Pope County Militia War
These officials persistently urged the Arkansas governor to impose martial law in the county,[1] with the aim of exerting greater control over voter registration and the November 1872 election.
This troubling period in Pope County was covered extensively in local, state, and national newspapers, including front-page spreads in the New York Herald, Chicago Tribune, and Memphis Daily Appeal.
On October 10, 1872, a Special Commission appointed by the Arkansas Governor reported, "We are satisfied that much of the bad feeling existing in Pope county has been engendered and fostered by unscrupulous politicians.
"[5] During the military reconstruction period (1867-1868), companies E and G of the Nineteenth Infantry,[6] were stationed in Pope County and headquartered at Dover for a year and a half.
"[16] Concerned neighbors were told by a physician that there were two holes in Williams' jacket, "one in the left sleeve, corresponding with an abrasion on his arm, the other is in front opposite a dent in his belt buckle and a bruise on his abdomen."
[22] Upon reaching the old camping ground at Shiloh, the posse stopped, supposedly for the purposes of gathering forage for the horses and spending the night before proceeding to Dardanelle.
When Lib West[28] leaned hard to one side, his saddle shifted and he fell to the ground, scrambling to hide in the brush along the road.
[31] Subsequently, Dodson, Williams, Stuart, and Hickox traveled to Little Rock seeking a declaration of martial law from Governor O.
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.
Nevertheless the people of Pope County, with almost unanimity, are convinced that the plot was formed at Little Rock by the Ring that controls the State Government.
Young William Hale was found in a home less than half a mile away, mortally wounded and fearful, believing that Dodson meant to hunt him down and finish "the killing of him.
"[38] The week after the incident at Shiloh Creek, Governor Hadley traveled to Russellville, staying overnight and meeting the next day with leading citizens of the Dover area.
1 at Perry Station, relieving from the "First Company of Pope County State Guards" and requiring them to return to their homes "as quiet and good citizens.
The accused men appeared before the court on July 25, 1872,[46] with ten guards, twenty-three witnesses, and some citizens, all armed with shotguns, pistols, or both.
Two prominent merchants from Russellville, Jacob L. Shinn and a Mr. Howell, traveled the six miles to Dardanelle to visit Judge May and determine why he had not made it to court.
"[48] In his July 30 letter, Judge May also wrote, "Governor, whatever you do, I would urge you not to declare martial law in Pope county, unless there should be more justification for it than now."
He also reported that the people generally believed that peace should be maintained and that County Clerk Hickox and Sheriff Dodson should resign.
F. Clark and James S. Wolfe—commissioned by Governor Hadley to ascertain what steps could be taken to disband the militia and "more speedily restore peace and confidence" determined that the Pope County issues had been "engendered and fostered by unscrupulous politicians.
"[50] Dodson and Hickox next tried, in August, to get martial law declared under the premise that it was unsafe to do county business at the courthouse in Dover.
[56][57] Later that day, Justice of the Peace Allen Brown was accidentally shot shortly after a jury of inquest on the death of Hickox had concluded.
[58] Following the death of Hickox, Jacob L. Shinn, one of the leading citizens of Russellville and the county, traveled with an eyewitness of the killing, Rev.
[59] After a request for help from Sheriff Dodson[60] that misrepresented what had transpired on August 31 in Dover, Governor Hadley issued orders on September 4 to Major General D. P. Upham to provide aid in Pope County "as is or may be necessary to execute the civil and criminal law of the state."
[61] On September 6, General Upham with a contingent of eleven members of the state guards commanded by a Lt. Groves traveled to Pope County where Sheriff Dodson met them at their arrival at Perry Station with three companies of his militia.
[79] Merchants in Russellville were forced to provide supplies for Dodson's men, camped two miles from town, with payment only in orders on the county.
[80] A small force of state guards under General Upham stood between Dodson's militia and the "crowd" in Dover.
Numerous citizens gave testimony and depositions about fraud and irregularities witnessed during voter registration and the election in Pope County perpetrated by Sheriff Elijah W. Dodson, County Clerk Wallace H. Hickox, Captain George W. Herriot, an election judge, John H. Martin, the president of the board of registration, Superintendent of Public Schools W. A. Stewart and others.
Registration and voting were only done at two of the twelve Pope County townships with the "classes disenfranchised" provision of the 1868 Arkansas Constitution liberally applied.
Herriott, who had been in Pope County with the state guards during voter registration and the general election, was at the hearing as a witness.
