This suit began with the sale of a slave, Darcus, a girl thirteen or fourteen years old, by Mitchell Malone to Israel Dodge, for $400. Dodge paid part of the price at the time, and issued a promissory note on August 19, 1826, payable to Mitchell Malone on January 1, 1827, for the rest due, $290.50. Francois Valliere witnessed the note. Malone later endorsed the note over to Samuel C. Roane, an attorney who represented the United States and other clients as well, probably as payment for legal services Roane had rendered. Promptly after the note was due, on February 22, Roane filed suit in debt in the Superior Court. Clerk David E. McKinney issued a summons to James Wilson, the sheriff of Crawford County, who served it by reading it to Israel Dodge at the Crawford County court house on March 5.

At the April Term, the court's record book indicates that the defendant filed a general demurrer and joinder. The case was continued over until the next term. Prior to the October Term, the clerk issued a subpoena for Sarah Embree, John Dodge and Francois Valliere, summoning them to appear as witnesses on behalf of Israel Dodge. They acknowledged having been served. However, apparently Sarah Embree did not appear, because on October 9, Israel Dodge swore in an affidavit in open court that she was a necessary witness and he believed she was not present because she was indisposed. He requested a continuance to the April 1828 Term, which the court granted.

Mrs. Embree proved to be an elusive witness. She did not appear at the April 1828 Term. Richard C.S. Brown, one of Dodge's attorneys, argued that Dodge intended to argue that he had been defrauded, and Sarah Embree was the only witness who could prove this. Robert C. Oden, another of Dodge's attorneys, had promised to depose her, but apparently had not. Once again, Dodge requested a continuance, but on April 17, the court denied it. The next day, Chester Ashley, a third attorney representing Dodge, filed the defendant's plea, alleging that the note had been obtained from him "by fraud, Covin and misrepresentation," and that there had been no consideration for the note. In response, Roane filed a demurrer to the plea. The record book indicates that the court then upheld Roane's demurrer and ruled in favor of Roane, ordering Dodge to pay $290.50 and $22.50 in damages. Dodge in turn sued Roane, Malone, and Alexander W. Mitchell in Dodge v. Roane.

The fact that this case stemmed from the sale of a slave is nowhere in the case file; the reader must resort to the case file of Dodge v. Roane to discern that. It is emblematic of how humans as property–slavery–is an ever-present theme of territorial Arkansas business dealings, under the surface of many seemingly innocuous transactions.