Hello,
I am an Arkansas history researcher looking into a truly fascinating story out of Phillips County in 1863. It was written about vaguely in a 1992 book by Mark Neely Jr. called "Fate of Liberty" and concerns a slave by the name of West Bogan killing his master Monroe, or Munroe, Bogan on Dec. 15, 1863. West Bogan was later pardoned by President Lincoln due to mitigating circumstances. Having been after the Emancipation Proclamation, West Bogan was viewed as having acted in self defense when he killed Monroe because he was to be whipped that day for going off of the property without permission.
In my research I also discovered an 1866 Arkansas Supreme Court case involving a deceased Isaac M. Bogan. His wife was Anna S. Bogan, and she was trying to show that her husband had paid off some land in Range 4E that James T. Moore had owned and sold to Bogan in 1861.
James T. Moore apparently had no children when he died, and left land to his younger brother Robert C. Moore, which the Moore-Hornor House in Helena is related to.
I would like to know A)What happened to West Bogan after he was pardoned, and B)is Isaac M. Bogan the very same "Monroe" Bogan who was killed by West.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Sincerely,
John Lovett
706-410-7656
johnslovett@gmail.com