St. Francis County and much of Arkansas in the early 1870s was in turmoil with political, racial and revenge violence. Into this unrest stepped a young judge from the North named John Wesley Fox. This native of Ohio, who had graduated from the University of Michigan, arrived at Helena, Arkansas around 1869. After briefly practicing law, he was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1872 and was then appointed as Circuit Court Judge for the 11th District. In addition to his professional growth, he married Anna Compton at Little Rock in December 1873. There was a dark cloud on the horizon though, and it would involve a fellow lawyer named J.R.P. Aldridge.

Not much is known about the background of J.R.P. Aldridge. He was born about 1840 in Alabama and he first appears on record in Arkansas when he and another man were captured in 1865 in Crittenden County. They claimed to belong to the 23rd Arkansas Cavalry, but there was no such organization. He was actually paroled at Memphis. Aldridge then married Catherine Hoskins, who was running a hotel at Madison in St. Francis County along with her father. He identifies his occupation as lawyer in 1870.

 As circuit judge, John Wesley Fox traveled from county to county in Eastern Arkansas ruling on cases that came before his bench. Because of the rural nature of the region, a number of lawyers traveled the same circuit with him to defend accused clients. Among those lawyers was Aldridge. Newspapers reported that although Fox was a Northern Republican, appointed by Governor Elisha Baxter, he was widely accepted in the various counties because of his cordial manner. Aldridge felt differently about Fox however. Aldridge had argued several cases under Fox and had not done well. Court brought them to Crittenden County in early 1874, where hidden resentment from Aldridge expanded into open hostility. In a closing argument, Aldridge advised the jury to pay no attention to Fox because he was the enemy. Aldridge even sent a note to the jury advising that same thing. When Fox learned of this, he found Aldridge in contempt and locked him up for ten days. Aldridge then left and returned home to St. Francis County after being released.

Once back in Forrest City, the angry lawyer told everyone that he planned to kill Fox and even left a loaded shotgun in town. Judge Fox arrived at Forrest City on March 20, 1874 and checked into a hotel where he and his family were living. The next day, he walked down to the post office. From out of the drugstore owned by R.G. Dyes, J.R.P. Aldridge stepped out with his loaded shotgun and announced, "Now, Judge Fox" and fired. Hit by the shot, Fox exclaimed, "Oh Lord, I am a dead man" and fell. Aldridge then emptied the other barrel into the now unmoving judge. Although, Fox had a pistol and bowie knife on him, he was unable to do anything because of the sudden attack. Quickly, Fox was carried back to the hotel and administered care, but died five hours later. Mr. Aldridge then walked around to his office and turned himself in to the sheriff.

The body of Judge John W. Fox was transported to Little Rock for burial by his friends. There was a large procession and much written about the goodness of the deceased judge. Papers across the nation carried the story of how he was murdered. Aldridge had his defenders as well though. In April, former judge of the 2nd Judicial District William Hazeldine arrived to defend Aldridge. The ex-judge was arrested though for bribery in Cross County. Several other fellow lawyers then came to his defense and cited the differences between Fox and Aldridge. Aldridge continued to claim he shot Fox to stand up for his honor. Trial was set to begin around October 1874 and many residents of St. Francis County worried that it may bring more violence between supporters of each man. Like many events in history though, there was no grand ending or moment of reckoning. J.R.P. Aldridge died quietly almost six months to the day at Forrest City. With his death, the story ended and peace returned. That same year, Forrest City became the new county seat of St. Francis County. Although, there would be arguments in the future between opposing sides, this event ended peaceful and soon faded into history.

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