Butts County GaArchives News.....Crawford – Beauchamp August 26 1890
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Don Bankston http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00024.html#0005864 February 7, 2004, 7:55 pm

Middle Ga Argus – Week of August 26,1890
Crawford – Beauchamp
A CARD

Editor Argus: - Will you please allow me enough space in the columns of your 
much esteemed paper to try and explain to the people of this county, and 
especially those of my friends who are censuring me so severely for accepting a 
proposition, or, as they say, making a trade with Mr. Beauchamp to combine and 
accept the deputy’s place from him.

I will now state how the trade came to be made, then give the terms of the 
trade and my reasons for accepting it:

On the morning of the election as I drove on the public square in your town, 
before I had gotten out of my buggy, I was met by Mr. Beauchamp and he asked me 
if we could not get together in this race and stop the scramble, and proposed 
that if I would accept deputy’s place from him this term, and he should want to 
continue in office any longer, that he would accept deputy’s place from me next 
term, and if not he would retire and give me the field.  He further stated that 
it was not his place to make me the proposition, but he would do so anyway.  I 
then ask him how he proposed to divide the proceeds of the office with me.  He 
said that he was willing to divide everything equal.  That we should be equally 
interested in every part of the office, waiting on the courts, the jail, and 
all the work connected with the sheriff’s office.  I said to him that it was a 
liberal proposition and I would have been glad to have accepted it three weeks 
ago, and authorized a friend of mine to try and make that kind of a trade with 
him for me, and he said that he never had heard a word of the kind and would 
have accepted the proposition if it had been made him.  I said to him I feared 
I had gone too far, but it was in the hands of my friends, and if they would 
consent I would gladly do so.  He urged me to see my friends at once and let 
him know what I would do, said the hour had arrived to open the polls, and he 
thought we ought to decide one way or the other before they commenced to vote.  
I was still in my buggy and the people seeing us talking gathered around us.  I 
drove off to hitch my horse, promising him I would see my friends and let him 
know at once what I would do.  Several of my most entrusted friends came to me 
urging me not to accept his proposition, but make the race on – regardless of 
the consequence.  They said he was scared or he would not have made the 
proposition ( I was scared, too, and wanted to accept, but they said not).  I 
then went back on the streets and there met a lot of friends who urged me to 
accept it.  This kinder got me confused, but I soon saw the majority favored my 
accepting the proposition and they began to threaten to drop me if I didn’t do 
it.  This frightened me worse than ever.  I then made Mr. Beauchamp the same 
proposition that he made me that is to combine if he would accept the deputy’s 
place from me.  He said to this that he thought I was asking too much, as he 
already held the office and had the experience.  I know he was about right, but 
I thought I saw that he would accept my offer rather than make the race like we 
had started.  But about this time others came up and it was proposed to leave 
it to a committee, as we could not get together.  We both then agreed to choose 
two men each, and let them choose one man, and we would abide by anything these 
men would do.  This committee went to a room, but before they had time to make 
a verdict, it was proposed by someone standing by that we let the race go on, 
as the polls had already been opened and voting commenced, and let the man who 
got the highest number of votes to be at the head of the ticket, and the either 
one be his deputy.  This we both agreed to and went together to the committee 
and stated to them that we had come together.

We agreed between ourselves that we would do no electioneering, only explain 
our trade and let the people vote as they saw fit.  While I believe Mr. 
Beauchamp did just as he promised, I know that some of his friends misled the 
people by telling them that I hd accepted the deputy’s place from him, and that 
he was the only man before the people and such rumors went to some of the 
precincts. And some voted there thinking that was the agreement.  I know those 
same men will say that I am just hunting excuses for getting left so badly, and 
I will say to them that if they had treated me as fairly as I had the assurance 
of being treated I would not have been beat 149 votes as I was.  I will her 
confess that I did have some heart burning at first, knowing the cause of my 
bad defeat, but am glad that I can state that it is about healed over and I am 
well again.

Now in conclusion I desire to most sincerely thank my friends and the people of 
this county for their support and kindness shown me while in the contest.

I am yours very respectfully,
J. M. Crawford.



August 16,1890
P.S. : - I hope the above explanation will be sufficient for my censuring 
friends to realize my situation at that time, and that they will forgive me if 
I did wrong, and if they take a business sense view  of it I believe they 
will.  I want to also state if I have misrepresented any part of the contract 
between Mr. Beauchamp and myself, I hope Mr. Beauchamp will correct it through 
the same channel that this appears before the public in.
Respectfully, J.M.C





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