies of men to disperse and re- 

 tire to their homes \ and, for the preservation of law 

 and order in the city, I hereby command all good 

 citizens to hold themselves in readiness to report at 

 any call I may make upon them for the purpose of 

 enforcing this proclamation. 



R. O'LEARY, Mayor. 

 YIOKSBCBO, December 7, 1874. 



Later in the day the mayor put forth a sec- 

 ond proclamation, as follows: 



Citizens: Be quiet and discreet but firm. Your 

 dearest interests arc at stake. All keepers of bar- 

 rooms and liquor-dealers are hereby ordered to close 

 their places of business, and permit no drinking 

 upon or about their promises until to-morrow at 12 x. 

 By order of R. O'LEARY, Mayor. 



Jfonday, December 7, 1874. 



On the 8th of -December the following proc- 

 lamation was issued by the Governor for con- 

 vening an extra session of the Legislature on 

 the 17th of December: 



WJtertGs, The lawfully-constituted officers of War- 

 ren County are prevented from discharging their 



