arkanons?
1861 letter, mason, postmaster. is this connected to james W. mason? if so, is this the letter referenced by S&Banon?
"In late 1871, Chicot County was taken over by several hundred African Americans, led by state legislator and county judge James W. Mason. The murder of African-American lawyer Wathal (sometimes spelled as Walthall) Wynn prompted the area’s black citizens to kill the men jailed for their role in the murder and take over the area.
"When the Civil War broke out in 1861, James and Martha Mason returned to Chicot County, where they oversaw Worthington’s affairs, including his large plantation, Sunnyside, while he resettled in Texas. Worthington returned to Chicot County after the war, but ill health and economic problems caused him to begin selling his landholdings in 1867.
In 1867, James Mason was appointed postmaster at the Sunnyside post office, making him the first documented black postmaster in America. In November 1867, he was elected as a delegate to the Arkansas constitutional convention, which convened in January 1868. He also served in the Arkansas Senate during the 1868–69 term. According to the 1870 census, Mason was a planter who owned real estate worth $10,000 and personal property valued at $2,000. "
"Mason, who had dined with Wynn just before his murder, sent a letter to Ohio congressman A. G. Riddle, which was published in the Washington Chronicle and reprinted in the New York Times on December 27. He contended that Wynn had been killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan for his allegiance to the Republican Party and his efforts to “uphold the right, and to speak in behalf of the weak and needy.” According to Mason, feelings of rebellion against the federal government were at a fever pitch, and “martial law ought to be declared throughout the entire South.” The extent of actual Klan involvement in the incident has never been determined." https://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7615