The true Democrat., 1854-11-08
DANIEL RINGO.
From the State Gazette and Democrat.

Benton Salne O., Ark Oct. 28, 1854
 CAPT. DANLEY.-In an article published in the Gazette and Democrat of the 27th inst. in regard to the mobbing and hagning of the negro man 1ol, you have used the following language:
 "All of our former knowledge of Mir. Cra.c- .tord, the Sheriff, induced us to believe that he would do his whole duty, under any circumstan- ceS which might arise, and he may have done his whole duty on this occasion. but we will never believe, until we have ocular denaonstre tion of the fact, that on eney9etc officer cannot. by theproper use Q the authoity ueste1 in him 6y the laao, suppress the action c any mob, and Drevent any Uioent o}reah achere Ae Aa8 aotce of fhe f1ct and does his dnty"
 Captain, you seem 10 be hard to convince that Mr. CraHt0rd performed his duty, on the unfortunate occasion alluded to, as no other proof will be taken by you but the actual seejao. But, you will permit us, through the medium of your press, we will place Mr. Crawford in his true position before the public.
 That a mob did assemble around the iail of Saline county, on Monday, the 23d inst. and therefrom take the body of the negro To-, and hang him until he was dead, is fact already known to the public. This mob was conpos- ed of citizens of Pulaski and Saline counties. Their numbers were yar.0uslv estimated from 50 to 80 men. All were armed mostly with double-guns and sde-arm5 They came into the town of Benton, at II o'clock, 4. M. on Monday the 23d inst, while the citizens were at ther usual occupations. They came in the broad light of day, entirely unexpected to every one. Mr. Wm. 1. Crawford. the sheriff. had started to Little Rock with convict for the Peniteutiary, he meets with this mob. 3
 
 learns their intontons--then immediately con- menced the race to the jail, MT Crawford lsad- ing the party that he migh+ get to the jail before the mob could arrive This he did not sue. ceed in doing, on account of having to ride by his residence for his arm5 with which he in- tended to defend the jail. However, before the start was made to town, Mir. Crawford con- menced summoning citizens of Saline county. in the ranks of the mob, to aas,at ;' protecting the law from the violence of m0b-law In every instance ehev refused to do SO Mr Crawford summoned every citizen to do the same, among whom were some of the oldest and most respectable citizens of thr county He met with declarations from the most of them, that they were ol the side of the moo; and, he succeeded only in obtaining assistance from or personal friends The leaders of the mob arrived on the platform Of the iail be- fore MT. Crawford. When he came up, he i'm mediatelv commanded them to disperse. They refused to do so. Four men belonging to the mob seized Mr. Crawford, four more also seized Mir. Thomas Pack, Deputy Sheriff, and iu that situation held them, until the mob mad broken the jail open, and seized the body of the ne2ro To- They immediately proceeded with the negro to al adjoining hill, and hung him. Now, the above are the facts D the casc and we know that 1lr. Crawford done his duly his lchole d'Hy. As for the assertion, Captain that you will never believe until you see it. that an energetic officer cannot, by the proper use of the authority vested in him by the law, SUD- press the action of any mob, etc. we would re- fer you to the case of the negro who was hung in Memphis, for killing Chester, and the recent riots in all the principal cities of the Union, while this occurred in a small village with about 30 voterS-and two-thrds of them were absent. You also use the following language:
 In this case we do not know whether the Sheriff was present or not, but we are informed that demonstrations had been made of the in tentions of those who got up this mob; and, ill that way, he was cognlzant of the fact that at tempts would be made to take the life ofthe pri- soner, by illegal and forcible means, while he was in custody, as jalor of the county"
 Here are the facts. On Saturday evening, MT. Crawford was placed on the qm vive from the movements of the leaders of this mob He immediately summoned guard, and placed it around the iai, which remained there during the night. From reliable information since ob- tained. the mob came up to the jail thas night, but infing it guarded, they left-and made no other attempt, until Monday last, when they overpowered Mr Crawford and his Deputy, and accomplished their designs, in the light of day, disturbing the usual quiet of our village with most anentable tragedy. We deem the above facts due to the character of Mr. Crawford, our Sheriff, and tellow-citzen, than whom there is none worthier to be found-and the last man to finch from his post in the hour of danger Very respectfully
 JOSEPH ScoTT, P. CAvENEss,
 s. M. SwEETEN, URAH ALLEN,
 WILLIAM PAYNE J. S. MARSHAL,
 J. A. J. BRENTs, P LINK.