U.S. v. Crittenden Abstract


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United States v. Robert Crittenden
Abstract

The duel that was the basis for this indictment is still featured prominently in Arkansas histories. In 1827, Robert Crittenden was the Secretary of the Arkansas Territory (equivalent to today's Lieutenant Governor) and Henry Wharton Conway was the Territorial Delegate to Congress (the sole representative to Congress from the territory). In the spring of the year Crittenden and Conway began quarreling publicly over incriminating information Crittenden supplied to Conway's opponent for Delegate to Congress, Robert C. Oden. The charge was that Conway had "borrowed" and never paid back $600 from $7,000 he was entrusted to transport to Crittenden for the Quapaw Indians. Conway supporters published accusations against Crittenden, who sued the editor of the Arkansas Gazette for libel (those papers are also in this collection). The disagreement culminated on October 29, 1827, when the two dueled on the east side of the Mississippi River opposite the White River cutoff. Conway died of his injuries on November 9. Consequently, the grand jury issued a presentment against both Crittenden and Benjamin Desha, his second (see U.S. v. Desha). The United States Prosecuting Attorney Pro Tem, Thomas Hubbard, indicted Crittenden for the death of Conway. Crittenden moved to quash the indictment on the grounds that the time of the challenge was stated to be "on about the twentieth of October," and because the indictment did not conclude with the formulaic words "against the peace and dignity of the United States." The Superior Court quashed the indictment. In 1829, President Andrew Jackson failed to reappoint Crittenden. He ran unsuccessfully for office, and died before statehood in 1834, while arguing a case in Vicksburg. Shown here are the indictment and motion to quash. Duels were common between prominent Arkansans. In fact, in 1824, two of the three Superior Court judges dueled, and Judge Andrew Scott killed Judge Joseph Selden. Scott was never charged.

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